Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of Doctoral Educations: A Synthesis of the Literature

Abstract

Higher education for women is critical to the development of human capital and the overall sustainable socio-cultural and economic development of any country. However, women PhD candidates confront a number of challenges in gaining entrance to and completing their higher education. The most typical issue for women PhD candidates is juggling numerous roles. Combining family responsibilities, career commitments, and academic requirements has a significant impact on women PhD students, resulting in stress. One of the most difficult challenges for women PhD candidates, particularly mothers, throughout their PhD studies is managing maternal and family matters in universities where the motherhood role is not recognized. Women PhD candidates require emotional, economical, mothering, and housekeeping support, as well as educational areas of life to help them take on their duties and obligations. Primarily the student's family members, university teachers, or classmates may provide all of these supports. As a result, following the discussion of dropout for doctoral students, this review paper reflects on issues affecting the completion of PhD studies for women PhD candidates. This review is a systematic overview of the existing literature, which includes books, articles, and other online literatures related to the study. The literature was obtained through Scopus, ERIC, ISI web of knowledge, academia, web of science, digital library, and Google scholar. It aims to identify the obstacles that prevent women from completing doctoral degrees. Social isolation, loneliness and stress, inappropriate socioeconomic conditions, supervision relationship, and simultaneous management were identified as challenges. To emphasize the importance of PhD mother students' responsibilities, assistance and education for acquiring the abilities to perform these roles, as well as university structure, should be family friendly.

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African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 19, No. 1. 2023
Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attributions License [CC BY-NC-ND
4.0] http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajesms.v19i1.9
123
Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of
Doctoral Educations: A Synthesis of the Literature
Agnes Mbonyiryivuze
1
, Aline Dorimana
2
, Pascasie Nyirahabimana
3
,
& Ezechiel Nsabayezu
4
Abstract
Higher education for women is critical to the development of human capital and the overall
sustainable socio-cultural and economic development of any country. However, women
PhD candidates confront a number of challenges in gaining entrance to and completing their
higher education. The most typical issue for women PhD candidates is juggling numerous
roles. Combining family responsibilities, career commitments, and academic requirements
has a significant impact on women PhD students, resulting in stress. One of the most
difficult challenges for women PhD candidates, particularly mothers, throughout their PhD
studies is managing maternal and family matters in universities where the motherhood role
is not recognized. Women PhD candidates require emotional, economical, mothering, and
housekeeping support, as well as educational areas of life to help them take on their duties
and obligations. Primarily the student’s family members, university teachers, or classmates
may provide all of these supports. As a result, following the discussion of dropout for
doctoral students, this review paper reflects on issues affecting the completion of PhD
studies for women PhD candidates. This review is a systematic overview of the existing
literature, which includes books, articles, and other online literatures related to the study.
The literature was obtained through Scopus, ERIC, ISI web of knowledge, academia, web
of science, digital library, and Google scholar. It aims to identify the obstacles that prevent
women from completing doctoral degrees. Social isolation, loneliness and stress,
inappropriate socioeconomic conditions, supervision relationship, and simultaneous
management were identified as challenges. To emphasize the importance of PhD mother
students' responsibilities, assistance and education for acquiring the abilities to perform
these roles, as well as university structure, should be family friendly.
Key words: dropouts of doctoral studies; women doctoral students; problems in
doctoral studies; social isolation; supervisor relationship
Introduction
Higher education for women has a crucial role
in the development of human capital and the
overall sustainable social, cultural, and
economic growth of any society. Higher
education enables qualified women to become
leaders in society and role models for young
females. With a higher education, women can
choose their field of competence, allowing
them to participate more fully in family and
communal life. Furthermore, this enables
them to contribute to policy concerns of
economic, social, and cultural growth
(Shaukat & Pell, 2015). Because there are
enormous benefits to expanding the number of
female PhD students and potential female
doctoral degree holders, higher education
should provide supportive environments that
assist women, particularly mothers, in
1
Agnes Mbonyiryivuze
, E
ast African University
Rwanda (EAUR), Nyagatare Campus. Email:
mbonyiryivuzeagnes@yahoo.com
2Aline Dorimana, University of Rwanda (UR-CE), School of Education, College of Education, Kayonza,
Rwanda. 2Email: doline6@gmail.com
3Pascasie Nyirahabim ana, University of Rwanda - College of Education (UR-CE), Kayonza, Rwanda.
Email: pnyiraha bimana@gm ail.com
4Ezechiel Nsabayezu, Kibogora Polytechnic (KP), Nyamasheke, Rwanda. Email:
ezechielnsabayezu109@gmail.com
. ORCID:
https://orcid.org/0000
-
0002
-
1377
-
9266

Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of Doctoral Educations: A
Synthesis of the Literature
Mbonyiryivuze, A., Dorimana, A., Nsabayezu, E., & Nyirahabimana, P.
124
successfully completing their doctoral studies.
Despite the primary relevance of doctoral
study for academic practices, completing a
PhD education successfully is a difficult task
(Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb, & Kirsti, 2012).
Women pursuing PhD degrees in scientific
education face a number of hurdles that may
jeopardize their ability to complete their
degrees. One major issue is the existence of
gender bias and preconceptions, which may
result in unequal treatment, fewer resources,
and lower expectations when compared to
their male counterparts. Balancing work and
home life is another typical challenge, with
cultural expectations and family duties
sometimes putting additional strain on women
during their doctoral programs (Ampaw &
Jaeger, 2011). In science education, a lack of
representation and role models can contribute
to feelings of isolation and stymie progress.
Moreover, implicit prejudice in appraisal and
progression processes might have an impact
on women's professional paths. Workplaces
that are hostile, as well as unequal access to
research opportunities and funding sources,
add to the difficulties they encounter. Family
planning and child-rearing obligations can
also provide special challenges for female
PhD applicants, possibly interfering with their
capacity to concentrate on academic pursuits
(Amponsah et al., 2013). Furthermore, many
students suffer from imposter syndrome,
which can weaken their confidence and self-
belief. Women may struggle to find direction
and encouragement in their academic career
due to a lack of female mentors and supportive
networks (Dabney et al., 2016).
Furthermore, because of the convergence of
gender and other variables such as race,
ethnicity, religion, or handicap, women from
minority groups confront added hurdles.
Academic institutions and policymakers must
implement diversity and inclusion initiatives,
provide mentorship and networking
opportunities, foster supportive work
environments, and advocate for policies that
address the unique needs of women in
academia in order to address these issues and
promote inclusivity in science education.
Women PhD applicants can be better
supported in their pursuit of doctoral
education in science by providing a more
egalitarian and encouraging environment
(Brown & Watson, 2010).
There are numerous obstacles impeding
timely women's progress toward degree
completion, adding to the potential loss of
women in academic careers that is far too
great to be tolerated by students, institutions,
society, and government (Moghadam,
Khiaban, Esmaeili, & Salsali, 2017). One
barrier preventing women from completing
their studies and earning their doctorates is a
lack of female motivation. Other problems
include a shortage of female leaders, female
lecturers, female research project supervisors
and administrators in science-related
departments, and a lack of social, emotional,
and financial support. Doctoral degrees are
widely acknowledged to be an expensive
procedure, and students typically enroll later
in life, when family responsibilities are
greater. Thus, while family sacrifices are
necessary, they put strain on the family. As a
result, dropping out is typically a deliberate
decision made by some students after
weighing the costs and rewards (Hockey,
1994; Ali & Kohun, 2007).
Perceptions of issues encountered by PhD
candidates during their studies vary (Pyhältö,
Toom, Stubb, & Kirsti, 2012). Among the
factors commonly associated with degree
completion time were the availability of
funding resources, the nature of the advising
relationship, individual student concerns
about marital, family, or health problems, and
the extent to which students receive research
preparation and opportunities (Maher, Ford, &

