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Social mobility, and in particular, intergenerational mobility, can be driven by increased opportunities for extended education. Movement beyond a family's social class will often see positive changes to overall life satisfaction, however, this movement can introduce feelings of alienation. This in turn can lead to detachment either from the social group or, more likely, from the educational provision. As such, institutions are spending time and resources to investigate strategies for retention. This study looks at the impact of foundation year bridging programmes and the potential they have to increase course retention and persistence of students. A retrospective statistical analysis of seven academic years (using chi square) highlighted that completion of a foundation year bridging programme before a traditional undergraduate degree increased the likelihood of persistency and decreased the attrition rate of students from low participation neighbourhoods. These findings, when considered alongside seminal theoretical frameworks such as Spady, Pascarella, and Tinto, confirm the role which family and social background must play in a student's ability to complete an undergraduate degree. Family and other social support networks are known to play a role in the provision of a supportive environment for students and the undertaking of a bridging programme allows time for the adaptation and development of new friendship groups and increase a family's familiarity with the pressures of higher education. Higher education providers may, therefore, be able to begin to tackle attrition and improve their course retention through family education and through the encouragement of social integration via bridging programmes.

The persistent gender gap in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is often attributed to differences in students' confidence in their own academic abilities (i.e. self-efficacy). Yet, the role of self-efficacy in mediating gender differences in STEM attrition is unclear. To address this issue, we analyse administrative register data and representative survey responses from two cohorts of students (N = 14,427) who entered higher education programmes in 2017 and 2019. In linear models that adjust for high-school performance, parents' education level and other relevant background variables, we find that women have lower average self-efficacy levels than men before entering higher education. This gender gap is not specific to STEM fields but also exists in the humanities and social sciences. Although women have higher dropout rates than men in some, but not all STEM areas (most notably in mathematics and physics), self-efficacy differences do not explain this gap, suggesting that factors beyond prior achievements, sociodemographic background and confidence in one's own abilities perpetuate gender disparities in STEM attrition.

This article discusses the research question 'Which characteristics of social behavior and attitudes are embedded in the latent orientation of supervision practices in doctoral education and training?' based on socialization theory (Grundmann, M. 2006. "Sozialisation: Skizze einer allgemeinen Theorie." Konstanz: UVK). These latent orientations are towards (a) the academic community and (b) the PhD candidate. Both orientations are based on a fragile equilibrium and/or ambivalence of cognitive and social practices in the supervisor--PhD candidate relationship. A bundle of 14 supervision practices (Schneijderberg, C. 2018. "Promovieren in den Sozialwissenschaften." Wiesbaden: Springer) is used as an empirical example to theoretically reflect the latent orientations which become manifest in supervision practices. The article shows how the theoretically latent but possibly dominant socialization practices of supervisors geared towards the academic community could collide with the development of PhD candidates' personality, knowledge and skills, and possibly lead to attrition and drop-out of PhD candidates.

As higher education has made the transition from elite to mass enrolments, the student body has become more diverse and online and blended learning have become more common. This study aimed to examine the impacts on attrition of admitting a more diverse student body with the shift towards online and blended learning. A hypothesised path model of attrition was tested with structural equation modelling. The model contained four presage variables related to the changed demographic of the student body and alternative modes of study; attendance mode, admission basis, remoteness and socio-economics status. There were two intervening variables; age and year of study. The two outcome variables were dropout and GPA value. The model was tested against a large sample of data from a student record system of a regional Australian university. The model showed a good fit to the data predicting that the expansion of higher education, along with the increasing use of online and blended learning, will impact on attrition.

Despite numerous supports for undergraduates, low success rate has been a growing concern in the South African university system. Guided by Moore's [1993. "Theory of Transactional Distance." In "Theoretical Principles of Distance Education," edited by Keegan, 22-38. London: Routledge.] transactional distance theory, this mixed-methods study measured suppositions that providing support to undergraduates result in continued survival of open and distance learning (ODL) institutions and promote student success. The study wanted to develop a support framework that will reduce attrition and maximise retention and success and to enable ODL to gain 'fit' within the competitive higher education terrain. The study is significant for ODL institutions to enhance an understanding of support for undergraduates, address attrition and ensure retention. While thirty-five undergraduates completed questionnaires, module coordinators' perceptions were determined using in-depth interviews. Analysis amalgamated thematic categorisation and descriptive statistical examination. Results indicated that supports offer ODL a competitive advantage, reduced attrition, escalated retention and success rate. These results highlight the importance of support in ODL in South Africa.

The previous two decades have seen much improvement in the first-year experience of students attending university. Yet for a significant proportion of students, coping with university study remains challenging. This is particularly the case for those students entering university with low tertiary admission scores. Although the higher education sector is now alert to the challenges facing these students and aware of the need for augmented support, our research shows that students entering Australian education with low tertiary admission ranks (ATAR) continue to be less prepared, less able to cope with study, less academically engaged than their peers, and are at greater risk of attrition. We argue that supporting low ATAR students' transition into university means rethinking the role of preparatory programmes as well as supporting these students to develop personal objectives, new student identities, and feel a stronger sense of 'belonging' to their university community.

This study examines whether tutors (N?=?15) in a problem-based learning curriculum were able to predict students' success in their first year and their entire bachelor programme. Tutors were asked to rate each student in their tutorial group in terms of the chance that this student would successfully finish their first year and the entire bachelor programme. The results indicated that tutors can predict students' first-year success and attrition in the bachelor programme, even on top of prior grades. Moreover, tutors seem to be better at predicting completion of the first year and bachelor programme versus failure or non-completion. The results suggest that tutors can assess whether students will be successful at an early stage of the programme. Tutor judgments of students' future success have the potential to be used as an additional source of information to identify students at risk of leaving college without a degree.

