In my work with doctoral students, I often find confusion regarding the term ABD, which means “all but dissertation.” This In today’s post, I want to share an excerpt from my book with Karri Holley, The Qualitative Dissertation in Education: A Guide for Integrating Research and Practice.

While the term is quite common in certain national higher education systems, not every student fully understands the meaning of “A.B.D.”

A.B.D. stands for metandienona “All But Dissertation.” A.B.D. means that a student has finished coursework, qualifying examinations, and all other requirements for the doctorate—except for the final defense of the dissertation.

The term, although widely used, does not represent a formal status; at no point in the doctoral program should students receive an email from the faculty congratulating them on earning this distinction.

Furthermore, we recommend that students not use the term on their email signature, after their name (i.e., Maria Garcia, A.B.D.), or in other formal contexts. However, students might include the term on their resume or CV to note where they are in the doctoral process alongside an anticipated date of degree completion, depending on institutional and field-specific norms.

If the term does not denote a formal status, why is it so common?

One unfortunate reason is because doctoral students may end up getting stuck at this stage (Locke & Boyle, 2016).

In a study by the Council of Graduate Schools (Sowell, Zhang, Bell, & Redd, 2008), just over 40% of students in the social sciences completed their degree within ten years.

The number of students completing doctoral degrees in the United States declines dramatically after years 6 and 7 across all fields of study. Although the study did not draw conclusions regarding the dissertation as the cause for this decline or differentiate between students in a traditional PhD program compared to a professional doctorate program, undoubtedly many students make it through coursework only to run into a roadblock with the dissertation. 

Regardless of the labels, different degree structures, and varied programmatic approaches, common strategies can help students transition from A.B.D. to degree completion.

First, as you finish coursework requirements in your program, keeping your personal and professional life as consistent as possible proves enormously helpful.

While the ability to avoid professional change is not always possible, realize that the period of time in which you are writing the dissertation may not the best for a promotion, a job change or taking on extra responsibilities.

Although some people succeed while making professional changes at the same time as pursuing their doctoral degree, getting up to speed on a new role or workplace can drain mental energy and leave low reserves for the dissertation.

Second, do your best to stay connected to campus, faculty, and peers.

While technology provides remote access to resources and people, too much physical distance from campus can create feelings of disconnect or loss of focus.

Distance makes meeting with your dissertation chair in person or accessing hard copy library books more difficult.

Of course, journal articles and books can be accessed easily online, and some academic institutions support distance students by mailing necessary materials or providing electronic access, but distinct benefits exist to being able to get to campus.

We advise students to think of campus as a workspace separate from both home and work. By doing so, you can more concretely conceive of dissertation research and writing as a “third shift” at which you can clock in, clock out, and approach the experience like a separate job from home and work.

If you do not currently have a space on campus that is your own (for example, a cubicle in a graduate student suite or a desk or corner in your advisor’s office or department suite), discuss the issue with your advisor and peers. You may have find an empty corner of the library or a quiet student lounge in another academic building. Do whatever you can to locate a designated, on-campus space where you can work solely on the dissertation. 

The third major problem causing students to get stuck in the dissertation pipeline is that some students fail to set aside time to work on the dissertation (King & Williams, 2014).

For students in programs with required coursework, successful completion of courses almost always signals that students have the skills and knowledge to complete the dissertation.

The ability to dedicate time to the dissertation separates students who finish in a timely manner from those who never do or take an inordinately long time to do so.

Finally, we find that students fail to reach out to their dissertation chair to seek help and advice. This particular issue tends to snowball; as students get bogged down, they become embarrassed by their inability to make progress or deal with arising problems.

In turn, this embarrassment leads them to not seek out help. Even when students do reach out, they might apologize for their lack of progress or responsiveness to emails asking for updates. Apologies in this regard are not productive!

Dissertation chairs have busy personal and professional lives and often do not keep track of their dissertation advisees, especially considering their own research and teaching activities (Storms, Prada, & Donahue, 2011).

It is nearly impossible for chairs to track all of their advisees’ progress, meaning they are unlikely to be sitting in front of their computers waiting for a message from an advisee to arrive.

Doctoral students must be proactive and reach out to their chair to ask for help (Ahern & Manathunga, 2007). While the dissertation chair can and should give guidance during the dissertation process, they cannot do this if students do not ask for help.

Asking questions, seeking advice, and pushing past feelings of inadequacy are crucial to getting unstuck with the dissertation. 

Ultimately, our suggestions here boil down to this: Develop the conditions that best position you for success.

Eliminate any issues that hinder progress. Additionally, set personal deadlines and expectations that enable you to prioritize dissertation work. After doing everything you can personally to set yourself up for success, remember to use your dissertation chair as a resource and guide.

Proactively seeking support from the chair and peers can prove profoundly beneficial. Setbacks will inevitably occur, but as the famous N.F.L. coach Vince Lombardi famously said, “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.”

In many ways, this approach is at the heart of successfully writing a dissertation: Encountering roadblocks within or outside of the dissertation requires figuring out a path forward and continuing to make steady progress.