African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 19, No. 1. 2023
125
Thompson, 2004). Other aspects that
contribute to the entire doctoral experience
include the supervisory relationship, doctoral
students' and supervisors' personal attitudes
about research and supervision, and the
scholarly community (Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb,
& Kirsti, 2012).
Researchers must investigate other challenges
encountered by doctorate students, as the
welfare of doctoral students is clearly tied to
their academic engagements. Furthermore,
effective resources are required to increase
students' abilities to overcome the issues
encountered (Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb, & Kirsti,
2012). Women pursuing PhD studies confront
a number of challenges that impact their time
to completion for a variety of reasons. Even
though women are encouraged to study and
flourish in STEM (Science, Technology,
Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects, there
is a mismatch between their educational
achievements and their total representation in
these fields. Furthermore, there is concern that
women have systematically higher dropout
rates in more male-intensive STEM programs.
Some schools refuse to provide on-campus
day care, maternity leave, sick leave, and other
basic human rights to PhD students and
researchers, citing low STEM enrollment as
an excuse (Bondarescu, Balakrishna, Moran,
& DeSilva, 2018). So boosting the number of
women in these sectors is a critical issue.
Some of the issues leading to the inability to
recruit more women in STEM fields include
societal factors, poor advising, early education
classroom conditions, and institutional
frameworks (Blackburn, 2017).
The gender difference in PhD program
completion rates was found to be greater in
areas dominated by men, such as physics,
chemistry, mathematics, and engineering. The
main issue for women is managing maternal
and family matters, especially in universities
where the motherhood role is rarely
acknowledged (Moghadam, Khiaban,
Esmaeili, & Salsali, 2017). Women have
higher expectations from their families and are
typically burdened with many tasks in
marriage because they are often the primary
carers in their home (Lasodea & Awotedua,
2014). Despite the promise of impressive
higher wages upon completion of doctoral
studies, women momentarily lack the ability
to earn at their full potential while in graduate
school. Delays in degree progress result in
societal costs in fields where competent
women with terminal degrees are in limited
supply. Furthermore, women's low
contribution in professional roles is strongly
related to the amount of time they spend
studying (Moghadam, Khiaban, Esmaeili, &
Salsali, 2017). This review focuses solely on
difficulties linked to concurrent management,
social isolation, loneliness, and stress,
unsuitable socioeconomic situations, and the
supervision relationship. As a result,
following covering dropout for doctorate
students, this review paper reports on issues
impacting completion of PhD studies for
women PhD candidates. The current
systematic review only concerned with the
sub-Saharan Africa region. This area was
chosen due to the fact that it is area that have
a big number of women PhD candidates who
faced with challenges of completing their PhD
studies (Wet & Mkwananzi, 2014). The
research question, "What are the challenges
affecting women for completing doctoral
educations?" served as the basis for the study's
findings and conclusion.
Research based theory
According to the behavioral learning theory,
which focuses on how students learn, this
study was based on that idea. The core tenet of
behaviorism is the notion that all actions are
learned through interactions with the
environment. Inborn or inherited factors have
an impact on behavior, according to this
learning theory, which also claims that
behaviors are learned from the environment.
Education professionals must understand
behaviorism because it affects how students

Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of Doctoral Educations: A
Synthesis of the Literature
Mbonyiryivuze, A., Dorimana, A., Nsabayezu, E., & Nyirahabimana, P.
126
act and behave in the classroom and contends
that teachers have direct control over their
students' behaviour (Burhanuddin et al.,
2021). According to this theory, the large
number of family obligations and altered
family dynamics prevent female doctoral
students from finishing their coursework.
According to behaviorism, the teacher plays a
key role in the learning process by directing
learning through drill and practice, habit
breaking, and punishment/reward as well as
modifying the learner's behavior. On the other
hand, the learner's activity whether thinking or
acting − is limited to the "behavior"
framework and is controlled by the stimulus-
response-reinforcement process
(Burhanuddin et al., 2021). The behaviorism
theory diagram is depicted in Figure 1.
Research Methodology
The 123 published readings whose common
conclusions expressed that the factors
associated to Challenges affecting women for
completion of PhD educations were collected,
critically assessed, and characterized. The
studied materials were gathered from
electronic records such as Scopus, ERIC, ISI
web of knowledge, academia, web of science,
digital library, and Google scholar.
During the initial search, the authors looked
journals and books and selected the literature
based on the factors linked to Challenges
preventing women from completing PhD
educations. The papers that were not related
on Challenges affecting women for
completion of PhD educations were removed.
The pieces that we are not discussing were
also eliminated, leaving 38 items. During the
in-depth research of the study's theme, 15
articles were deleted since they exclusively
discussed Challenges Affecting Women in
Education. Following that, the 23 publications
were maintained based on how they discussed
Challenges preventing women from
completing PhD educations. As shown in
Tables the checklist that outlines the quality of
the reviewed literature, the number of papers
analyzed, searched for, and possibly related as
well as relevant articles is shown in Table 1.
Only 23 articles were used in this review
because they met the analysis criteria, as
shown in Table 2, which also details the
process of analysing the papers used. The
Figure 2 represents the diagram showing the
selection process of the reviewed article.

