The Physics Graduate Experience: Retention throughout the years

To better understand the attrition rate of Physics PhD students, our multi-year study, still it initial stages, aims to describe the various pathways students navigate while enrolled in a physics Ph.D. program at Ohio State University. We investigate students as distinguished into three populations, by the student's primary responsibility at the time of surveying. First year graduate students are focused on completing core coursework. Pre-candidacy second and third year students have their attention pulled between finishing coursework requirements and beginning research activities. Whereas post-candidacy students are primarily research, thesis, and employment-oriented. Here we present preliminary results describing outlines of some of the common pathways taken by students using historical data collected by the university registrar.