Thinking about leaving? Departure intentions of commencing university students
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The document discusses the departure intentions of university students, analyzing surveys from 2014 that reveal factors influencing student retention and attrition. It categorizes attrition into types such as planned, unplanned, and informed, examining how engagement and personal circumstances impact students' decisions to continue or leave their studies. Key findings suggest that younger students and those with unmet expectations are more likely to consider leaving, while older, part-time, and online students show different trends in attrition.
Thinking about leaving? Departure intentions of commencing university students
- 1. Thinking about leaving? Departure intentions of commencing university students Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching AAIR SIG, Adelaide, June 2016
- 2. Overview 1. Departure intentions & attrition 2. University Experience Survey & data analysed 3. Findings 4. <rant about student expectations & departure intentions> Thinking about leaving? 2
- 3. The current context • 1989 – Dawkins, Unified National System, HECS • Commonwealth supported places 1989 – 420,000 2014 – 793,300 • International students 1989 – 21,000 2014 – 350,000 • For bachelor level courses commenced in 2010 5.8% aged 19 and under discontinued after one year 10.3% aged 20-24 discontinued 17.3% aged 25 and over discontinued Thinking about leaving? 3
- 4. Traditional views of attrition • A vast amount of research, largely based on Vincent Tinto’s work • Students who are less engaged with the academic and social communities are more likely to discontinue their studies • (based on Durkheim’s Theory of Suicide – causes of suicide related to societal not individual factors) • Criticisms that thousands of studies have not translated into actionable, early interventions • Approximately one in ten students don’t complete university courses (differs greatly within and between institutions) Thinking about leaving? 4
- 5. ‘Old school’ attrition concepts • “…individuals are often forced to make a transition from the relatively secure, knowable confines of small local high school communities (where students reside with their families) to a seemingly impersonal world, in which individuals have to fend for themselves, both in the classroom and the dormitory”. (Tinto, 1982a:9) • “For the older learner returning to college, the transition between the adult world of home or work and the youthful domain of the campus can be quite traumatic” (1982a:10). Thinking about leaving? 5
- 6. Attrition & engagement • Relationship between engagement and persistence not linear (Hu) • Older students more engaged and satisfied (Krause et al) • Students who were planning to ‘drop out’ were more engaged (socially and academically) than those who decided to discontinue while studying (Okun et al) • 63% of B. Health Science students enrolled to gain access to another course (O’Keefe et al) Thinking about leaving? 6
- 7. Attrition typolologies? • Planned attrition – the student enrolled in the course with the intention of withdrawing to enrol in preferred course at another institution. • Unplanned attrition – personal or life circumstances resulted in the student discontinuing their studies. • Informed attrition – the course or institution did not meet the students’ needs or expectations and they have chosen to discontinue. • Forced attrition – the student was excluded from the institution and not permitted to continue their studies. Thinking about leaving? 7
- 8. UES & data analysed • All 40 Table A and Table B institutions participated in the 2014 UES • 330,772 commending and competing students approached to take part – 30% response rate • 54,448 responses from first year students included • Data from the 2015 HEIMS collection was used to identify students who were still enrolled after their first year Thinking about leaving? 8
