tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/university-drop-outs-20813/articlesUniversity drop outs – The Conversation2019-03-27T17:53:12Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1141022019-03-27T17:53:12Z2019-03-27T17:53:12ZElizabeth Holmes: Theranos scandal has more to it than just toxic Silicon Valley culture<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265930/original/file-20190326-36252-1rt85vg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The story of the rise and fall of Elizabeth Holmes has captivated the public imagination. Her story is now the basis of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/books/review/bad-blood-john-carreyrou.html">bestselling book</a>, a <a href="http://abcradio.com/podcasts/the-dropout/">podcast series</a>, an HBO <a href="https://www.hbo.com/documentaries/the-inventor-out-for-blood-in-silicon-valley">documentary</a> and a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/jun/09/jennifer-lawrence-elizabeth-holmes-theranos-movie">future film</a> – with Jennifer Lawrence cast as Holmes. </p>
<p>For those not in the know, in 2004 at the age of 19, Holmes dropped out of her chemical engineering degree at Stanford University to found Theranos – a company which promised to revolutionise healthcare. Its technology was said to be able to diagnose a range of conditions from a single drop of blood. Holmes succeeded in convincing many to back her promises, acquiring millions of pounds of investment and leading to her company being <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jun/03/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-media-emperors-new-startup">valued at $10bn in 2014</a>. But it transpired the claims <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2018/3/14/17120606/theranos-sec-charges-fraud-elizabeth-holmes">were false</a>. The testing didn’t work. There was no product.</p>
<p>In March 2018, the US Securities and Exchange Commission <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2018-41">charged Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos</a> with “a massive fraud”. It is claimed she and Theranos’s ex-president <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramesh_Balwani">Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani</a> had lied for years about the company’s technology, and fooled investors into giving Theranos hundreds of millions of dollars. Holmes, now 35, and Balwani, have both pleaded not guilty. And while a trial date has not yet been set, if convicted, they could both face decades in prison.</p>
<p>The scale of <a href="https://abovethelaw.com/2019/03/elizabeth-holmes-and-the-great-patent-scam/">this scam</a> has left many wondering how such high-profile investors were duped. People are blaming the “toxic”, “fake it till you make it”, “<a href="https://tech.newstatesman.com/guest-opinion/move-fast-break-things-mantra">move fast, break things</a>” <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/theranos-elizabeth-holmes-scam-silicon-valley-a8835886.html">culture of Silicon Valley</a>. </p>
<p>This is perhaps inevitable for the story of a smart, ambitious woman who dropped out of university to change the world – <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-theranos-a-tech-revolution-in-healthcare-or-marketing-hype-cloaked-in-secrecy-53709">quintessential to the ethos of Silicon Valley</a>. But passing this off as just “toxic culture” risks missing something much more pertinent about the Holmes case – <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14759551.2015.1104682">the myth of the “dropout entrepreneur”</a>.</p>
<h2>The ‘dropout entrepreneur’</h2>
<p>From business heroes including Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg to pop-culture icons such as Kanye West, “dropout entrepreneurs” are the latest formation of an ideal that can be traced back to the US in the mid-19th century. This was a time when the US was transitioning from a largely agricultural economy to an emerging industrial and market-based one.</p>
<p>It was during this time that the notion of the “self-made” person became associated with material success rather than the concern for civil good or moral character. Central to this idea was a “rags-to-riches” story which measured an individual’s success against the ideals of self-reliance and hard work. </p>
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<p>In recent years, this narrative has become central to the trend in bright students dropping out of college and foregoing the promise of secure employment to instead make their own way in the world. In this way, by dropping out of Stanford, Holmes was conforming to a mythical archetype of our age, of which the late Steve Jobs thought of as the embodiment.</p>
<h2>‘The Apple of healthcare’</h2>
<p>A key aspect of the Theranos story is the fact that as the <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2015/09/23/worlds-youngest-female-billionaire-next-steve-jobs.html">world’s youngest female billionaire</a>, Holmes was heralded as being “<a href="https://www.inc.com/magazine/201510/kimberly-weisul/will-the-next-steve-jobs-be-a-woman.html">the next Steve Jobs</a>”. This association was embraced by Holmes, who made concerted efforts to style herself on Jobs’ public persona. She wore black turtlenecks, recruited Apple employees and, crucially, aligned her own story to the fact that she <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIXAmjUFSso">dropped out from university to pursue her dream</a>.</p>
<p>Her narrative from “dropout” to “self-made billionaire” is all the more fascinating in relation to the wider myth of entrepreneurial success, because the university she dropped out from was the one which Steve Jobs gave his inspiring <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2011/oct/09/steve-jobs-stanford-commencement-address">Graduation Commencement Address</a> in June 2005. The speech <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2015/06/12/why-steve-jobs-commencement-speech-still-inspires-10-years-later/">emphasised triumph over adversity</a> and doing what you love:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.“</p>
</blockquote>
<p>When the suggestion of fraud was first reported in a <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/theranos-has-struggled-with-blood-tests-1444881901">Wall Street Journal article</a> in 2015, Holmes <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGfaJZAdfNE">responded publicly</a> by paraphrasing Apple’s famous 1997 ”<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/onmarketing/2011/12/14/the-real-story-behind-apples-think-different-campaign/#2772053f62ab">Think Different</a>“ campaign, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-holmes-fires-back-at-her-critics-2015-10">stating</a>: "This is what happens when you work to change things. First they think you’re crazy, then they fight you, then you change the world.” </p>
<p>This response says as much about Holmes’ belief in the myth to which she was conforming as it does the culture in which she was operating. And, in this way, Holmes’ self-styled eccentricities can be seen as a desperate attempt to be “a round peg in a square hole”.</p>
<h2>The risk of perpetuating the myth</h2>
<p>Most reports on this story frame Holmes as disillusioned – a fraudster, or a <a href="https://www.inc.com/peter-cohan/6-warning-signs-that-elizabeth-holmes-is-trouble-says-psychiatrist-who-has-known-her-since-childhood.html">calculated psychopath</a>. But this simply runs the risk of mythologising Holmes and her narrative further. </p>
