This article is the third in a five-part series examining graduate student attrition.
In combating the high rate of attrition across graduate programs, departments have concentrated energy on strengthening the advising system, although students and faculty members are divided about whether strong advising has been successful in retaining students.
Traditionally, graduate students apply to a specific program because of the overall strength of a department or because they have contacted a faculty member with whom they share a common research interest. In both cases, students are paired with faculty to develop an adviser-student relationship, and many think the strength of that relationship contributes to a student's likelihood to continue on a doctoral track.
"Mentoring is about keeping students here and getting them through the program," said Lewis Siegel, dean of the Graduate School.
Jorge Bravo, a second-year graduate student in political science who transferred from the University of California at Los Angeles last year, said the size and intimacy of Duke's political science department allows students access to many faculty advisers.
"Mentoring is probably the most important component of graduate school," Bravo said. "Your work improves quite noticeably if faculty are taking an active role."
Generally, the level of a graduate student's interaction with his or her adviser varies, and the role of an adviser differs across disciplines.
"You don't want to dominate the student," said associate professor Tad Schmaltz, director of graduate studies for the philosophy department. "Sometimes that's a difficult balance to strike, but that's one of the challenges of advising."
The biology department, for example, often accepts students only if a faculty member has agreed to hire them in his or her laboratory. "Three [students in a laboratory] is ideal. You have to have a central number to have good interactions in a lab," said James Reynolds, professor of biology.
"I provide road maps. I like to think that good mentoring is always keeping the students on track," he said. He added that in the biology department, graduate student peers are valuable informal mentors as well.
A recent National Science Foundation grant to the Department of Mathematics has funded a restructuring of the mentoring process. When students enter the program, they are assigned a mentor who helps students become adjusted to the department and assists the students with course selection.
"The grant really encouraged us to take a good look at what we're doing and how we can do it better," said Leslie Saper, director of graduate studies in mathematics. No one from the class entering the program in 2000, the first to enter under the new mentoring system, has left, and the Class of 2001 has had only three cases of attrition.
Students within the same department also report varying degrees of interaction with their faculty advisors. Ashley Ballantyne, a second-year graduate student in earth and ocean sciences, said he works with his advisor about five hours each week. "For me, the advisor superseded the program," Ballantyne said. "I think that my adviser's insights have benefited my research."
In contrast, Jennifer Garland, a third-year graduate student in earth and ocean sciences, said she does not formally meet with her adviser on a regular basis.
"For two months this summer we worked together and I saw him all day every day, but usually I'll see him in the hall and we'll talk briefly in passing," Garland said, adding that they also have an opportunity to talk at academic interest group meetings and seminars.
The level of interaction also depends greatly upon the student's personality and the nature and topic of their research.
"There's no recipe book [for mentoring]. There's no one way of doing it," Reynolds said. "Some students require more hand-holding early on, some are more independent."
Saper agreed, noting that time spent advising does not necessarily reflect the quality of the advising. "Helping deal with problems that might lead to attrition isn't so much about the amount of time you spend with the student but what's in that time," said Saper, an associate professor. "Everyone has their own problems and strengths so you have to deal with the student as an individual."
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