University Attrition Research Articles

Collegiate cheating: understanding the prevalence, causes, and consequences

This article summarizes the arguments and counterarguments regarding the issue of academic dishonesty. The study’s main aim is to understand and initiate discussions about the widespread but disturbing problem of attrition in higher education institutions around the world. A systematization of literary sources and approaches to understanding university attrition has shown that a deep-rooted interplay of cultural, cross-cultural and social values contributes to academic dishonesty. The relevance of this issue and decisions that are considered necessary in this direction is that it will help educational institutions think about the need to develop a policy of academic integrity and control over strict compliance with the norms of this policy. The work uses a dual methodological approach involving quantitative and qualitative research methods. Within the framework of the quantitative method, a survey of students was conducted, which included a sample of 503 respondents. The purpose of the structured study of students is to determine their general perception of academic integrity, as well as to assess the extent of their use of information technology and compare it with their individual level of academic integrity. The qualitative method involved conducting interviews (in person and by telephone) and 25 focus group discussions among educational administrators regarding the prevalence of academic dishonesty in the academic environment. The internal consistency of the method was checked using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The article empirically confirms the results, which indicate that the traditional learning environment, the level of affluence in the family, and technological dependence contributed to non-compliance with the principles of academic dishonesty and a decrease in the quality of educational services. The results showed that the presence of a family business can significantly affect a student’s thinking and form a low level of tolerance for academic dishonesty (F=1.54, p=0.02). With the rapid spread of digital technology, Generation Z students depend highly on technology to support their educational endeavours (F=1.35, p=0.04). The results of the study offer a better understanding of the consequences of deviant academic behavior, the justification for increasing the responsibility of the subjects of the educational process for non-compliance with the principles of academic integrity and the importance of the institutional policy of the educational institution in regulating this issue.

Predictors of University Attrition: Looking for an Equitable and Sustainable Higher Education

The failure and dropout of university studies are issues that worry all nations due to the personal, social, and economic costs that this they entail. Because the dropout phenomenon is complex and involves numerous factors, to reverse it would involve a comprehensive approach through interventions aimed at the factors identified as key in the decision to drop out. Therefore, the main objective of this work is to determine the profile of students who enter the EPN (STEM higher-education institution) to analyze the characteristics that differentiate students who drop out early in their career and those who stay in school. A sample of 624 students who accessed the EPN leveling course (a compulsory course at the beginning of their studies) participated in the study. A total of 26.6% of the participants were women. A total of 50.7% of the participants passed the course. Data referring to social, economic, and academic variables were analyzed. Comparison techniques, as well as artificial neural networks, were used to compare characteristic profiles of students who passed the leveling course and those who dropped out. The results showed significant differences between the profiles of the students who passed and those who dropped out with regard to the variables related to previous academic performance and motivational and attributional aspects. The artificial neural networks corroborated the importance of these variables in predicting dropout. In this research, the key variables predicting whether a student continues or leaves higher education are revealed, allowing the identification of students at possible risk of dropping out and thus promoting initiatives to provide adequate academic support and improve student retention.

Understanding midwifery student needs and expectations of peer-mentoring for clinical placement: a qualitative questionnaire study

ProblemFirst year undergraduate midwifery students experience significant stress in their early encounters on clinical placement. Peer-mentoring programs may help to address this concern; however, limited attention has been paid to evaluating student needs before implementing peer-led supports for clinical placement. AimThe main objective of this study was to explore first year midwifery students’ experiences of clinical placement in order to understand their needs and expectations from a clinical placement peer-mentoring program. MethodsTwenty-one first year students enrolled in a Bachelor of Midwifery course at a university in Victoria, Australia were involved in the study and completed an online questionnaire with open-ended qualitative responses. Data were analysed using a thematic approach. FindingsThe results indicated that students had varied experiences in the quality of education and support obtained on clinical placement. Many students emphasised a need for greater opportunities for both practical and theoretical learning experiences on placement, and that peer-mentoring had the potential to address these limitations and knowledge gaps. DiscussionSupporting midwifery students on clinical placement is often challenging due to the pressures present in a hospital environment. Peer-mentoring offers a unique and cost-effective means of enhancing support and reducing student anxiety associated with clinical placement. ConclusionPeer-mentoring that is designed to meet student needs is likely to enhance engagement, and thus improve academic outcomes, promote clinical competence, and reduce university attrition rates.

