Finding a research group increases sense of belonging, but struggling to find a group increases likelihood of attrition

High attrition in physics graduate education is an ongoing problem. As the population of physics PhD students grows larger and more diverse, investigating the underlying factors that drive students to leave their programs is imperative. Here, we explore how the process of finding and joining a research group impacts retention and leaving in physics graduate education. Semi-structured interviews with 20 first and second-year physics PhD students reveal that students who are able to immerse themselves in a positive research environment report increased sense of belonging in their programs, whereas students who struggle to find a group are more likely to feel isolated and consider leaving. Despite the impact of successfully joining a group, students often perceive a lack of guidance from their department regarding how to navigate that process. Moreover, they characterize coursework (the most familiar and structured component of the graduate school experience) as a barrier to their search. Since students with a higher sense of belonging are more likely to persist, our results suggest that formal departmental structures to more fairly and equitably support early involvement in research may offer a means for physics graduate programs to improve retention.