<p>By calling her “crazy” we risk playing in to the very narrative on which her initial success and fraudulent claims were based. In 2015, Holmes’ self-belief and ambition were unwavering when she told the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahhedgecock/2015/10/05/elizabeth-holmes-on-using-business-to-change-the-world/#7f349ad665dd">Forbes 30 Under 30 Summit</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You’ll get knocked down over and over and over again, and you get back up… I’ve been knocked down a lot, and it became really clear that this was what I wanted to do, and I would start this company over 10,000 times if I had to.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To say we must reject the “fake it till you make it” culture of which Holmes’ narrative has become so central a part, is simply too easy. Despite it going some way to explain the climate in which the fraud could take place, there will always be an element of speculation and risk in any entrepreneur’s pitch to acquire capital. </p>
<p>And with Silicon Valley’s culture being premised on a spirit of nonconformity and anti-regulation, calls for regulation and change will only perpetuate more of the aggressive self-belief and blind ambition that Holmes’ narrative represents.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114102/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Peter Watt does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Elizabeth Holmes conformed to a myth of entrepreneurial success. This was ultimately her downfall.Peter Watt, Senior Lecturer in Management and Organisation, York St John UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/847172017-10-26T13:16:25Z2017-10-26T13:16:25ZA South African case study: how to transform student support efforts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/190786/original/file-20171018-32361-ob5rlt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Getting access to a university doesn't necessarily mean feeling comfortable in that space.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Barbour/Flickr</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s universities have created a number of programmes to address the historic – and still existing – imbalance between black and white students. </p>
<p>Black students are more likely than their white peers to drop out <a href="http://www.justice.gov.za/commissions/FeesHET/docs/2015-HESummit-Annexure05.pdf">without completing their degrees</a>. Many experience deeply rooted <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20120720135828322">institutional racism</a>. (I use the word “black” here in the South African context to include everybody who was <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Population-Registration-Act">classified</a> as African, Coloured and Indian under apartheid.)</p>
<p>And so each year <a href="http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Full_Report.pdf">about 15%</a> of those students entering higher education do so through equity development programmes. These take several different forms, such as the <a href="https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2015-07-27-academic-development-programme-student-success-not-just-access">academic development programmes</a> and the <a href="http://www.humedu.uct.ac.za/">extended curriculum programmes</a>, which extend regular undergraduate study by one year. </p>
<p>All are designed to help talented but under-prepared students with financial, academic and mentoring support. </p>
<p>These development programmes have made it possible for “<a href="http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Full_Report.pdf">tens of thousands of students</a>” to enter tertiary institutions since 1994. Success rates, especially for extended curriculum programmes, <a href="http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Full_Report.pdf">are high</a>.</p>
<p>But this success comes at a cost. <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/16649/thesis_hum_2015_nomdo_gideon_john.pdf?sequence=1">My</a> <a href="http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/article/view/588/1164">research</a> and experience of working on an <a href="http://www.mmuf.uct.ac.za/">undergraduate fellowship programme</a> at the <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20121023192747849">“historically white”</a> University of Cape Town has shown how participation in development programmes profoundly affects black students’ sense of identity and their feelings of self-worth.</p>
<p>Students experience intense feelings of discomfort, confusion and even embarrassment at being classified as “different” and an “anomaly” alongside the <a href="https://repository.up.ac.za/bitstream/handle/2263/366/Jansen%20%282004%29l.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y">norm</a> of white academic success. </p>
<h2>Apartheid’s racist legacy</h2>
<p>Development programmes are designed to facilitate students’ non-discriminatory access into higher education. They also aim to promote the “<a href="http://www.adp.uct.ac.za/our-adp-mission">transformation of institutional cultures</a>” at historically white universities. </p>
<p>Students are placed in the programmes based on their final high school grades as well as <a href="https://educonnect.co.za/the-national-benchmark-tests-what-you-need-to-know/">national benchmark tests</a>. These results determine university placement as well as whether extra academic support is needed. </p>
<p>The majority of students who enter these programmes are black – and so they enter historically white universities with the labels “African”, “Coloured”, “Indian” or “previously disadvantaged” stamped on their existence – labels that symbolise “deficit”, serving to distinguish black students from the accepted norms of white academic success.</p>
<p>But this feeling of otherness doesn’t only exist with relation to whiteness. The vexed issue of racial classification takes centre stage. One student said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I thought I would be accepted as a black person… but I found… I was ‘other’ and I was ‘Coloured’ – and that was a revelation and it’s a root of lots of resentment and disillusionment on my part. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Being “black”, then, is not a homogeneous experience. Terms such as “disadvantage”, “transformation” and “black identity” have different meanings for African, Coloured and Indian students. This is a consequence of apartheid’s hierarchy of race categories under which Coloureds and Indians enjoyed better privileges than Africans.</p>
<p>So from the outset it seems impossible that these students can attain a sense of belonging. </p>
<p>But my <a href="http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/article/view/588/1164">research</a> and experience have <a href="https://open.uct.ac.za/bitstream/handle/11427/16649/thesis_hum_2015_nomdo_gideon_john.pdf?sequence=1">shown</a> that this needn’t be the case. If development programmes take on the fact that students are operating in uncomfortable, emotionally charged environments, the programmes can be turned into spaces that are productive and where students can develop a true sense of belonging.</p>
<p>This means actively engaging and encouraging critical discussion about issues of race, class, identity and citizenship in white-dominated spaces. </p>
<p>The undergraduate fellowship programme, on which I based my research, has shown that this is possible.</p>
<h2>A case study of success</h2>
<p>The fellowship programmes is small – only five fellows are selected for the programme each year. </p>
<p>Fellows operate in a close-knit network which facilitates critical debates about race. In this environment students are able to raise and confront tough, uncomfortable questions. The programme acknowledges the varied experiences and perceptions of the world that its fellows bring along. These differences are used as a basis for collaborative peer engagement and for creating a sense of common purpose and belonging. </p>
<p>Another core aspect of programme is mentorship. Each student selects an academic mentor – a specialist in a particular discipline who is responsible for inducting the student into that field. Mentors guide, facilitate and create opportunities for student advancement. </p>