The retention of students presents a challenge to approved education institutions (AEIs) globally. Nursing student attrition is of particular concern owing to the high non-completion rates and financial costs. A survey approach was used in an AEI in the north of England to explore the views of five cohorts of pre-registration student nurses on factors influencing continuation. In total 594 questionnaires were distributed, of which 195 (32.8%) were completed; 52.3% of respondents had considered leaving. "Pull" factors contributing to their decision to stay included support structures (academic/family/peer) and a determination to become a nurse. "Push" factors, which had led students to consider leaving, included financial difficulties, personal pressures, poor placement experience and academic difficulties. The study identified key areas for AEIs to focus their efforts in optimising student retention: enhancing mechanisms supporting students around financial, personal, clinical and academic pressures, and developing curricula that celebrate the uniqueness and value of nursing.

In the face of difficult economic circumstances, increased competition and student diversity, attrition and retention have become issues of great significance to higher education institutions seeking to survive. A large body of work has explored the relationship between attrition and the first-year experience, but there has been little focus on students' experience of university in subsequent years despite the fact that later year attrition counts for approximately half of all attrition. This empirical research study examines students' experience of university in six diverse universities, across the three years of business degree studies. It finds that the factors correlated with intention to withdraw from university studies are differentiated by year of study, and further differentiated by the university attended. The implications of these findings are discussed and a framework for institutional action is subsequently used to outline the dimensions of a relevant retention program. (Contains 4 tables.)

Central in this study is the role of student variables and the fit between secondary education and university education in the explanation of first-year student achievement. The fit between two levels of education can be defined in different ways. In this study the focus is on four fit-aspects: appropriateness of expectations, and the degree to which there is a continuance with respect to teaching approaches, knowledge and workload. The conceptual model, a synthesis of the Model of Student Attrition, the Educational Productivity Model and the Transition Model, is tested with structural equation modelling, based on maximum likelihood estimation. The results indicate that the fit between secondary and university education, in terms of resemblance between the learning environments and experience of some adjustment, as well as social integration, student employment and motivation, affect first-year achievement indirectly through time investment. The theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed. (Contains 4 tables and 2 figures.)

Growing concerns about retention and attrition rates in a mass and increasingly marketised higher education system have encouraged the idea that "meeting learner needs" should be a key focus for institutional attention. It is suggested that this approach is unrealistic, however, because of the extent of the diversity which it attempts to respond to. An alternative response is to move away from the individualised focus on needs, deficits and "support," towards a consideration of "activities, patterns of interaction and communication failures," in relation to higher education pedagogical cultures. This move reconceptualises the idea of "barriers to learning," attempting to understand how more subtle aspects of higher education pedagogical cultures may themselves be creating conditions which make it difficult, or even impossible, for some students to learn. Deliberately forging a middle path between conventional and radical approaches to pedagogy, the article attempts to identify examples of "older" values and assumptions which may be positive and functional, and to separate these out from a number of other values and assumptions which, it is argued, may act to prevent students from being able to access new disciplinary worlds.

Statistical analysis of a sample of the 1979 entry cohort to Lancaster University indicates that the likelihood of non-completion is determined by various characteristics including the student's academic ability, gender, marital status, work experience prior to university, school background, and location of home in relation to university. (Author/MLW)

The influence of social background, sex and intelligence on the utilization of study assistance in Sweden and the influence of all these variables on degree completion among students in higher education are investigated. The groups studied were two nationally representative samples of individuals born in 1948 and 1953. (Author/MLW)

This study utilises [1993. Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press] theoretical framework, known as the Model of Longitudinal Departure, to investigate success and failure in foundation year medical school in a Middle Eastern transnational location. This article arises from the qualitative stage (N = 13) of a mixed methods research project. The research investigates the student and staff perspectives of academic success and failure, and identifies factors that influence student academic transition in foundation year medical school. The research constructs a notion termed the ‘state of realisation’, this is the point at which students recognise and implement learning strategies associated with third-level learning success. The research refines Tinto’s 1993 model into an appropriate framework for this transnational setting named the Model of Academic Success and Failure in a Transnational Context. It is within this framework that the constructed notion of the ‘state of realisation’ is situated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation in higher education in South Africa over the last 20 years has been strongly shaped by post-apartheid pressures. Recent research shows that South Africa's current higher education system can be described as medium knowledge-producing and differentiated, with low participation and high attrition. In the decade following 1994, both policy frameworks and capacity building of the sector received considerable attention. Massification and differentiation are concepts that have been under discussion for some time in South Africa, but have yet to be translated into practical mechanisms for delivery of results. The Centre for Higher Education Transformation initially focused its efforts on stimulating debate on cutting-edge issues in South Africa. More recently, it has shifted its focus to strengthening regional and national development of African universities to enable their more meaningful participation in the global knowledge economy and society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines student departure from university, based on data from a survey of undergraduate university students in Norway conducted in 2005. The survey maps students' progression through higher education, and the analysis focuses on the different types of departure and their causes. More than 50% of all university students left the initial institution before degree completion, but the majority of the leavers transferred to another higher education institution, and only 17% left higher education without completing a degree. Hence, student departure is perceived as being a greater problem for institutions than it is for society or the individual. Background characteristics can largely explain dropout, while students' educational goal or motivation have no effect. Conversely, motivation, educational goal and field of study contribute more to explaining why students transfer than background characteristics. A student's own study behaviour is, however, relevant to both events. A high level of student effort reduces the probability of either transfer or dropout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]