Helping students onto the right path:

analysis into student retention at the University of Brighton

Rachel Bowden and Paula WilcoxJune 2008

• National context – PW• University of Brighton context - RB• University of Brighton approaches overview–

RB• One School’s approach - SASS research - PW• Future issues for the UoB and SASS – RB/PW • Questions and further discussion – RB/PW

Outline

National context

1990-2008 significant changes in HE

• UK government aim to maintain and increase retention whilst at the same time increase and widen student participation in HE.

• Funding based on national targets and monitoring procedures (DES 2002: 14) rewards widening access to under-represented groups.

• Concern over increasing consumerist pressures.• Replacement of grants with student loans.• Anxiety over introduction of higher tuition fees introduced in

England 2006-07; most charged FT UGs £3,000 p.a. (H of C PAC 2008).

• Increased participation: 40% 18–30 yrs 2001–02; 43% in 2005–06.

• More students from under-represented groups are participating.• No increase/reduction in percentage withdrawing, FT 22%; PT

only c ½ complete within six years (H of C PAC 2008).

What does the literature tell us?

• Variation in retention according to course (high rates in dentistry and medicine), institution (Russell Group has higher retention than post 1992) and age group, eg 2004-5 young FT 93% continue, c.86% mature FT (HESA 2008).

• Withdrawal is complex and usually there are a constellation of reasons (Ozga and Sukhnandan 1998, Wilcox et al 2005).

• Learning, teaching and assessment strategies (McInnis 2001, Tinto 2002, Yorke and Thomas 2003).

• Quality of relationships between academic staff and students (McGivney 1996, NAO 2002, Thomas 2002).

• Importance of social networks of belonging and friendship (Thomas 2002, Wilcox et al 2005).

• Reasons students give for leaving usually include several: personal, lack of integration, dissatisfaction with course/institution, lack of preparedness, wrong choice of course, financial reasons, and to take up a more attractive opportunity (NAO 2007, 46).

About the University of Brighton

Facts and Figures • Post-92 university • 21,000 students • 67% full-time, 33% part-time• 81% ug, 17% pgt, 2% pgr• 63% female, 37% male • 48% aged 21 and over on entry (ug)

Student retention and Student retention and

the UoB: backgroundthe UoB: background

• Thematic strand 2001/02 Annual Academic Health process

• Further work to ‘identify underlying causes and possible remedial action’

• Corporate Plan indicator of success

• Student Retention Review Group (SRRG) established 2003

Student retention Student retention performance indicatorsperformance indicators

Non-continuation - all full-time first degree entrants not in HE

56789

10111213

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

%

UoB PI benchmark

Source: HESA

Student retention Student retention and and the UoB: SRRGthe UoB: SRRG

• SRRG co-ordinating and supporting role – reports to Academic Standards Committee

• Annual analysis of our retention data

• Survey and analysis of withdrawn students

• Established ‘On the Right Path?’ website

• Bi-annual Student Retention Conference

• Funding of a number of retention projects in Schools across the University and Partner Colleges

Student retention Student retention and the UoB: projectsand the UoB: projects

• Pre-entry: Student Ambassador Project; New Student Area on student intranet

• Post-entry: Student Support and Guidance Tutor role

• Maths and Stats Support Unit in School of Computing, Mathematical and Information Sciences

Retention data analysis Retention data analysis

• first year, first degree, full-time undergraduates

• examines trends over the last eight years

• characteristics of students

• analysis by School

Progression, transfer and Progression, transfer and non-continuation rates 1999-non-continuation rates 1999-2006 entrants2006 entrants

Retention status of students 1999/00 to 2006/07

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

Progression Internal Transfer External Transfer Non-continuation

AgeAge

• Young students (under 21) have a lower rate of non-continuation

• The age gap has reduced

Percentage non-continuation (NC) by age

10.3% 10.3% 10.3%9.2% 9.4% 9.4%

7.9%

10.6%

15.0%13.8%

15.4%13.9%

11.7%10.4%

12.0%10.8%

0%2%4%6%8%

10%12%14%16%18%

1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

Young

Mature

GenderGender

• Males students have a higher rate of non-continuation than females

• A higher proportion of male students transfer internally

Percentage non-continuation (NC) by gender

14.9%

12.8% 13.0% 12.3%11.2% 10.7% 10.3%

12.4%

9.6% 10.1% 10.5%9.3% 9.1% 9.2%

8.1%9.3%

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

Male

Female

International studentsInternational students

• International students - highest NC rateage: young NC 17% vs mature 14.6%gender: male NC 20.3% vs female