African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 19, No. 1. 2023
127
Table 1 Systematic review process
S/N
Database
Search
results
Analysed
articles
Possible
relevant articles
Relevant
articles
1
ERIC
13
11
10
3
2
Academia
12
10
10
3
3
ISI web of knowledge
14
12
12
2
4
Web of science
21
20
18
4
5
Scopus
13
10
10
5
6
Digital library
23
21
15
2
7
Google scholar
27
23
6
4
Total
23 (without duplicates)
T
able 2 The process of analysing the used paper in this review
S/N
Papers
Number
1 Searched from Scopus, ERIC, ISI web of knowledge, academia, web of
science, digital library, and Google scholar
123
2
Duplicate
s
then deleted
32
3 Based on the fact that they are not Challenges affecting women in
education
53
4 Based on the fact that they do not contain challenges that affect women to
complete PhD studies
15
5 They talk about Challenges affecting women for completion of doctoral
educations
23

Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of Doctoral Educations: A
Synthesis of the Literature
Mbonyiryivuze, A., Dorimana, A., Nsabayezu, E., & Nyirahabimana, P.
128
Results
Dropout for women doctoral students
In most cases, doctoral faculties tighten
entrance rules for doctoral programs to
include only students who can resist the
pressures of doctoral study (Lovitts B. E.,
2001). PhD students are among the best and
brightest students because of the stringent
selection procedure for students' recruitment
in doctoral programs (Ali & Kohun, 2006).
Doctoral students are often strong performers
with prior academic experiences that include
several honors and other proof of recognized
high achievement (Lovitts, 2001). Despite
efforts to tighten entrance requirements in a
handful of PhD programs, dropout rates
remained high (Lovitts B. E., 2001; Lovitts &
Nelson, 2000).
It is difficult to determine the actual number
of students that drop out of PhD programs at
colleges and universities each year for a
variety of reasons. One of the many reasons is
that students may drop out at various phases
of the program. Another factor is that the
length of time required to complete a PhD
degree is not always specified. As a result,
some students may spend years after finishing
their course work waiting to complete their
dissertation. Finally, there are no national
statistics or public data on doctoral attrition
(Lovitts, 2001). In spite of these challenges,
several studies point to a specific number that
they estimate as the percentage of students
dropping out at various phases of PhD
programs. The majority of the research
evaluated put the percentage of PhD students
dropping out of the program after they begin
at 50%. (Lovitts, 2001; Ali & Kohun, 2006).
Some doctoral faculty believe that the main
causes for students dropping out of PhD
programs are the students' backgrounds.
Barbara Lovitts (2001) has a different take on
the reasons for drop-out among doctoral
candidates. According to the author, what
happens to students when they arrive at
university is more important than their
background features (Lovitts B. E., 2001; Ali
& Kohun, 2006). Some of the reasons cited for
the high percentage of doctorate student
dropout are related to the student's life,
financial concerns, and family duties. Others
are related to the nature of the PhD program
and its differences from earlier studies and
programs successfully completed by the
student. A third set of considerations blames
the program's design for not creating a proper
atmosphere for students to successfully
complete their degree (Lovitts, 2001;
Hawlery, 2003; Ali & Kohun, 2006). It was
stated that the large number of PhD students
who do not complete their degrees is due to a
lack of knowledge of the system and its
processes rather than a lack of intelligence
(Hawlery, 2003). High drop-out rates among
doctoral students, as well as high levels of
distress during their studies, have been linked
to issues with supervision, resources, an
imbalance between research work and private
life, a lack of adequate academic writing skills
(Authors1,2021), learning, workload, frequent
evaluation, and a competitive environment
(Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb, & Kirsti, 2012;
Bireda, 2015). The section that follows
discusses some of the issues that prevent
women PhD candidates from making
meaningful progress and completing their
programs.
Problems affecting the time completion of
doctoral studies
There are various issues with women's PhD
completion time for a variety of reasons.
Several factors associated with degree
completion duration have been reported in
various research studies. Individual student
worries about marital, familial, and health
difficulties, the availability of funding
resources, the character of the advising