<p>Funding is important too. The fellowship is largely funded by international organisations and is well resourced, allowing students to travel to local and international fellowship conferences, have access to specialised mentoring, research writing retreats and funds to repay some student debt on completing their PhDs. </p>
<p>This approach creates a shift in perception: black identity comes to be viewed in terms of how one feels, in <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/heidegger/">the words</a> of German philosopher Martin Heidegger, about one’s existence and sense of “being in the world”. This allows for opportunities to create a more confident, authentic sense of “being” human that allows, as Heidegger puts it “one to feel <a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2013/entries/heidegger/">at home</a> within oneself”. </p>
<h2>Lessons</h2>
<p>Of course, there is no single perfect approach for developing equity within higher education. But the lessons from my research show how important it is to create spaces for reflecting on student experiences and perceptions of higher education. </p>
<p>Extended development programmes shouldn’t try to sanitise contentious issues. Instead, they should embrace the discomfort of engaging students about the necessity of the programmes and how they are meant to contribute to transformation agendas. </p>
<p>Taking ownership in this way provides a platform for students to generate their own sense of belonging.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/84717/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gideon Nomdo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students experience intense feelings of discomfort, confusion and even embarrassment at being classified as “different” and an “anomaly” alongside the norm of white academic success.Gideon Nomdo, Course coordinator: Language in Humanities, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/737032017-03-02T14:59:26Z2017-03-02T14:59:26ZHow strong academic support can change university students’ lives<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158873/original/image-20170301-5492-15hasrs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Black South African students need fewer excuses and more support from universities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Kim Ludbrook/EPA</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In South Africa tens of thousands of students <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2015-05-21-18-of-matrics-register-at-universities-half-drop-out">leave universities</a> each year without completing their degrees. They are largely being pushed out of the system <a href="http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Full_Report.pdf">due to</a> funding issues and a lack of academic support.</p>
<p>Funding is <a href="http://www.nature.com/news/south-african-academics-warn-of-universities-on-the-brink-1.20492">a national problem</a>. But what about the lack of comprehensive academic support for students who really need it? The fault here lies squarely with universities. </p>
<p>Universities blame the country’s <a href="http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Full_Report.pdf">disastrous public schooling system</a> for the fact that many students enter higher education unprepared. </p>
<p>Public schooling is definitely a massive problem. Research suggests that of one million children who enter Grade 1 in South Africa each year, half <a href="https://equaleducation.org.za/2017/01/04/matric-results-an-indicator-of-primary-schooling-in-crisis/">do not go on</a> to complete secondary school. Only <a href="https://chet.org.za/files/resources/Fees%20and%20Sustainable%20funding%20PPT%20Final%2011May16.pdf">100,000 get to university</a> and only 53,000 graduate from university after six years in the tertiary system. </p>
<p>We must stop expecting first-year students - many of whom come from public schools and whose first language isn’t English - to somehow figure out how to cope with the rigorous demands of any university degree without genuine, committed support.</p>
<p>There are some programmes in place to ease the transition. But many students at my own institution have confided in me that these programmes are often inadequate. Most classes to improve second language speakers’ grasp of English are optional, as are workshops on academic preparedness. Some students attend them; others struggle to find time due to packed class schedules.</p>
<p>My institution has a writing centre to support students with essay and assignment writing. The problem is that it’s understaffed and students often have to wait weeks for an appointment.</p>
<p>But there’s a fascinating and troubling contradiction at play: this very same institution offers comprehensive and compulsory programmes to help students who don’t speak English as a first language – as long as they’re international students from outside South Africa. And these programmes work very well, helping students cope with university demands and go on to graduate.</p>
<p>These programmes must be adapted, broadened and rolled out to ensure that South African students who are struggling with English and the demands of university education don’t get left behind.</p>
<p>I’m speaking from experience. Fifteen years ago I barely spoke any English but managed to earn a scholarship to a university in the United States. The support I received there made a world of difference. Similar support can change South African students’ university experience – and their lives, too.</p>
<h2>Comprehensive and dedicated support</h2>
<p>In 2002 I received a scholarship to study at the <a href="https://www.csbsju.edu/">College of St Benedict and St John’s University</a> in Minnesota. I’m from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and English isn’t my first language. I learned a bit of English in primary school. Then <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17212376">the war interrupted</a> my primary school education for two years. After the war, the education system was dysfunctional. </p>
<p>When I got to the US in 2002 I could hardly speak, read or write English.</p>
<p>I spent two months in a school for students learning English as a second language, then headed to university. This helped a bit but I needed so much more.</p>
<p>The first year at university was hell, academically speaking. I struggled to understand what was going on around me. I could hardly express myself or write my assignments. Often, I doubted myself and my choice to accept the scholarship. I doubted my own intelligence.</p>
<p>Over the years in South Africa, I have heard many accounts of similar struggles experienced by South African students whose first language isn’t English. They all speak about the inability to engage in English, to cope, follow lectures. They, too, often think that they are not good enough to be at the university.</p>
<p>The best thing about my first year was the English language class I attended with other international students. Our professor taught us to read, write, speak and present in English. There were three classes a week, but she supported us way beyond those set times.</p>
<p>Without her, I probably would have quit my studies. Instead, my marks improved dramatically and my confidence grew. In 2005 I was persuaded by my American friends to write a book about my wartime experiences. I wrote it in English. It was <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Not-My-Turn-Die-Childhood/dp/0814401651/">published</a> in 2008.</p>
<p>I’ve been in South Africa since 2007, obtaining a Masters and PhD. Today I write, do research, publish, lecture, present at national and international conferences. All in English.</p>
<p>I didn’t accomplish any of this because I was special. The support I received at the start of my university education made all the difference.</p>
<h2>Becoming student-ready institutions</h2>
