The doctoral process is generally thought to prepare “…a student to discover, integrate, and apply knowledge as well as disseminate and communicate it” (Katz, 1987, p. 5).  Previous research on doctoral education has especially focused on the impacts of academic and personal socialization within a graduate department, including peer interactions, formal mentoring, regular evaluations of student progress and performance, and the advisor-advisee relationship(s) upon the above-described transition from student to graduate (Weidman and Stein, 2003; Golde, 2000; Lovitts and Nelson, 2000).  Doctoral programs having collegial atmospheres with frequent student-to-student and student-to-faculty interactions that focus on scholarly activities, such as performing and disseminating research, tend to produce graduates better socialized to the role of ‘scholar’ (Weidman et al., 2001; Hartnett, 1976), presumably generating greater professional success and satisfaction (Malaney, 1988).

 In a study that examined first-year attrition in geology and biology doctoral programs, Golde (1998) found trends that could explain students' decisions to leave doctoral programs during their first year. Half of the students reported leaving because they felt “unhappy” with their advisor or with the research opportunities provided by the department, two students specifically identified “conflicts” with their advisor as their reason for leaving. Others left doctoral study because of their perception of job opportunities: either there were limited opportunities for PhD holders or a PhD was not required for positions of interest to the student.  Further, the very process of earning a doctorate in science may diminish an individual's interest in scientific research (Fox, 1985), especially if the student perceives the transition as slow (Golde, 2003).  This may contribute to relatively stable number of PhDs awarded annually in the physical sciences between 1981 and 2003, even with changing enrollment figures (National Center for Education Statistics, 2006).

The advisor-advisee relationship is often regarded as the major determinate of graduate student socialization (Golde 2000; Boyle and Boice, 1998) and is often cited as the primary reason for graduate student attrition (Lovitts and Nelson, 2000; Jacks et al. 1983).  However, the factors that are related to graduate students’ positive or negative perceptions of their advisor-advisee relationships are not well understood, nor are the possible impacts of graduate school dissatisfaction upon future career satisfaction.  Preliminary results from Project Crossover suggest a strong relationship between student satisfaction with their advisor and satisfaction with their professional lives:

Further, this relationship extends beyond the graduate school years:

We are currently determining generalizations that can be drawn regarding student and advisor personalities, motivations, student satisfaction and success, and the advisor-advisee relationship.

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