Unge voksnes beslutningsprocesser i relation til frafald: En empirisk undersøgelse blandt unge voksne i erhvervs- og almen voksenuddannelse

Dropout is a substantial and permanent problem in educational policy. As a consequence, dropout is a recurrent theme in educational research projects including a current Danish research project about dropout among young adults in vocational education and training and basic general learning for adults. Research into dropout mostly focuses on reasons for dropping out and only to a small degree on the students' considerations and decision-making processes in relation to dropout, the latter being the focus in this research project. Focusing on the student decision-making processes, the article presents the results of an empirical study based on interviews with 35 students who were considered to be at risk of dropping out. Four categories of decision-making process were derived from the empirical data: the stable course and the unstable courses which include three types of development: the positive development, the turbulent development, and the negative development. The decision-making process is guided by several factors. However, students' goal-orientation seem to be crucial in order to understand the structure and direction of the decision-making process. The types of development are discussed, concluding in implications for further research as well as for practice.