Benefits of Mentoring Female Doctoral Students

Research studies on issues affecting female doctoral students' success has shown the mentoring relationship to be a theme throughout research. Studies have examined the importance of female faculty academic mentoring relationships in relation to doctoral students' feelings of satisfaction with the program and institution; however, few studies have explored the influence of this relationship on female doctoral students' degree completion. With the projected rise in female enrollments in doctoral programs, it is beneficial to understand the relationship between the female doctoral student and the female faculty academic mentor. The perceptions of female doctoral students and their experiences in the dissertation writing process were explored in this phenomenological study. The participants' responses signified the importance of centric interaction with the faculty academic mentor. The findings provided evidence that there are certain issues that are important to female doctoral students with female faculty academic mentors, and that specific elements of mentoring are more useful to the female doctoral students and their success in the doctoral program.