Published online by Cambridge University Press: 11 September 2002
The scene is a familiar one: two graduate students, alike in most respects, but headed down divergent paths. Both students entered the Ph.D. program in political science at the same time with similar credentials and similar goals. While having coffee one day, the two reminisced about their graduate experiences and their respective futures. Graduate Student X was lamenting that after four full years in the Ph.D. program, he still hadn't reached the dissertation stage. Graduate Student Y, on the other hand, was in very good spirits—she had finished the dissertation and secured the job of her choice. What distinguishes these two very similar individuals who achieved very different results?