Abstract
The annual incidence of suicide among Chinese doctoral students remains high. We reviewed the statistics for doctoral student suicides over the past 12 years and administered a questionnaire survey and interviews to relatives and friends of doctoral students who committed suicide. The results indicated that suicide among doctoral students is closely related to academic pressure, the teacher-student relationship, and the academic environment, reflecting the current condition of China's doctoral tutorial system. This study provides a theoretical basis for society to understand Chinese doctoral student suicide and the Chinese doctoral tutorial system as well as the relationship between the two. Our results may serve as a warning to the academic community to prevent the worsening of the suicide contagion.