Dissertation while on internship: Obstacles and predictors of progress

Abstract

Dissertation status of intern applicants is an issue for training directors and students alike. Two major concerns are that students may fail to finish the dissertation after the internship and that they may be distracted during internship while also working on the dissertation. The dissertation status and progress of 1,025 psychology interns is described, as well as obstacles to and predictors of dissertation progress, While 20% of all interns start the year with their dissertations complete, students who start internship with completed proposals make more dissertation progress while on internship than those beginning at preproposal stages.