African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 19, No. 1. 2023
129
relationship, and the amount to which students
receive research preparation and opportunity
are among these influences (Maher, Ford, &
Thompson, 2004). The review paper's authors
only concentrated on issues related to
concurrent management, social isolation,
loneliness, and stress, inappropriate
socioeconomic circumstances, and
supervisory relationships. This is as a result of
the primary reasons why women stop pursuing
doctoral degrees (Islam & Pavel, 2011).
Simultaneous management
To be able to complete their many obligations
as a mother and student, almost all female
students, particularly mothers, must cultivate
their control over situations. Furthermore,
these students must understand both planning
and sacrificing. When roles overlapped,
however, motherhood activities gained
precedence (Moghadam, 2017). According to
the findings, when women encountered
uncertain conditions, they had to choose their
homes and children over their academics.
Furthermore, student mothers stated that the
quality of their educational responsibilities is
diminished since they spend the majority of
their time at home with their children and
family issues (Moghadam, 2017). As a result,
expecting women to finish their education at
the same rate as men would have overlooked
a number of factors.
Social isolation
Doctoral programs differ between countries,
institutions, and disciplines. Doctoral
programs are distinguished by their structure,
development method, and instructional
elements, among other things. The doctoral
experience is an emotional and difficult
journey of becoming a scholar, and worry,
uncertainty, social isolation, and loneliness
may occur at various phases while completing
a doctoral degree. The PhD experience can
also be described as an emotional and
multifaceted journey toward becoming a
scholar (Janta, Lugosi, & Brown, 2014).
Despite variances in doctoral program
structure (Nsanganwimana, 2018), creation
process, and taught elements among nations,
institutions, and fields, students pursuing PhD
programs may experience anxiety,
uncertainty, loneliness, and social isolation
(Janta, Lugosi, & Brown, 2014). One of the
main variables contributing to PhD student
dropout that is often overlooked while
developing most doctoral programs is the
emotional aspect. Students are left alone to
deal with their emotional concerns.
According to research findings, PhD student
dropout is primarily associated with feelings
of social isolation (Ali & Kohun, 2006;
Hawlery, 2003) and stress (Lovitts B. E.,
2001; Ali & Kohun, 2007). Social isolation is
defined as the absence of significant social
connections (Jairam & Kahl, 2012; Ali &
Kohun, 2006). This social isolation is
frequently exacerbated by common
characteristics of PhD programs, such as
being in a new, unfamiliar, and stressful
setting (Ali & Kohun, 2007). Social isolation
is one of the ignored emotional experiences
that most doctorate students have during their
PhD studies, which leads to failure or delay in
completing the doctoral program (Lewis,
Ginsberg, Davies, & Smith, 2004).
Loneliness and stress
Students' loneliness, which has a significant
impact on their psychological health and well-
being, contributes to dropout among PhD
students (Janta, 2014). In fact, a lack of social
connection made PhD students miserable,
notwithstanding their good development and
positive relationships with their supervisors.
For international PhD students, isolation and
loneliness are exacerbated by additional
culture shock symptoms such as dread,
insomnia, confusion, and despair (Janta,
2014). Furthermore, the problem of loneliness
during the PhD journey may lead to a loss of
crucial information. As a result, among the
methods utilized to address the loneliness

Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of Doctoral Educations: A
Synthesis of the Literature
Mbonyiryivuze, A., Dorimana, A., Nsabayezu, E., & Nyirahabimana, P.
130
problem include the provision of shared office
space for PhD candidates in one discipline,
communication, and networking (Janta,
Lugosi, & Brown, 2014; Bireda, 2015;
Bamgboje-Ayodele, Ye, Almond, &
Sakulwichitsintu, 2016). Doctoral students'
stress levels are also enhanced by large
demands on their time, energy, intelligence,
endurance, patience, and organizational skills
(Ali & Kohun, 2007; Bireda, 2015). Stress
was identified as the primary impediment to
good simultaneous management of the roles of
mother and student by mother students.
Desperation, nostalgia, guilt for neglecting
their children, exhaustion, physical pressure, a
great deal of stress, and constant worry for
their children and their studies were all
present. Furthermore, these mother students
felt selfish for not properly caring for their
children and shame for abandoning his
children (Moghadam, Khiaban, Esmaeili, &
Salsali, 2017).
Inappropriate socio-economic conditions
Moghadam et al. (2017) discovered that
concerns associated to inappropriate
socioeconomic situations were prevalent
problems for all participants in their study on
maternity challenges and well-being as well as
the studentship role among Iranian women.
The authors discovered that some student
moms prefer to continue working while
studying or to seek a part-time job to cover the
major and secondary expenditures of their
education, as well as the costs of
transportation, dwelling renting, food, and
child care. Indeed, these many obligations
present additional obstacles for both student
mothers and their families as a whole (Bireda,
2015; Moghadam, Khiaban, Esmaeili, &
Salsali, 2017).
Supervision relationship
Students must be dedicated to their studies in
order to pursue a doctorate. Otherwise,
completing this PhD journey may be
challenging. The achievement is attributed not
only to the effort put in by students, but also
to the effort put in by supervisors and
university faculty members throughout the
PhD process. As a result, this effort should be
used properly in order to train skilled doctors
(Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb, & Kirsti, 2012).
Postgraduate supervision research studies can
help us understand the nature of the
supervisory relationship. While postgraduate
supervision is a process that requires
complicated intellectual and interpersonal
skills, the supervisory relationship is
characterized as a difficult and complex
environment where emotions and conflicts
can arise (Wendy & Pillay, 2014).
Doctoral students' sense of connection and
likelihood of perseverance are mostly
dependent on solid ties with their advisors
(Berry, 2017). In fact, advisers play diverse
and critical roles in doctorate students'
experiences, mentoring and developing them
professionally. Furthermore, advisors connect
students to resources within the institution and
assist them in developing professional and
personal networks (Berry, 2017). Students'
emotions during their studies are influenced
by comments from their supervisors and other
members of the scholarly community, which
contributes to their study persistence when
encountering hurdles and problems (Pyhältö,
Toom, Stubb, & Kirsti, 2012; Bireda, 2015).
Indeed, supervisors are regarded as one of the
most influential variables defining their
experiences. However, the quality and
timeliness of their supervisor's input,
instruction, encouragement, and motivation
were mentioned as major concerns in research
(Bireda, 2015). Even while various elements
support effective completion of a doctoral
study, most researchers agree that finishing a
doctoral study is a process that mostly depends
on the quality of research supervision (Lovitts

African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 19, No. 1. 2023
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B. E., 2001; Bireda, 2015). (Lovitts B. E.,
2001; Bireda, 2015).
Actually, the effectiveness and quality of
research supervision support that doctorate
students receive from their supervisors is
important to their PhD path (Bireda, 2015). As
a result, failing to provide doctoral students
with enough support and shared control may
result in ongoing negative friction between
students and the learning environment.
Furthermore, this friction may cause problems
in the well-being of kids. Despite a high
selection of undergraduate students, mental
suffering may have a detrimental impact and
lead to dropout (Pyhältö, Toom, Stubb, &
Kirsti, 2012).
Supervisors must pay more attention to the
individualized study strategies proposed by
researchers. Furthermore, PhD students must
be encouraged to think about their personal
goals in their studies. Doctoral students' study
experiences will be more meaningful to them
if they have an active role in completing their
studies towards a doctorate (Pyhältö, Toom,
Stubb, & Kirsti, 2012). It has been stated that
doctoral candidates may delay becoming PhD
holders if they rely on their supervisor's
availability and complete assistance. As a
result, rather than relying on someone else's
judgment, PhD students must take action to
become self-sufficient. Furthermore,
inadequate supervision, such as failing to read
student works and failing to attend
supervisory sessions, may have an impact on
their future careers (Ndanguza & Mutarutinya,
2017). According to the authors' experience as
former PhD students, supervisors want to
guide their supervisees towards their own area
of competence rather than allowing them to
make their own choice (Ndanguza &
Mutarutinya, 2017).
Relevance of the study and its contribution
to existing literature
The findings of this study will be valuable to
educators, particularly those looking for a
meaningful strategy to aid students in reaching
their full potential in the study of students’
completion of PhD studies. According to the
study's findings, university staff will develop
motivation, self-confidence, and a positive
view of women PhD candidates. Information
will be generated in order to improve
educational planning, decision-making,
curriculum development, teaching and
learning, the use of instructional media, and
school organization in encouraging women
PhD candidates to keep their learning and
continue having focus. Women PhD
candidates will be motivated to take
ownership of their education if they are
encouraged to think critically, evaluate
themselves, and improve the quality of their
efforts. Various scholars will also add this
study’s findings to the present literature on
women PhD candidates learning approaches
for future use, and further research can be
done.
Limitations of the study
This study was limited by the inaccessibility
of some papers that were commercial.
Conclusions
While providing an overview of challenges
affecting completion of PhD studies for
women PhD candidates, only a few issues
contributing to the delay or failure of
completion of doctoral studies by women PhD
candidates were highlighted. Universities are
taking various measures and attempts to
establish a family-friendly environment for
these students, but there is still much to be
done to assist these students in coping with the
problems of numerous obligations. Different
issues for PhD students have been highlighted
in the literature; however, only a handful
addressed issues specific to women doctoral
students, particularly mothers. Among the
issues addressed in this review study are
concurrent management, improper
socioeconomic situations, social isolation,
loneliness, and stress and supervision