<p>In South Africa, the lack of comprehensive academic support for all who need it is excused by the lack of capacity and the price tag. But surely investing in programmes that bolster student success makes sense? After all, universities receive government funding <a href="http://www.dhet.gov.za/Financial%20and%20Physical%20Planning/Ministerial%20Statement%20at%20University%20funding;%202015-16%20and%202016-2017,%20November%202014.pdf">partly based on their graduate numbers</a>. And more graduates can <a href="http://www.nationalplanningcommission.org.za/Documents/devplan_ch9_0.pdf">boost the economy</a>.</p>
<p>In 2013, the <a href="http://www.che.ac.za/sites/default/files/publications/Full_Report.pdf">Council on Higher Education proposed</a> that university studies and “qualifications should accord with the learning needs of the majority of the student intake”. This, the council argued, would entail extending undergraduate programmes by a year. The first year would become foundational, with students spending a considerable amount of time on compulsory academic preparedness and development. </p>
<p>This has not yet been implemented. </p>
<p>Byron White, vice president for university engagement at Cleveland State University, <a href="https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2016/03/21/instead-focusing-college-ready-students-institutions-should-become-more-student">argues</a> that universities need to stop complaining that their first-year students aren’t prepared for academic life. This approach, White says,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>has allowed higher education to deflect accountability. It’s time that we fully embrace the burden of being student-ready institutions … It turns out the problem was not as much about the students as we thought. It was largely us, uninformed about what it takes to help them succeed or unwilling to allocate the resources necessary to put it into practice.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Universities must ditch the excuses and do more. Extensive academic support changes lives. It’s time we got to work.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73703/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Savo Heleta does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Students from South Africa’s public school system battle to cope with the rigorous demands of any university degree without genuine, committed support.Savo Heleta, Manager, Internationalisation at Home and Research, Nelson Mandela UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/735092017-02-26T19:03:56Z2017-02-26T19:03:56ZThe typical university student is no longer 18, middle-class and on campus – we need to change thinking on ‘drop-outs’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158014/original/image-20170223-6422-1l5ocm5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Many students often work part-time and have family responsibilities. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The federal government released its latest <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/completion-rates-cohort-analyses">figures on completion rates</a> at Australian universities earlier this year. It shows that students who study off campus, are on a part-time course, are older, Indigenous, from disadvantaged backgrounds or regional areas of Australia are less likely to complete their university course.</p>
<p>Many journalists rushed to decry the “fact” that these “drop-out” rates in some universities <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/one-in-three-students-dropping-out-of-university-20170117-gtt63m.html">are shocking</a>. But, in addition to misunderstanding and therefore misrepresenting the data, the assumptions underpinning how completion rates are calculated are woefully out of date.</p>
<h2>Who is the average student?</h2>
<p>The current Australian student cohort is different from the one that many readers might imagine – and from the one that existed when mechanisms to measure attrition were created. </p>
<p>While a large number of students (670,000) are in the 18-22 years age bracket, <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/selected-higher-education-statistics-2015-student-data">latest available figures</a> from 2015 show there were over 181,000 students aged 30-39; almost 90,000 aged 40-49; over 36,000 aged 50-59; and almost 10,000 aged 60 and over. </p>
<p>As indicated by <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/student-data">government statistics on mode of attendance</a>, a growing number of university students have never actually set foot on a campus, having undertaken online and other external modes of study. </p>
<p>These same figures show an increasing number study part-time. Many start, stop and start university study over a very long time. Some <a href="https://www.education.gov.au/completion-rates-cohort-analyses">take almost a decade to complete a three-year degree</a>.</p>
<h2>How should this change how we measure drop-out rates?</h2>
<p>Despite the world having shifted and student bodies having changed significantly, we persist in measuring drop-out rates as if the whole Australian university sector is the same as it was last century. Back then, students were more commonly 18 years old, middle-class, child-free, unencumbered school-leavers who often had financial support from their family to attend university.</p>
<p>So how do we currently measure drop-out rates? Based on reports from individual higher education providers, the government annually counts the number of commencing students in year one at census date, then counts them again a year later, subtracting those who have graduated – and that calculation determines our attrition rates. </p>
<p>We do a second calculation that adjusts for students who move programs or universities but who are still in study.</p>
<p>Many assume that the people who aren’t there a year later have dropped out. Indeed, they may have. They may have done so permanently. But they may also have left temporarily, to come back to that program and institution, or others, at a later date.</p>
<p>That is certainly what students from working-class backgrounds who study at regional universities do. </p>
<p>A soon-to-be-released national study of these students found significant evidence that regional students dip in and out of study. On average, they take longer than metropolitan and higher socio-economic status students to complete their programs of study.</p>
<p>Calculating attrition rates in the way we currently do ignores those students who may have formally or informally withdrawn from university, but who may later return to study, as many working-class regional students do. </p>
<h2>Why do students drop out of study?</h2>
<p>This latest research shows that these students often have complex lives and competing priorities. </p>
<p>Many are parents and many have other caring responsibilities. They must balance academic study with these caring and related responsibilities, which often include the need for paid employment while studying.</p>
<p>Many are also the first in their family to attend university. This means they lack familiarity with the peculiarities of university life and expectations of them as students. It also means they are unlikely to receive financial support from their family.</p>
<p>While <a href="https://theconversation.com/better-academic-support-for-students-may-help-lower-university-attrition-rates-66395">better academic support</a> may help some students in some cases, the answer is not that simple.</p>
<p>Many of these students experience significant financial pressure. The costs of study materials, long-distance regional travel to university campuses on top of the usual expenses of living – including sometimes supporting a family, often while on a reduced income – mean they may have to make difficult choices about their priorities, choices that other more traditional students do not ever have to make. </p>