11.8% Percentage non-continuation (NC) by domicle

11.5% 11.3%9.9% 9.8% 9.5%

8.5%10.2%

12.1% 11.5%9.4%

11.5%

8.2%10.2%

8.6%

12.2%

16.9% 16.3%

19.3% 19.6%

13.3% 14.1%

19.5%

16.2%

10.9%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

1999/00 2000/01 2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

UK

EU

International

• Ethnicity – white students have a lower NC rate (9.9%) than other BME students (Asian 12.1%, Black 14%, Mixed 12.5%)

• Disability – students with a disability (8.3%) or dyslexia (8.5%) have a lower NC rate than non-disabled students (10.8%)

• Social economic status has no clear influence

Other demographicsOther demographics

School non-continuation rate and the University of Brighton NC benchmark 2006/ 07 (1st year, 1st degree, full-time students, excludes early leavers)

0%

2%

4%

6%

8%

10%

12%

14%

16%

18%

NC rate 7.7% 4.3% 11.6% 7.2% 9.1% 10.3% 12.5% 6.1% 7.2% 15.5% 5.8% 15.7% 12.8% 12.0%

NC BM 7.9% 5.8% 11.6% 10.0% 9.4% 9.2% 11.3% 6.7% 6.4% 13.7% 13.0% 15.7% 9.7% 11.8%

Arch & Des

Arts & Com

SHACSChelse

aEducat

ionSLLC SASS

Health Pro.

SNM BBS SSM CMIS PABS SET

The withdrawal The withdrawal surveysurvey

• Withdrawal questionnaire introduced 2002

• Sent to all withdrawing students• Collects information about:

• student experience• student expectations• where students go for help

• Aims to find out reasons why students leave

The questionnaireThe questionnaire

• Rate factors which influenced decision• The main reason for withdrawal• Services/people contacted• Support services students would like• What they are doing now• Do they intend to resume their studies?• Would they consider Brighton again?

InfluencesInfluences

• When you were thinking of withdrawing from the university, which factors influenced your decision?

Top 3: Substantial influences % response

‘Other’ reason 48%

Feeling stressed and unable to cope with course 28%

It was hard to balance paid work commitments & study

20%

Services & people Services & people usedused

• Course tutor - 69%• Personal tutor - 46%• School staff - 34% • Student Services - 27%• Studentcentral - 26%• Head of School - 24%

What would influence

you to stay?

• Different course structure – 53% • Opportunity to defer – 41%• Change course – 40% • Part-time option – 40% • Improved info before enrolment –

40% • Financial help – 39%

After withdrawingAfter withdrawing

Study WorkWork & study

Other

What are you doing now? 9% 55% 10% 26%

Yes NoDon’t know

Do you intend to resume your studies? 47% 17% 36%

Would you consider Brighton? 45% 21% 34%

on the right on the right path?path?

thinking of changing or thinking of changing or

leaving your course?leaving your course?

http://student.brighton.ac.uk/thinkingofleaving/

School of Applied Social Science (SASS)

• Typical of post 1992 university School of Applied Social Science

• Experiencing increasing diversity and size of student population

• Qualitative research to capture student voices and constellation of reasons for students’ non continuation

Rising student numbers in SASS

SASS: numbers of undergraduate students

850

775

635

524

404

302273260

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1999/00 2000/1 2001/2 2002/3 2003/4 2004/5 2006/5 2006/7

All term time student employment (SASS)

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

70.0

80.0

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2007

Time

Per

cen

tag

e

Regular part-time employment Ad hoc employment during term-time All term-time employment

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

2001/02 2002/03 2003/04 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07

NC rate NC BM Young NC Young BM Mature NC Mature BM

School of Applied Social Science non-continuation rates 2001/02 to 2006/07

Retention research approach: SASS

‘Academic and social integration’ (Tinto 1975, Bean 1980)

• Mechanism/s rarely explored in depth.• Ideal of HE student as able to think and act for

themselves, self-motivated, high degree of autonomy.• Previous research tended to be quantitative. • Qualitative approach to elicit student voices. • Mixed method action research approach.• Interviews, exit interviews, focus groups, finance survey.• Withdrawal not conceptualised as ‘failure’ but

nevertheless entails costs (emotional/financial).

Student Support & Guidance Tutor

Aims of project

• To improve the retention of L1 students

• To research factors affecting withdrawal

• To identify learning and teaching strategies to enhance student success.

Student Support

• Appointment of a part-time Student Support and Guidance Tutor (SSGT)

• SSGT provides a first point of contact for Level 1 students

• SSGT sends text messages to all L1 students at key times

SASS Student Support & Guidance Tutor (SSGT)

• SSGT introduced to level 1 students early in Induction Week

• Provides a confidential drop-in and appointment service

• Responds to student questions via email/phone/text messaging

• SSGT follows-up level 1 students whose attendance is poor or who fail to submit assessed work

• Refers students to Student Services or Academic Staff if necessary

• Complements Personal Tutoring

Students’ Voices

“I don’t think I would have done half the things I have done now if she (SSGT) hadn’t like told me they were there” (male 22).

