http://chronicle.com/article/PhD-Attrition-How-Much-Is/140045/
I'm pleased to say that of the 23 students in my PhD cohort we have seen the early departure of only two: one because she got the dream job she wanted to get after a PhD, and the other due to academic struggles (more or less). We've been generally supportive of each other, and I think that helps. Unfortunately, that's not the case in every cohort, and in our most recent cohort 3 of 14 students have chosen to leave after their first year. That's not the 50% attrition rate mentioned in the article, but PhD programs are long and inevitably some will not finish their dissertations.
I'm pleased to say that of the 23 students in my PhD cohort we have seen the early departure of only two: one because she got the dream job she wanted to get after a PhD, and the other due to academic struggles (more or less). We've been generally supportive of each other, and I think that helps. Unfortunately, that's not the case in every cohort, and in our most recent cohort 3 of 14 students have chosen to leave after their first year. That's not the 50% attrition rate mentioned in the article, but PhD programs are long and inevitably some will not finish their dissertations.