DROPPING IN, DROPPING OUT

Drawing on two empirical studies conducted at the University of Southern Queensland, an autoethnographic Doctor of Education inquiry completed in 2015 and a mixed-methods Doctor of Philosophy project completed in 2025, Dropping In, Dropping Out develops an original sociological and affective account of doctoral withdrawal and recommencement. The book integrates first-person autoethnographic testimony with the narratives of three ethnographic participants and the survey and interview data of twenty-five mature-age doctoral candidates and graduates, to produce a framework of rare empirical and interpretive depth.