<p>The research shows that some students step out of study because they get a job that meets immediate short-term needs, such as paying for accommodation and food. </p>
<p>They often return to study later when the immediate needs are met. Rather than the full-time study load a traditional student would take, these students often take on a part-time load, sometimes the minimum load of one subject a semester. This is because that is all they can manage on top of their family, caring and/or employment responsibilities. </p>
<p>It is often not possible, nor desirable from a personal point of view, for these students to study full time, nor to complete their undergraduate program in a single time period, or within the minimum completion time.</p>
<h2>Our thinking needs to change</h2>
<p>The assumptions and mechanisms for measuring and monitoring attrition of students need to take into account the realities of all students’ experiences and responsibilities, and the choices they have to make about study in the context of their complex lives and competing priorities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Marcia Devlin receives funding from the Higher Education Participation and Partnership Program National Priorities Pool and the National Centre for Student Equity in Higher Education.</span></em></p>How we calculate university drop-out rates must be amended to reflect the changing cohort of university students, who often dip in and out of study and take longer to complete their degree.Marcia Devlin AM, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Quality), Federation University AustraliaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/714122017-01-18T06:03:47Z2017-01-18T06:03:47ZUniversity completion rates won’t be improved by looking at isolated causes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/153143/original/image-20170118-21183-4ekh0b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There is often more than one factor at play when a student drops out of a university course. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>News media are widely reporting on <a href="http://education.gov.au/completion-rates-cohort-analyses">new data</a> released by the government showing that one-third of students starting university in 2009 had not finished their studies within six years.</p>
<p>This stat makes a good headline, but oversimplifies the reality, which is detrimental to improving higher education standards. </p>
<p>When you drill down into this data, the picture is very different for a number of universities. Completion rates range from 36.9% to 88%.</p>
<p>Those in rural and regional areas – in Queensland in particular – struggle the most to retain students, and accounted for seven of the ten lowest-completing institutions. Those based in the city have the highest rates of completion. </p>
<p>This is not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the educational experience that rural and regional universities provide, but reflects the demographics of the students they support. </p>
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<p>So why is it that some universities – mainly those in rural and regional areas – are still struggling to reduce drop-out rates?</p>
<h2>More studying part-time?</h2>
<p>One key message of the report is that type of attendance, among measured variables, appears to have most influence on student completion. That is, part-time students are less likely to complete their studies than full-time students.</p>
<p>A cursory read of the part-time enrolments in individual universities might seem to support this argument. Generally, universities with below-average completion rates have above-average part-time enrolments, and vice versa. </p>
<p>However, the reality is more complex. For example, the Australian National University has one of the best completion rates but above-average part-time enrolments. Conversely, Federation University has one of the worst completion rates, but lower-than-average part-time enrolments. </p>
<p>The fact is, as the report itself acknowledges, despite part-time enrolment having the largest influence of all variables measured, it still explains only 6.31% of the variation in completion rates. </p>
<p>The report acknowledges that the method of analysis may overstate the strength of the relationship between particular factors and completion, and that a range of factors are “less amenable to measurement or unmeasurable”. However, these important caveats, by and large, do not make it into the media releases.</p>
<p>Reporting that part-time students struggle more than full-time students to complete studies, or that one in three students don’t complete, makes for good headlines but does not accurately reflect the real issues nor help experts advocate for meaningful change. </p>
<p>For example, many mature-age students study part-time because of work and family commitments. Encouraging them to move to full-time studies would exacerbate the problem in most cases, not solve it.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/files/Completion-of-Equity-Groups-JTD-RB-V3-N3-May-2015.pdf">Other research</a> has found that factors such as socio-economic status, indigeneity and geographical location are significant predictors of lower completion rates. </p>
<p>These <a href="https://theconversation.com/which-students-are-most-likely-to-drop-out-of-university-56276">important factors</a> were downplayed in this latest report. </p>
<p>Even more important is the need to consider the effect of multiple factors. In other words, consider a student’s part-time status as sometimes being a cause of disadvantage and at other times a consequence.</p>
<p>One way of thinking about it is to consider a student failing to complete as a boat sinking because of multiple holes. Pointing out one leak and fixing it won’t stop the boat sinking.</p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/investigating-the-relationship-between-equity-and-graduate-outcomes-in-australia/">related analyses</a> of graduate outcomes show that it is not necessarily about being Indigenous, or living in a regional part of Australia, but about how the two – and other factors – come together.</p>
<h2>Result of demand-driven system?</h2>
<p>Concerns have regularly been raised that increasing access to higher education will lead to universities admitting lower-quality students. And that this may in turn cause a spike in non-completions. </p>
<p>However, there is no evidence yet that the demand-driven system – introduced in 2012 to allow universities to recruit as many students as they wish – has led to an overall decline in academic standards. </p>
<h2>Students’ ATAR scores</h2>
<p>The report confirms that the higher a student’s ATAR score – an overall score that is given to students when they leave school – the more likely it is that the student will complete. This finding is in line with previous research which found that <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED541754">prior academic performance</a> is the main predictor of subsequent university performance. </p>
<p>But when considered as the only variable, an ATAR explains only 3.86% of variance in completion rates. So having a lower ATAR score in no way means the student is destined to fail. However, there is a danger that this will be a take-home message for many readers.</p>
<h2>Students are taking longer to complete</h2>
<p>The report looked at how many students had completed within four, six and nine years after starting university. It found that while the four-year data is showing a small but steady decline in completion rates, the longer-series ones indicate that students are still completing, just taking longer to do so than before.</p>
<p>Four-year completion rates have dropped from 47.4% to 45.2% (2005-08 compared to 2011-14). Six-year completion rates have barely moved; being 67.0% in 2005-10 and 66.8% in 2009-14. Nine-year completion rates have also changed little: from 73.6 in 2005-13 to 73.5% in 2006-14. </p>
