Graduate schools have faced attrition rates of approximately 50 percent for the past 40 years. They have tried to address the problem by focusing on student characteristics and by assuming that if they could make better, more informed admissions decisions, attrition rates would drop. Yet high attrition rates persist and may in fact be increasing. Leaving the Ivory Tower thus turns the issue around and asks what is wrong with the structure and process of graduate education. Based on hard evidence drawn from a survey of 816 completers and noncompleters and on interviews with noncompleters, high- and low-Ph.D productive faculty and Directors of Graduate study, this book locates the root cause of attrition in the social structure and cultural organization of graduate education.

By Barbara E. Lovitts

Chapter 1 Preface
Chapter 2 Acknowledgments
Chapter 3 The Invisible Problem
Chapter 4 Explaining the High and Persistent Rate of Attrition
Chapter 5 Explaining Departure
Chapter 6 The Lack of Information
Chapter 7 The Absence of Community
Chapter 8 Disappointment with the Learning Experience
Chapter 9 The Quality of the Advisor/Advisee Relationship
Chapter 10 The Decision to Leave
Chapter 11 Personal Consequences of Departure
Chapter 12 Labor Market Consequences of Departure
Chapter 13 Conclusions and Recommendations
Chapter 14 Appendix
Chapter 15 Bibliography
Chapter 16 Index