PhD Students’ Value Perceptions of Their Education: An Application of Means-End Chain Model

Abstract

Increased competition among Business PhD programs for prospective students forces universities to adapt student-centered approaches to their student recruitment and administrative policies. This qualitative study explores how PhD students perceive the benefits of their education, which would help universities provide these benefits and better “sell” their PhD programs. The researchers conducted individual depth interviews with 16 PhD students from various business-related disciplines in a major university located in southeastern region. Based on these interviews, a means-end chain model was derived that showed what attributes PhDs valued in their education and how they linked these attributes to their personal values. The results could be used to leverage students' value perceptions and satisfaction as well as to improve quality of PhD education in business related disciplines.