<p>This is line with <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07294360.2014.973385">previous research</a> showing that increasing access to higher education may cause rates of quicker completion (eg within four years) to fall. </p>
<p><a href="http://completecollege.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/4-Year-Myth.pdf">Research in the US</a> suggests that taking longer to complete studies is due to four reasons: bad planning or advice, switching courses, switching universities, and taking unnecessary units. This may prove a useful guide to direct research in Australia to look at why the same is occurring here. </p>
<p>Governments need to stop considering individual factors such as race, age or wealth in isolation when measuring higher education disadvantage. This requires researchers and policymakers to do the same. Ultimately, they are all proxies for real disadvantage, something that is distinct to most individuals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/71412/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tim Pitman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Lower completion rates for rural and remote universities are not necessarily a reflection on the quality of the educational experience they provide, but reflect the demographics of their students.Tim Pitman, Researcher in Higher Education Policy, Curtin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/663952016-10-05T04:35:03Z2016-10-05T04:35:03ZBetter academic support for students may help lower university attrition rates<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/140262/original/image-20161004-20205-umfqgb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students say they find university teaching staff unhelpful and unavailable.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Stronger academic support for students may help lower attrition rates, <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=313106893248390;res=IELHSS">new research</a> finds.</p>
<p>The study shows that many students feel they are not getting the support they need, despite research showing that the relationships students have with their lecturers can have a big influence over retention rates.</p>
<p>Access to academics outside of class hours, as well as more opportunities for feedback, are key elements of support that may help students.</p>
<p>Among students surveyed in Australia, 5% said they did not find teaching staff at their university helpful, available and approachable. Of these students, more than half expected to drop out of university. While 5% seems a low figure, this is equivalent to more than 35,000 students or a medium-sized Australian university.</p>
<p>Among the 23% of students who indicated they received some academic support, nearly one-quarter said they intended to leave.</p>
<p>This is compared with just one in ten students who found their teachers helpful and approachable who had considered leaving university early.</p>
<p>A lack of support tends to remain a strong factor, regardless of a student’s background.</p>
<h2>Why are students not getting the support they need?</h2>
<p>Bringing students and academics together is a difficult task. </p>
<p>Just 8% of academics surveyed in <a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/files/AUSSE_Research_Briefing_Vol12.pdf">a previous study</a> in Australia indicated that the majority of their students discussed class material with them.</p>
<p>It is difficult to build these interactions due to a number of factors.</p>
<p>From the student perspective, balancing time with study, work and caring responsibilities is difficult, and as a result these students spend less time on campus and have fewer opportunities to interact with their lecturers. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/files/AUSSE_Australasian-Student-Engagement-Report-ASER-2009.pdf">A 2009 survey</a> showed that the average time spent on campus by students each week of a semester was 13 hours. Of this time, the majority (ten hours) was spent in the classroom. This means very little time is spent outside of class on campus. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acer.edu.au/files/AUSSE_Research_Briefing_Vol3.pdf">situation is more dire</a> for the growing group of online students, and this is often reflected in their <a href="https://works.bepress.com/daniel_edwards/130/download/">lower levels of completion</a>.</p>
<p>From the academics’ perspective, however, workload pressures around face-to-face teaching, pressure to publish research, applying for grants and serving on committees severely reduce the flexibility and availability for out-of-class time with students. </p>
<p>For the large proportion of teaching staff in universities who are working on casual contracts, meeting with students is often something that needs to happen outside of paid hours.</p>
<h2>What affects attrition rates</h2>
<p><a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=313106893248390;res=IELHSS">Surveys suggest</a> that health, financial difficulties, workload and study/life balance are the most common reasons students give for considering dropping out of university, although <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=higher_education">these issues differ for different groups of students</a>. </p>
<p><a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1045&context=higher_education">Around three in every four students</a> who enrol onto a university course graduate within around nine years. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/completing-university-in-a-growing-sector-is-equity-an-issue/">Research shows</a> that student characteristics, such as age and background, also have a substantial impact on the completion rates of students. </p>
<p>The following factors have been shown to impact on completion rates: enrolling onto a university course above the age of 25 years (49% completion rate); identifying as Indigenous (47% completion rate); being from a low socioeconomic status (SES) background or regional area (both 69% completion).</p>
<p>Type of enrolment also impacts on whether a student is likely to complete a course of not. Part-time, online and off-campus students are less likely to complete than their full-time and on-campus peers. </p>
<p>And students with multiple at-risk characteristics are even more unlikely to complete university.</p>
<p>But improving retention inevitably involves a range of interventions and support mechanisms – there is no silver bullet solution.</p>
<h2>What works?</h2>
<p>Analysis of the <a href="https://www.qilt.edu.au/about-this-site/student-experience-survey-(ses)">Student Experience Survey</a> <a href="http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=313106893248390;res=IELHSS">shows</a> students who find teaching staff helpful and available, students who work with other students as part of their study, and students who interact with other students outside of study all have a substantially lower likelihood of considering dropping out of university.</p>
<p>While these findings offer an insight into an area where universities may be able to make a demonstrable difference to retention of students, the conundrum for universities remains – how can they support the development of strong relationships between students and lecturers? </p>
<h2>How to better support students</h2>
<p>Recognising the important role of academics in this process and helping equip them with tools and skills to engage students is central. </p>
<p>A <a href="http://research.acer.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1024&context=higher_education">study published a few years</a> back suggested that among PhD student who were aspiring to be academics, very few had access to training that increased their pedagogical skills.</p>
<p>But this is beginning to change. </p>
<p>Investment in qualifications for university teaching and <a href="http://doctoralteaching.org/">support for academics is increasing</a>.</p>
