Challenges in pursuing PhD: A survey on the experience of Malaysian PhD candidates

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) or "doctorate" is a university degree of the highest level which is awarded for a substantial body of published work (Davies & Beaumont, 2007). It has become a requirement to most academic staff at the higher institutions to achieve this highest level of degree. Gill (2004) stated that holding a PhD degree offers many possible advantages to an individual's career advancement. However, the PhD journey can be an unpleasant trip as it involves many uncertainties. Thus, this study was conducted to determine what are the main challenges or issues faced by the PhD candidates in the journey of pursuing their PhD degree by highlighting a few factors which are the relationship with supervisor, the candidate's motivation, the candidate's financial state and the social support from family members and friends. A set of questionnaire has been distributed to PhD candidates in four selected universities in Malaysia which were UPM, UKM, UTM, and USIM and the data have been analyzed by using SPSS software.