Building Community in an Online Doctoral Program

Despite an increasing number of individuals completing doctoral degrees from earlier years, approximately 50% of students who begin a program never complete their degree. Attrition rates for students enrolled in online doctoral programs are higher than students who attend courses in a face-to-face s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Christian higher education
Authors: Studebaker, Bethani (Author) ; Curtis, Heidi (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Taylor & Francis [2021]
In: Christian higher education
Year: 2021, Volume: 20, Issue: 1/2, Pages: 15-27
IxTheo Classification:CF Christianity and Science
FB Theological education
ZF Education
ZG Media studies; Digital media; Communication studies
Further subjects:B doctoral experience
B Doctoral education
B Community
B Online doctoral program
B DOCTORAL degree
Online Access: Volltext (Resolving-System)
Description
Summary:Despite an increasing number of individuals completing doctoral degrees from earlier years, approximately 50% of students who begin a program never complete their degree. Attrition rates for students enrolled in online doctoral programs are higher than students who attend courses in a face-to-face setting. Research has identified that the lack of social integration is one of the key components associated with high student attrition rates in doctoral programs. Creating and maintaining positive student-faculty and student-student relationships are essential factors in doctoral persistence. As the popularity and demand for online doctoral programs increases, student retention and completion rates decrease. The literature suggests that the physical disconnect experienced by students, as well as the challenges of building relationships with faculty and peers, are contributing factors to the high rates of attrition in online doctoral programs. To that end, this study sought to determine how an institution can build relationship and community in a fully online doctoral program.
ISSN:1539-4107
Contains:Enthalten in: Christian higher education
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1080/15363759.2020.1852133