Enhancing self-efficacy through life skills workshops

University attrition rates are often higher for students from groups under-represented in Higher Education (HE), for example those who have experienced social and educational disadvantage. Points of educational transition have been identified as key risk factors for progression and retention, and interventions to increase self-efficacy may act protectively to reduce higher attrition rates.This study presents an evaluation of an intervention implemented at one UK medical school, which aimed to enhance participants' self-efficacy and sense of belonging. Participants completed Schwarzer's General Self-Efficacy Scale and written evaluations. Qualitative data were examined inductively using thematic analysis. Average self-efficacy scores showed a statistically significant improvement six months after the intervention. Key themes including ‘it's not just me’ and ‘learning from the experiences of others’ were identified from the qualitative data and explored within a framework of self-efficacy.The intervention appeared to have a positive impact on self-efficacy through two key sources. Firstly, creating positive “physiological and emotional states’ enabled participants to engage in constructive discussions of personal difficulties they faced, such as imposter syndrome. Secondly, ‘vicarious experiences’, hearing how others had coped during difficult situations, improved participants' beliefs in their ability to cope with future challenges and imagine being successful. These factors may be key in supporting transitions for under-represented university students engaged with a range of disciplines.

'Should I Stay or Should I go'?

Research on the achievement of rural and remote students in science and mathematics is located within a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian schools, and underrepresentation of rural students in higher education. International studies such as the Programme of International Student Assessment (PISA), have reported lower levels of mathematical and scientific literacy in Australian students from rural and remote schools (Thomson et al, 2011). The SiMERR national survey of science, mathematics and ICT education in rural and regional Australia (Lyons et al, 2006) identified factors affecting student achievement in rural and remote schools. Many of the issues faced by rural and remote students in their schools are likely to have implications on their university enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses. For example, rural and remote students are less likely to attend university in general than their city counterparts and higher university attrition rates have been reported for remote students nationally. This paper examines the responses of a sample of rural/remote Australian first year STEM students at Australian universities to two questions. These related to their intentions to complete the course; and whether -and if so, why- they had ever considered withdrawing from their course. Results indicated that rural students who were still in their course by the end of first year were no more or less likely to consider withdrawing than were their peers from more populous centres. However, almost 20% of the rural cohort had considered withdrawing at some stage in their course, and their explanations provide insights into the reasoning of those who may not persist with their courses at university. These results, in the context of the greater attrition rate of remote students from university, point to the need to identify factors that positively impact on rural and remote students’ interest and achievement in science and mathematics. It also highlights a need for future research into the particular issues remote students may face in deciding whether or not to do science at the two key transition points of senior school and university/TAFE studies, and whether or not to persist in their tertiary studies. This paper is positioned at the intersection of two problems in Australian education. The first is a context of falling levels of participation in physical science and mathematics courses in Australian universities. The second is persistent inequitable access to, and retention in, tertiary education for students from rural and remote areas. Despite considerable research attention to both of these areas over recent years these problems have thus far proved to be intractable. This paper therefore aims to briefly review the relevant Australian literature pertaining to these issues; that is, declining STEM enrolments, and the underrepresentation and retention of rural/remote students in higher education. Given the related problems in these two overlapping domains, we then explore the views of first year rural students enrolled in STEM courses, in relation to their intentions of withdrawing (or not) and the associated reasons for their views.