Challenges Affecting Women PhD Candidates for Completion of Doctoral Educations: A
Synthesis of the Literature
Mbonyiryivuze, A., Dorimana, A., Nsabayezu, E., & Nyirahabimana, P.
132
relationships. To underline the relevance of
Women PhD candidates’ duties, assistance
and education for obtaining abilities to
perform these roles, as well as the structure of
universities, should be family friendly.
Recommendations
Many factors, such as personal illness and the
death of family members, are beyond the
control of colleges. However, some activities
within their control can be made to boost the
likelihood that both female and male students
will complete their degrees on time. Female
doctoral students must be provided with
comprehensive orientation in order to satisfy
expectations as PhD students and cope with
the nature of education. Students should be
informed about various support systems at
institutions during orientation meetings.
During orientation programs, admitted
women PhD candidates should be given
additional attention through counselling
assistance. Supervisors, instructors, and
administrators should be instructed on how to
deal with women PhD candidates in their daily
lives without being harsh or violent.
Formalized student mentorship systems
developed by institutions are recommended to
help female PhD candidates receive academic
updates, social, and psychological support
from their peers. Through these mentoring
arrangements, experienced PhD students who
are making good progress in the program can
share their expertise and experience with
colleagues who are experiencing problems
and delays.
A forum for this aim should be established in
order to provide additional social support and
facilitate experience exchange among female
graduate students and female professors. In
terms of supervision, colleges should assess
how advising obligations are conducted in
their PhD programs. At the faculty level,
updated program information must be
delivered on a regular basis to ensure that all
students are properly informed. Various
obstacles impeding timely women's progress
toward degree completion add to the potential
loss of women in academic careers, which is
far too high for students, institutions, society,
and government to bear. Because there are
enormous benefits to expanding the number of
women PhD students and potential women
doctoral degree holders, higher education
should provide supportive environments to
assist women in coping with their challenge.
Furthermore, there is a need to provide
chances and imaginative solutions to assist
women in meeting the hurdles given by their
laudable quest. There is a need for colleges
with PhD programs to establish counselling
centres to assist women doctoral students in
developing coping techniques for dealing with
various responsibilities and psychological and
emotional challenges. For women PhD
candidates, reducing the impact of confronted
problems may be achieved by offering
counselling intervention to improve their
stress management abilities due to many
duties connected to home life and education.
Policies and other initiatives in place to assist
women and girls in staying on track
academically should be made flexible and
dynamic. It has been said that teaching a
female is equivalent to educating a complete
nation.
As a result, higher-level officials should
consider how to secure a large number of
females in higher education by providing them
with the appropriate assistance. To
summarize, there is a need to improve our
understanding of PhD students' experiences,
challenges, and how such problems affect
their degree progress and time completion. To
lower female dropout rates, more women must
be recruited into PhD programs, and more
female-friendly conditions must be created.
Furthermore, having supporting instructors

African Journal of Educational Studies in Mathematics and Sciences Vol. 19, No. 1. 2023
133
and mentors and fostering supportive
behaviours would be beneficial methods.
Data Availability Statement
The datasets generated during and/or analysed
during the current study are available from the
corresponding author on reasonable request
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest to disclose
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