Can a PhD Student Fail?

Strategies when a student struggles to meet the requirements.

Abstract

The intersection between PhD student and supervisor is a unique working environment that aims towards production of an efficient researcher that can contribute to our society. Based on the perspectives of experienced supervisors, this report aims to probe the circumstances that can cause problems for PhD students. Some struggles are natural and formative, whereas others may risk student failure; a loss on both personal and societal level. This work is based on an interview series with five (5) experienced PhD supervisors active at Swedish universities, most currently at Lund University. A taxonomy of student problem types is reviewed and applied to interview responses regarding student struggles. The results are found in approximate agreement with prior art. Students can struggle in many stages of the PhD education, but every case is different. There are, however, some aspects that are brought up by most or all informants, such as writing and getting stuck in details or hard problems. The interviews also collected experiences and advice on how to tackle and help students to overcome the struggles, again from the supervisor perspective. These supervisor strategies are collated to provide suggestions on how to propel students towards the PhD degree in problematic situations, or how to proactively prevent such situations. Common factors in the supervisors’ answers included continuous communication and careful recruitment. However, every supervisor-student dynamic is unique and some answers were contradictory. It is the same, but different. These results can help both becoming and experienced supervisors to better appreciate the complexity of the PhD supervisor responsibility.