Delayed Completion of Graduate Studies: An Assessment of the Growing Academic Demands

Graduate programmes are necessary in training and equipping graduate students with skills relevant to the current and emerging demands of life. As much as a number of students enroll for graduate studies, graduation rates in these programmes are generally lower than expected. This study used survey research design to establish reasons behind the delayed completion of graduate studies amongst graduate students, at Masters and PhD levels, enrolled in Kenya’s universities. The study established the average fee to be Ksh. 412,456 and Ksh. 771,031 for Masters and PhD studies, respectively. Some students: were not assigned supervisors; could not submit their theses for examination; and differed coursework due to inability to raise school fees, all contributing to a stall in their academic journeys. About 34.5% of the respondents reported that completion of their graduate studies was affected by work-related demands. Some students opined that they took unpaid leaves so as to create time for studies; others indicated that they had little time for data collection and theses writing; while others found it a tall order to obtain study leaves from their employers.   About 52% and 32% of the respondents met their academic supervisors on rare and irregular basis, respectively, thus delaying their graduation. Majority of students with multiple supervisors indicated that they met them separately (72%), with the rest meeting them jointly.  Attempts to jointly meet supervisors escalated the cost of study to some students. Some students delayed their graduation because of: supervisors wanting them to take up topics of the supervisor, and not student, interest; helping supervisors with their errands as their academic work stayed on halt; supervisors not responding to their communication; and disagreements between the supervisors. Clearly, completion of graduate studies is, to an extent, affected by financial constraints, work-related obligations, and academic supervisor demands. There is need to lay down support mechanism for students who are in dire need for academic funding, conduct refresher courses on the role of academic supervisors, invest in hybrid academic supervision, and stick to supervision guidelines in case of disagreement between supervisors.