<p>The adoption by a number of Australian universities of the <a href="https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/recognition-accreditation/hea-fellowships">UK Higher Education Academy’s Fellowships</a> – a program that fosters and recognises excellence in academic teaching practice, and aims to raise the prestige of teaching among academics – is also an example of this change (albeit one that we need to go to the UK for). </p>
<p>Understanding that all universities grapple with this issue and sharing experiences, ideas and programs is also a useful start. </p>
<p>Networks such as the <a href="http://doctoralteaching.org/">Doctoral Teaching</a> group are examples of this sharing beginning to happen. Fostering further collaboration in this area is something that could make a difference in raising retention.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/66395/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Daniel Edwards receives funding from The Kawaijuku Group in Japan to undertake some the research discussed in this article. </span></em></p>Students feel they are not getting the support they need, despite research showing that the relationships students have with their lecturers can have a big influence over retention rates.Daniel Edwards, Principal Research Fellow, Australian Council for Educational ResearchLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/555802016-03-02T04:25:09Z2016-03-02T04:25:09ZWhy lecturers need to know all about their students’ lives, fears and hopes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/113363/original/image-20160301-8079-1oc6h40.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Every student has their own story and their own concerns. Lecturers need to listen.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Reuters/Mike Hutchings</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/columnists/mcdonald/mcdonald013.shtml">Know your students</a> and where they come from. This, in my opinion – and research <a href="http://www.cirtl.net/node/2543">confirms</a> it – is one of the key ingredients for an enabling teaching and learning environment. The life experiences hiding behind the faces one sees every day in the lecture room are equally as important as what happens in the lecture room itself.</p>
<p>It is for this reason that, since 2011, I have dedicated part of my first lecture with my new first year students to compiling a detailed set of questions. These include questions about their financial situation – do they have a bursary, a study loan or an alternative means of support? </p>
<p>I also ask about their reasons for studying, why they’ve chosen a particular degree and whether they’re the first person in their family to attend university. Other questions revolve around food – do they have enough money to eat, and eat regularly? </p>
<p>I also ask whether English is a student’s first, second or third language and about their living conditions: are they in residence, in a flat, a commune or staying at home with family?</p>
<p>Some of these are indeed very personal questions. But a student’s personal life obviously fits into the bigger picture of their academic success – and these questions are extremely relevant in South Africa.</p>
<h2>Understanding the context</h2>
<p>University education was just one element of society that opened up after 1994 when formal apartheid ended. Enrolments have <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20140425131554856">doubled</a> in the past 22 years and university demographics have shifted radically. This is largely along race lines – <a href="http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20140425131554856">more than 80%</a> of today’s students are black South Africans. </p>
<p>For many, English – the language of tuition at most public universities – is a second or third language. There has also been an economic shift. Universities aren’t just the domain of middle or upper class young South Africans whose families can easily afford tuition fees or qualify for bank loans.</p>
<p>Many of the country’s students rely on the National Student Financial Aid Scheme, or NSFAS, to fund their degrees. But this funding doesn’t always cover more than their tuition, leaving students vulnerable to hunger, homelessness and a lack of basic resources like textbooks. </p>
<p><a href="http://heltasa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/HELTASA-2013-Teaching-the-Students.pdf">Research</a> about first-year students done at my institution has shown that it is not just a person’s schooling background that positively or negatively affects their performance as a university student.</p>
<p>There are other issues at play: <a href="https://theconversation.com/financial-stress-distracts-university-students-from-academic-success-49818">financial distress</a>, language and literacy skills, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/20/first-generation-college-student-responses">lack of role models</a> in the family and even the environment one lives in. As an example, students living in a commune perform generally worse than students living in a residence or with their families.</p>
<h2>Information empowers lecturers</h2>
<p>My students’ answers help me, as a lecturer, to identify academic risk situations at an early stage. They also enable me, as a mentor, to refer them to relevant support activities in place at the institution such as food programs for hungry students or language skills development initiatives.</p>
<p>You might expect students to shy away from sharing such personal information with a lecturer. On the contrary. When I explain why these questions are being asked and how they might be used to help students, they are very willing to elaborate on their answers. They do not refrain from sharing their hopes, dreams and fears, giving me a glimpse of what lies in their past and what has brought them here.</p>
<p>Some of the answers I received at the beginning of the 2016 academic year include:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It is a great honour for me to be at university, since both my parents never did well in high school and never had a chance to attend university. I feel I am the one to begin the generational wealth in my family. I am concerned about not to disappoint the people who look up at me and are expecting greatness from me.</p>
<p>Often I do not have money for food, as my parents can only send me money once a month, and it is not a lot of money as they still have to look after my siblings.</p>
<p>I feel proud of myself for having made it this far. It feels great to be here, as I get to know a whole lot of things and empower myself with knowledge.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Stories for all to hear</h2>
<p>The class of 2016’s life stories are not different from those I’ve heard in previous years. But the beginning of this academic year feels quite different to me. The students’ <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-south-africas-universities-are-in-the-grip-of-a-class-struggle-50915">protests</a> across South Africa have made me profoundly aware that what I am reading is not just confined to my classroom.</p>
<p>The words of this post-<a href="http://mg.co.za/article/2016-01-20-fees-are-just-the-start-of-change">#FeesMustFall</a> generation <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-african-protests-im-an-academic-who-marched-alongside-the-students-heres-why-49530">resonate</a> with me and assume a wider dimension. They are iconic and touching stories of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-student-protests-lies-a-bigger-struggle-against-deeply-rooted-oppression-49682">struggle</a> of the post-1994 youth to find a space for itself in the current South African higher education landscape and society. </p>
