Self-efficacy is related to PhD completion time: possible tool for interventions

Every two years the University of Groningen evaluates PhD' satisfaction concerning education and working environment. The goal is to create an environment in which PhD's can develop the necessary research skills for their projects as well as finish these projects in time. At Dutch universities most PhD programs are set for 4 years while the actual time between start and thesis defense is about 5 years. Three years of survey data gives us the possibility to examine explanatory factors for timely completion and delay. Knowing these factors can give clues for interventions. In this presentation we show the first results of our explanatory analyses. We will discuss possible intervention strategies with two main goals: to increase PhD satisfaction and increase completion rates.