Facing the dropout crisis among PhD candidates: the role of supervisor support in emotional well-being and intended doctoral persistence among men and women

The number of PhD candidates who experience psychological problems has risen significantly over the past few years. Poor mental health can have numerous negative consequences for and their supervisors, as it may adversely affect quality life, attrition, academic productivity. Despite these well-documented challenges, studies looked at how supervisor – supervisee relationship influence emotional well-being male female doctoral candidates. current work examined role supervisor’s support in emotions intended persistence among men (n = 411) women 514), all disciplines two large universities Belgium. Results indicate that was low but experienced even more (anxiety, stress, discouragement, demoralization, sadness depression) fewer positive (confidence, optimism, happiness, fulfillment, satisfaction content) than men. Interestingly, we also found perceived structure autonomy, dimensions support, a effect on intention pursuing trajectory both women. This paper makes contribution to higher education research supervision literature by offering new directions providing guidelines training supervisors.