I wish I could read the full study linked to in this article (I can, but I don’t want to buy it). As an ABD, I can relate to the pressures that prevent candidates from finishing  Ph.D.s. The author of the article takes issue with this excerpt from the study:

17 percent of those who departed programs reported that they were in managerial positions, 13 percent reported that they were either judges or lawyers, and a majority of the rest found careers in education, mostly at colleges and universities.

This statement doesn’t match her experience, but it does match mine, in a way. I can say that I am in management, because I am. However, I don’t really define myself that way. Instead, I say that I am in educational technology because that is where my passion is. The fact that I am in a “managerial position” speaks to my success in the field.

For some of us, the reason we haven’t completed our degrees is all about opportunity. In my case, I had the chance to follow my passion and change the face of education and the degree wasn’t a requirement. If I had stayed in the program, the opportunity would have been long past when I completed my degree. Fortunately, I had an academic advisor who saw things the same way and counseled  me to seize the opportunity.

I wonder if the study considers how many of us outside the academy realized that the completion of our degrees was not the right path to our goals. I may go back to finish my Ph.D. if my goals change, but right now, it is not really an issue. My ABD status has not held me back yet.