DESERCIÓN UNIVERSITARIA EN ESTUDIANTES DE UNA UNIVERSIDAD PRIVADA DE IQUITOS

El problema de deserción universitaria es complejo e incluye diversas causas. En este artículo se busca describir las razones que explican el fenómeno de la deserción universitaria en una universidad privada de la ciudad de Iquitos. La muestra estuvo conformada por 88 jóvenes que abandonaron los estudios en aquella universidad; sus edades fluctuaron entre los 18 y 25 años de edad; de ellos, el 42% fueron mujeres y el 58% fueron varones. En el presente trabajo, se analizan los datos obtenidos de los grupos focales, de las entrevistas y de la sistematización de la documentación existente. Los resultados muestran que las características institucionales serían el primer factor de deserción, seguido de los intereses vocacionales, los académicos y, finalmente, los económicos.

A Longitudinal Study of the Experience of a Career Development Program for Rural School Students

This study investigated students' experiences of a career development program that was established to foster interest in and aspirations for higher education within high school students residing in rural and isolated areas of Australia. Nine students who participated in the program were interviewed 18 months later to explore their recollections of the experience. Results of the study revealed three themes pertaining to the value of career planning: information, elaboration and confirmation of career thoughts and the social connectedness and positive experience the program provided. It was concluded that the program had a long-term positive impact and that there should be consideration given to exploring the cost-benefit of such programs in terms of university attrition rates.

Blue-Collar Scholars?: Mediators and Moderators of University Attrition in First-Generation College Students

Many college entrants' parents do not have college degrees. These entrants are at high risk for attrition, suggesting it is critical to understand mechanisms of attrition relative to parental education. Moderators and mediators of the effect of parental education on attrition were investigated in 3,290 students over 4 years. Low parental education was a risk for attrition; importantly, college GPAs both moderated and mediated this effect, and ACT scores, scholarships, loans, and full-time work mediated this effect. Drug use, psychological distress, and few reported academic challenges predicted attrition, independent of parental education. These findings might inform interventions to decrease attrition.

The student departure puzzle: do some faculties and programs have answers?

University attrition prevention strategies are typically generic, centrally managed, whole of university strategies that have emerged from an examination of whole of university attrition data. This paper takes an intra‐organisational comparative approach, through the examination of faculty and program attrition rates of students who joined an Australian university in the first term of 2004. The faculty with the highest attrition had a rate two‐and‐a‐half times that of the faculty with the lowest rate, and in programs with 40 or more students enrolled the program with the highest attrition had a rate over five times that of the program with the lowest rate. The paper identifies five practical implications of these findings and concludes that investigating the causes of these differences will help in understanding student attrition. It also suggests that universities wishing to reduce student attrition may benefit from adopting integrated and situated strategies that take into account faculty and program differences.

Racial origin and student retention in a Canadian University

In the United States, research into the relationship between racial origin and university attrition has a relatively long history. In such research it has usually been found that particularly Black students and those of Hispanic origin have far lower retention rates than White students and those of Asian origin. In Canada, however, it has only been in recent years that large numbers of non-Whites from primarily British Commonwealth countries have immigrated to Canadian cities. As a result, there has been no investigation of race and student retention in Canadian universities.

Faculty Differences in University Attrition: a comparison of the characteristics of Arts, Education and Science students who withdrew from undergraduate programs

Abstract In order to decrease student attrition by providing appropriate pre‐admission and post‐admission services, a comprehensive picture of the characteristics of undergraduate students who withdraw from university is necessary. Previous attrition/retention research has not adequately described faculty differences in university withdrawal. To address this research deficit, 185 undergraduates who had recently withdrawn from a large publicly‐funded Western Canadian university were administered a questionnaire. Withdrawn undergraduate student questionnaire responses were sorted by faculty (i.e. Arts, Education, Science) and withdrawal type (i.e. institution‐initiated withdrawal, student‐initiated withdrawal). The resultant six groups are compared in terms of group means or in terms of proportion of the group responding in the affirmative to questionnaire items. Faculty/withdrawal‐type similarities and differences are examined in terms of student demographics, academic behaviour and performance, employment...

