First-Year Experience: An Action Method for Surviving the Transition to Higher Education

Abstract

The transition to higher education can be experienced as both stressful and difficult, and in the worst case, lead to emotional and psychological problems, and premature dropout. Recent studies have shown that more than 30% of students at colleges and universities around the world abandon their studies before completion, and are particularly vulnerable during the first year of studies. The social and economic consequences for society have increased dramatically and this has placed increased focus on the ‘first-year experience.’ This action research pilot study followed first-year students at a large business school in Norway in an attempt to reduce student dropout rates. Self-identified students, were offered an opportunity to work with their individual challenges using action methods from the field of psychodrama. Psychodrama was developed by Jacob Levi Moreno (1889- 1974) as a creative method for treating groups and individuals as an alternative to classical psychotherapeutic methods. The study found that psychodrama methods, used in a group setting, reduced the psychological and emotional stress experienced by the participants, and more importantly, opened new social network opportunities that enabled them to survive the first year of higher education. Implications for practice are discussed.