Abstract
In this paper we explore whether power issues enhance and/or inhibit retention of foundation‐learners in vocational education in Aotearoa New Zealand. After surveying reasons given for early departure in the retention literature, the paper offers Foucault’s notion of governmentality as another possible factor in early departure. The paper explores three aspects of governmentality through the data: whether student resistance to the exercise of power creates conditions for early departure; whether the process of group formation, identity building and behaviour creates power dynamics within groups that inhibit or enhance retention; whether self‐disciplining, using power on oneself to conform to others’ expectations, norms or rules, influences learners’ decisions about staying or leaving early. Our conclusions are tentative but we suggest that power issues do play a part in helping learners decide whether or not to complete their courses of study.
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