PhD students’ experiences in graduate school and associated outcomes vary by field of study, learning environment conditions, and support structures. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic specifically, PhD students’ individual educational trajectories were potentially rendered more uncertain, as disruptive conditions for learning and research have continued over the past several years. We compared the reports of 422 PhD students at 12 U.S. institutions in terms of their experiences of support or marginalization and educational plans from the summer of 2020 with follow-up data gathered during the summer of 2021. We then examined factors related to PhD students’ changes in their estimated times to degree. We found lower, but still on average moderate, levels of depression symptoms compared to the previous year and continued experiences of emotional, financial, educational, and career stressors. Findings point to the importance of institutional material and psychological structural supports over time.

中文翻译：

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好一点了吗？2020年和2021年夏季博士生经历和学位完成计划比较

博士生在研究生院的经历和相关成果因研究领域、学习环境条件和支持结构而异。特别是在 COVID-19 大流行的背景下，博士生的个人教育轨迹可能变得更加不确定，因为过去几年学习和研究的破坏性条件持续存在。我们将 12 所美国机构的 422 名博士生关于 2020 年夏季以来的支持或边缘化经历以及教育计划的报告与 2021 年夏季收集的后续数据进行了比较。然后，我们研究了与博士生的支持或边缘化经历以及教育计划相关的因素。他们的预计时间发生一定程度的变化。我们发现，与前一年相比，抑郁症状水平较低，但平均水平仍为中等，并且持续经历情感、财务、教育和职业压力。研究结果表明，随着时间的推移，制度物质和心理结构支持的重要性。