Identifying doctoral admissions criteria: a qualitative study

In recent years, doctoral admission system has been subject to many disputes among academicians and has drawn a great deal of attention due to its role in assuring the quality of graduate programs. Hence, the present paper aimed to investigate doctoral admissions criteria as well as to develop a conceptual model. In doing so, a phenomenological quality method was applied. A purposive sample of 14 informants across different disciplines was interviewed. To analyze data, the coding system of opening, axial, and selective was used. The findings were arranged under two main groups: criteria and predictors. With respect to criteria, 72 initial codes, 16 subcategories, and 5 categories were extracted. With respect to predictors, 95 initial codes, 16 subcategories, and 7 categories were extracted. Finally, according to findings and review of the literature, the admission system conceptual model was developed.