Transition Points: Well-being and Disciplinary Identity in the First Years of Doctoral Studies

John A. Gonzalez, Heeyun Kim, Allyson Flaster

Key Findings

Students’ physical health, mental health, and sense of disciplinary identity generally decline during the first three years of doctoral study, although their beginning levels and rates of decline vary according to disciplinary and demographic factors. In comparison to students in the social sciences and humanities, students in STEM disciplines begin doctoral study with higher levels of well-being and stronger disciplinary identities. Students who identify as members of advantaged gender, racial, and SES groups have shallower rates of decline than those who identify as members of disadvantaged groups, primarily because members of advantaged groups report lower levels of stress and higher levels of having their developmental needs met– two factors than protect against steeply declining trajectories.