How to improve online learning and completion.

Many doctoral programs have added a distance education component to serve students who, by virtue of place, time or other commitments, would otherwise not have the opportunity to earn an advanced degree. Does this trend improve the chances for female students to complete their degree?

Online degrees can actually be a double-edged sword for women. On the plus side, students don't have to uproot their lives and move in order to earn their doctorate. But women value relationships, and those made in cyberspace may not be as fulfilling as those featuring face-to-face contact.

Dr. Nataliya Ivankova, assistant professor in the department of human studies at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and Dr. Sheldon Stick, professor in the department of educational administration at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, reported results of a multiple case study of doctoral students in a distributed learning or online environment at the Women in Educational Leadership conference held in Lincoln, Nebraska, in October.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

"It is possible, with some creativity, for a person to complete an entire doctoral program at UNL without being physically present on campus," Stick said. He warned that a student needed the requisite experience and academic skills, plus an advisor who had a positive attitude toward extended learning. "Some advisors want a student to be on campus, perhaps for certain experiences or to obtain a better impression of the student's abilities and needs."

Higher retention rate online

The traditional doctoral program in educational leadership in higher education doctoral program at the U. of Nebraska-Lincoln was conceived in 1992 and enrolled students in 1994. Its attrition rate hovers between 45 to 50%.