Gender Differences in University Attrition

Gender Differences in University Attrition

Students' Personal and Academic Attributions of University Withdrawal

A Commission of Inquiry on Canadian University Education recently reported that approximately 42% of full-time undergraduate students who entered Canadian universities in 1985 failed to obtain a degree within five years. While this statistic is startling, perhaps, of greater concern is the apparent lack of interest shown by most Canadian universities in the subject of undergraduate student attrition. As an initial step toward addressing the issue of Canadian university attrition, a conceptual model of undergraduate student withdrawal is proposed. The model is based on the assumption that students are characterized by a wide range of personal and academic variables. Such characteristics interact or co-exist with institutional variables such as campus integration. This interaction results in the quality of student academic performance and the nature of student psychological condition. Poor quality of student academic performance results in institution-initiated undergraduate withdrawal; a variety of psychological variables (e.g., satisfaction, stress) result in student-initiated undergraduate withdrawal. The bases of this model were findings obtained from questioning 498 undergraduate students who had withdrawn from a large Western Canadian university. Personal student characteristics, institutional factors and societal variables frequently emerged as students' attributions of university withdrawal. Student academic performance was validated as the causal factor for institutional-based undergraduate withdrawal and student psychological state appeared critically related to student-based undergraduate withdrawal. From these findings, preadmission counseling, academic and personal student support and an increased commitment to accommodating students are recommended.

Unpacking Attrition: A Change of Emphasis

In this paper, we critique the conceptual, methodological and ideological issues involved in the university attrition debate in both Canada and the United States and discuss the salient policy implications of attrition research for higher education in Canada. We argue that American attrition research tends to result in policy recommendations aimed at those students who have already demonstrated their ability to succeed academically without assistance. A change of emphasis that places the question of attrition in the context of the role of higher education in society, particularly in relation to the issue of equality of opportunity, is suggested.

University attrition: LISREL with logistic regression for the persistence criterion

This study demonstrates the use of logistic regression in conjunction with LISREL for a university attrition study. College records and surveys completed by first-year university students at the beginning of the semester and in the third month of the semester were used to operationalize key constructs within Tinto's attrition model. The sample of 313 students was divided into male and female subgroups for analysis. Significant influential factors within the final empirical models varied between the two groups. LISREL was used to test hypothesized differences between empirical models. Because of the skewed distribution of the final criterion—persistence—logistic regression was used to identify significant predictors.

Predicting University Attrition: A Replication and Extension

A previous study by Edwards and Waters (1982) was replicated and extended by incorporating a personal needs/college climate discrepancy index and a voluntary/nonvoluntary attrition break-down. A seven quarter follow-up of 197 freshmen revealed the following outcomes: 1. First quarter grade point average and satisfaction with the nonacademic part of college combined to predict undifferentiated attrition (multiple correlation being .32)—a result which replicated the outcome of the previous study, 2. First quarter grade point average was the only variable predicting nonvoluntary (academic deficiency) attrition (r = .53), 3. The personal needs/college climate discrepancy index was marginally significant (p < .06) as a predictor of voluntary attrition.

Male university attrition: A discriminant analysis

Ability and personality test scores of 256 males, categorized by college persistence seven semesters after matriculation, were subjected to stepwise discriminant analysis. A combination of personality and ability variables distinguished between groups (p<.001); personality variables alone did not. The most powerful discriminator was overall ability. Authoritarianism, natural science ability, and nonconformity also entered into the discrimination. Results indicate: (a) the most able, most autonomous group included those who withdrew; (b) the most authoritarian, those who became seniors; (c) the most nonconforming, those who “continued” without becoming seniors, and (d) the highest in ability to think abstractly and scientifically and to solve problems, the academic dismissals who with difficulty succeeded in gaining reinstatement.