Minority and majority students' retrospective perceptions of social support in doctoral programs

This study examined the perceptions of amount and types of social support reported by minority and majority doctoral students during graduate school. Analysis of responses from 803 White, 292 African-American, 179 Asian-American, 151 Hispanic, and 29 Native American doctoral students (N = 1,454) using the Doctoral Student Survey showed that most doctoral students across groups were moderately satisfied with their programs and they perceived the academic environment and faculty advisors to be strong sources of social support. White doctoral students reported greater program satisfaction, more positive perceptions of the academic environment, and fewer program problems than African-American doctoral students, while the latter reported more negative perceptions of the social environment than the other group.