Some Challenges to Motivation at Graduate School

According to graduate students, motivation wanes over time and the following contribute to poor motivation:

Knowledge based issues

• not understanding the information and/or having skills deficiencies
• not feeling or being competent

Structural issues

• length of the project
• lack of structure
• increasing responsibility

Supervisor Relationship issues

• mismatch in communication and working styles
• inability to form a collaborative relationship

Self-Regulation issues

• doing the thesis for external reasons: e.g. better career, grad school by default:  no jobs right now, everyone’s doing it, family pressure, fell into this subject area
• habitual procrastination
• weak time management skills
• being distracted by ‘little projects’

Social/Personal issues

• isolation (especially for PhDs in later stages of dissertation writing) and feeling like the “only one”
• lack of trust in self; fears, anxieties, and worries
• unbalanced work/personal life
• feeling overwhelmed by the project or pacing or degree or supervisor