Considerations for discontinuing the doctoral studies: towards personal, comprehensive and meaningful solutions

Abstract

Doctoral studies have become more popular and commonplace globally. Great expectations and effectiveness pressures are directed at doctoral education and the doctors, at the same time the doctoral students' multi-dimensional individuality is easily lost. Also, the doctoral students' motives to begin their studies and their future outlook have diversified. The reasons to begin a thesis project are not necessarily the burning enthusiasm for research and the desire for knowledge but are instead more ordinary. The diminishing of the internal motivation as the reason to begin the doctoral studies is also reflected in the attitudes of the participants towards the process. In the article, I examine the considerations for discontinuing the doctoral studies. The material consists of the lifecourse theme interview of 12 female doctoral students. The considerations concerning discontinuing the studies are multi-dimensional and long-term deliberation. Both the discontinuation and continuing of the doctoral process after critical personal consideration are significant events in many respects. For their part, the critical considerations directed towards thinking about the personal, meaningful future comprehensively, in the long run and as a part of the bigger wholeness. In the article, I present different situations in life when discontinuing is considered and the significant factors which affect a decision-making process.