- 9. Relevant UEQ items Thinking about leaving? 9 Item Response scale During 2014, have you seriously considered leaving <institution name>? Yes, I have seriously considered leaving / No, I have not seriously considered leaving Please indicate your reason for seriously considering leaving your current university study in 2014. Select all that apply. (Students provided with a predetermined list of reasons and an option to enter a free-text response) At <institution> during 2014, to what extent have… a) Your living arrangements negatively affected your study? b) Your financial circumstances negatively affected your study? c) Paid work commitments negatively affected your study? Not at all Very little Some Quite a bit Very much Not applicable
- 11. Destination of commencing students Thinking about leaving? 11 Destination year 2 Considered leaving Didn’t consider leaving Total - same university, same course 5,773 58.3 32,508 75.1 38,281 72.0 - same university, different course 1,297 13.1 6,242 14.4 7,539 14.2 - different university 987 10.0 898 2.1 1,885 3.5 - discontinued studies 1,848 18.7 3,623 8.4 5,471 10.3 Total 9,905 18.6 43,271 81.4 53,176 100.0
- 12. Considered leaving – uni group Thinking about leaving? 12 Considered leaving Discontinued studies TotalY N Y N Australian Technology Network (ATN) 17.0 83.0 8.5 91.5 8,755 Group of Eight (Go8) 15.5 84.5 7.1 92.9 14,077 Innovative Research Universities (IRU) 20.4 79.6 9.7 90.3 8,790 Regional Universities Network (RUN) 23.0 77.0 14.2 85.8 4,971 Ungrouped 19.9 80.1 13.1 86.9 16,567
- 13. Students who consider leaving • Tend to… Be younger, 19 and under Be Indigenous Report a disability Report lower grades Thinking about leaving? 13
- 14. Students who do leave • Tend to… Be older, 20 and over Be English speakers Have higher ed as a basis for admission Study part-time Study online / externally Thinking about leaving? 14
- 15. Factors that affected study ‘very much’ Thinking about leaving? 15 Considered leaving Discontinued studies TotalY N Y N Living arrangements 17.1 6.6 12.0 8.1 8.5 Financial arrangements 22.2 8.5 15.7 10.5 11.0 Paid work commitments 18.5 8.9 16.4 10.0 10.7 Total 9,905 43,255 5,477 47,683 53,160
- 16. Reasons for thinking about leaving Thinking about leaving? 16 Continued Discontinued Overall 1 Health or stress 2,412 29.9 676 36.6 31.2 2 Workload 2,358 29.3 666 36.0 30.5 3 Study / life balance 2,279 28.3 643 34.8 29.5 4 Financial difficulties 2,176 27.0 578 31.3 27.8 5 Personal reasons 1,940 24.1 512 27.7 24.8 6 Need to do paid work 1,746 21.7 548 29.7 23.2 7 Change of direction 1,851 23.0 420 22.7 22.9 8 Expectations not met 1,798 22.3 419 22.7 22.4 9 Boredom 1,731 21.5 423 22.9 21.7 10 Career prospects 1,672 20.8 331 17.9 20.2
- 17. Satisfaction with focus area Thinking about leaving? 17 SES Focus Area Considered leaving Discontinued studies Y N Y N Teaching 65.9 88.7 80.0 84.9 Learner engagement 43.2 64.7 46.5 62.3 Skills development 61.7 83.9 73.4 80.5 Learning resources 71.5 83.0 66.7 82.4 Student support 60.5 80.5 74.2 77.0
- 18. Observations <rant> • The characteristics of students who think about leaving and those who actually do leave seem to be quite different • Key features that are linked to leaving include: Age (older = more likely to leave) Basis for admission higher education Part-time Online/external studies • Those who think about leaving (but tend not to discontinue) look like younger, school leavers Thinking about leaving? 18
- 19. <rant> • Not all attrition is bad – some students just didn’t have the right ‘stuff’ • Some attrition looks ‘bad’ – students who are performing well and getting good outcomes are leaving • Planned attrition ‘muddies’ the water and makes it difficult to identify students who are struggling and need support • How unplanned is unplanned attrition? Some of the reasons seem to be ‘no brainers’ (working full-time and studying full time is going to make it tough to succeed) Thinking about leaving? 19
- 20. <rant> • The missing piece of the puzzle is expectations both in terms of what the student expects from the course and what they expect from themselves Which students enroll in courses but intend to discontinue? Which students have a poor understanding of the course and the likely outcomes after graduation? (ie enrolled in a course that won’t lead to their preferred occupation) Which students have totally unrealistic ideas about the extent to which they can ‘balance’ work, study and family responsibilities? • The ‘type’ of attrition suggests very different interventions and different timing of those interventions Thinking about leaving? 20