A Study on the Influencing Factors of Postgraduate Dropout Intention—Exploratory Analysis Based on Grounded Theory

Abstract

Dropping out of graduate school can have adverse effects on both universities and individuals. Studying dropout intention as a antecedent variable of dropout behavior can help reduce the occurrence of graduate dropout behavior. Based on the self-reported case text of “why do graduate students want to quit school” in the “Zhihu” Q&A community, and combined with the Grounded theory, this paper analyzes the factors affecting the intention to quit school, in order to build a model of graduate students’ intention to quit school. According to the results of the study, the factors that affect the dropout intention of postgraduates mainly include the following six aspects: external motivation for postgraduate study, negative outcome expectations, important others, low self-efficacy, lack of academic interest, and freshmen’s adaptation. Based on this, this article proposes intervention measures for the intention of graduate students to drop out, including cultivating positive academic emotions, optimizing the training mode of graduate students, emphasizing the construction of teacher culture, and providing guidance for the transition period of new students, in order to provide reference for effectively reducing the dropout rate of graduate students.