<p>It is time that such stories, which have too often <a href="https://theconversation.com/student-protests-give-south-africans-a-glimpse-into-hidden-lives-49959">been hidden</a> and even ignored, be made public for all to hear.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55580/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emanuela Carleschi receives funding from the National Research Foundation of South Africa and the University of Johannesburg. </span></em></p>Coming to understand students’ individual stories allows lecturers to guide, mentor and support them.Emanuela Carleschi, Senior Lecturer in Condensed Matter Physics, University of JohannesburgLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/479332015-09-25T02:00:42Z2015-09-25T02:00:42ZGetting students into uni is one thing, but how to keep them there?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95973/original/image-20150924-14311-3xnx5c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students likely to drop out need support - one of the best sources of support is current students. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com.au</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has revealed Labor’s <a href="http://www.nodebtsentence.org/laborsfairerplan?utm_campaign=210915_highered&utm_medium=email&utm_source=australianlaborparty">policy platform for higher education</a>, saying the focus would be on retaining students in higher education and curbing the numbers dropping out. </p>
<p>The students most at risk of not graduating are those from equity backgrounds including low socioeconomic and Indigenous students. So how do we make sure these students complete their degrees? Labor has been light on detail, but we know of some things that would help.</p>
<h2>Getting students into university</h2>
<p>Australian universities have done an excellent job of attracting more students from a greater diversity of backgrounds. From 2007-2013, the rate of undergraduate enrolment <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/student-equity-performance-australian-higher-education-2007-2013/">increased by over 25%</a>. The growth was spurred by both policy directed at increasing participation rates and the more recent <a href="https://theconversation.com/demand-driven-university-funding-system-should-stay-25574">demand-driven system</a> that uncapped university places. </p>
<p>Since 2007, student numbers from designated equity groups have <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/student-equity-performance-australian-higher-education-2007-2013/">significantly increased</a>. The exceptions have been women in non-traditional areas of study and students from rural and remote areas.</p>
<p>While increased access and participation are cause for celebration, getting students into university is only the beginning of this journey. The successful retention of learners remains elusive. Student dropout rates in Australian universities consistently <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/2012_appendix_4_-_attrition_success_and_retention_2.xls">hover around 18%</a>, with some institutions indicating that <a href="https://docs.education.gov.au/system/files/doc/other/2012_appendix_4_-_attrition_success_and_retention_2.xls">an average of 25%</a> of students leave before gaining a degree. </p>
<p>Rates of early departure from university <a href="https://www.ncsehe.edu.au/publications/completing-university-in-a-growing-sector-is-equity-an-issue/">remain particularly high</a> among students from low socioeconomic backgrounds, rural and remote areas, and Indigenous students. Obviously for students who fall into multiple equity groups, the possibility of leaving university without a degree increases dramatically. </p>
<p>Entering university has similar characteristics to entering a foreign or unfamiliar country. New students have to master a new and somewhat alien language; all the time adjusting to an unfamiliar environment where accepted etiquettes may be unclear or simply invisible. Expectations, presumed both prior to arrival at university and during the initial stages of study, may remain hidden or unexplained for certain groups. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95976/original/image-20150924-14308-1er708t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">University can be a daunting place – especially if no-one close to you has been before.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Students who do not traditionally attend university or have a family history of graduates may feel like imposters who don’t belong or deserve study. Such feelings can quickly lead to thoughts of departure.</p>
<h2>How do we ensure the ‘open door’ doesn’t become a ‘revolving door’?</h2>
<p>There is one key resource for retaining and engaging beginning students that all institutions have access to – the existing university population. A key component of effective retention strategies is including existing students in the transition of new students into the university environment.</p>
<p>One strategy is peer mentoring, where new students and current students can meet informally to discuss university practices and expectations. This provides a “safe space” for students, particularly those from equity backgrounds, to get insider knowledge that is important for academic success. </p>
<p>Mentors often share similar life experiences and stories to their mentees, and so can provide practical solutions and strategies for managing the rigours of tertiary study. They can explain university timetabling, university terminology and highlight critical stages in the semester. There is a substantial amount of assumed knowledge within universities and mentors can be critical in explaining these assumptions. </p>
<p>Mentoring can assist in reducing student isolation in university and increase engagement with the campus, faculty and staff. Importantly, this is the case for both the student being mentored and also the mentor. This mutuality has been clearly indicated in our research with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Program (<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273696619_We_are_history_in_the_making_and_we_are_walking_together_to_change_things_for_the_better_Exploring_the_flows_and_ripples_of_learning_in_a_mentoring_program_for_Indigenous_young_people">AIME</a>).</p>
<p>In interviews, AIME mentors said their involvement in the program personally evoked a greater sense of belonging with the campus community, encouraging some to continue with their own studies. </p>
<p>This <a href="https://aimementoring.com/">educational mentoring program</a> has improved the high school completion rates of Australian Indigenous students, transitioning 100% of their Year 12 students into university, further education, or employment.</p>
<p>The potential of mentoring programs is not limited to getting students into university. It should be offered as an ongoing aspect of university life. Engaging with existing students more advanced in their degrees is particularly important for those students who may not have a trusted person available to answer questions or provide advice.</p>
<p>Nurturing mentoring relationships over time, with continued opportunities for conversations and meetings throughout the first and even second year of study, <a href="http://ro.uow.edu.au/edupapers/1173/">can assist in retention</a>, particularly among students most at risk of dropping out.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sarah O' Shea receives funding from Australian Research Council and the Office for Learning and Teaching</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Paul Chandler receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Valerie Harwood receives funding from the Australian Research Council</span></em></p>Bill Shorten has said he wants to reduce the number of uni students dropping out. Here’s one way to do it.Sarah O'Shea, Senior Lecturer in Adult, Vocational and Higher Education, University of WollongongPaul Chandler, Pro Vice Chancellor, University of WollongongValerie Harwood, Professor, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.