Comparing Student Retention in a Public and a Private College: Implications for Tackling Inequality in Education

I became interested in inequality in education and academic achievement from my youth, after I attended the first year of my secondary school in a rural college. However, I was also privileged to attend an elite college from year 2 of my secondary schooling, having changed from the rural college to a city college in the 70s. I realized, from these experiences, the potentially huge impact of inequality in the education system in relation to quality and standards. It was from this experience that I came to fully appreciate why some parents choose to send their children to particular types of school to achieve good qualifications; and why others send their children to a public college. I also made a promise to myself that I must be a teacher with the hope of supporting student retention and achievement. The purpose of this paper was derived from my previous work on student retention, and to share my experience working in elite and public colleges in London; the inequality and difference observed in teaching on their higher education programmes. My main aim in carrying out this research was to compare the difference in retention strategies in relation to private and public colleges, for which I employed qualitative research methods, observing the difference in college practices. Interviews were also conducted with few parents to ascertain their reasons for choosing either public or private colleges for their children. The findings show that both the private college and the public college used for the study have good practices in education and in their retention strategies. However, the private college had higher retention and achievement rates compared to the public college. Bringing together my experiences of teaching in these colleges for a short period, and my previous research work on key retention strategies, I carried out this mini study to explore this particular aspect of inequality in education; and how can institutions work together to eliminate inequality in education. [For the complete Volume 15 proceedings, see ED574185.]