“She (SSGT) just told me what I needed to do and where I needed to go, it was fine” (female, 23).

“It has been very, very helpful knowing that there is someone. I don’t know she (SSGT) just seems like a bridge between the university and the students, not just like a part of the university, just somewhere in between” (male, 20).

“I think it was quite a positive discussion … she (SSGT) went around all my options to see whether…I was making the right decision or not” (female, 19).

SSGT Roll-Out and Network

• Ongoing liaison with SSGTs in some schools

• Links to other support networks within the university (Student Services, SU)

• Information exchange• Training

Key Research Findings

• Fairly high levels of part time work/employment• Diverse financial contexts but more students now

argue they have to prioritise paid work • Partially explains changing patterns of learning

and conflicting commitments and motivation• Social factors are key: eg intertwining of personal

development and learning• Material factors are important: eg accommodation • Local factors are important: Brighton factor

The future…The future…

• Assessment of good practice against recommendations from NAO and PAC reports

• Refinement of data analysis and surveys

• First year experience – transitions projects (CLT and SASS)

• Roll-out successful intervention across whole institution and Partner Colleges

• Bid to HEFCE

References

• Bean, J.P. 1980 ‘Dropout and Turnovers: The synthesis and test of a causal model of student attrition’, Research in Higher Education, 12(2):155-187.

• Department for Education and Skills 2002 Education and Skills: Delivering Results. A Strategy to 2006 (London, Department for Education and Skills).

• House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts 2008 Staying the course: the retention of students on higher education courses, London: HMSO.

• Rowley, J. 2003 ‘Retention: rhetoric or realistic agendas for the future of higher education’, The International Journal of Educational Management, 17(6):248-253.

• Haggis, T. 2004 ‘Meaning, identity and motivation’: expanding what matters in understanding learning in higher education?’ Teaching in Higher Education, 7(3): 335-352.

• HESA 2008 PIs 2005/06: Summary http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php/content/view/582/141/ 15/02/2008.• McInnis, C. 2001 Signs of Disengagement? The Changing Undergraduate Experience in Australian Universities,

Inaugural lecture, Centre for the Study of Higher Education, Faculty of Education, University of Melbourne, 13 August 2001. Document URL: http://www.cshe.unimelb.edu.au/downloads/InaugLec23_8_01.pdf

• Lave, J and Wenger, E. 1991 Situated learning: legitimate peripheral participation, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Mantz, Y. and Longden, B. 2008 The first-year experience of higher education in the UK, London: Higher Education Academy.

• MCGivney, V. 1996 Staying or leaving the course, Adults learning, 7 (6), 133-135.• National Audit Office 2002 Improving Student Achievement in English Higher Education: Report by the Comptroller

and Auditor General HC486 London, The Stationery Office.• Ozga, J. and Sukhnandan, L. 1998 Undergraduate non-completion: developing an explanatory model, Higher

Education Quarterly, 52(3), 316-333.• Thomas, L. 2002 Student retention in higher education: the role of institutional habitus, Journal of Education

Policy, 17 (4), 423-442.• Tinto, V. 2002 Establishing conditions for student success, 11th Annual Conference of the European Access

Network, Monash University, Prato, Italy, 20 June.• Document URL: http://www.wmin.ac.uk/ean/wpm$5de1.pdf• Wenger, E. 1998 Communities of practice: Learning, meaning and identity, Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.• Wilcox, P., Winn, S. and Fyvie-Gauld, M. 2005 ‘It was nothing to do with the university, it was just the people’: the

role of social support in the first year experience of higher education, Studies in Higher Education, Vol. 30(6): 707-722.

• Winn, S., Harley, D., Wilcox, P. and Pemberton, S. 2006 ‘Reconceptualising student motivation: accounting for the social context beyond the classroom’, Learning and Teaching in the Social Sciences LATISS, Vol 3(2): 77-94.

• Winn Report: The Financial Situation of Students at the University of Brighton, 1992-2007.• Yorke, M. AND Thomas, L. 2003 Improving the retention of students from lower socio-economic groups, Journal of

Higher Education Policy and Management, 25 (1), pp. 63-74.

Contact information

Dr Paula WilcoxSchool of Applied Social Science

E-mail: P.S.Wilcox@bton.ac.uk

Rachel BowdenStrategic Planning Unit

E-mail: r.c.bowden@brighton.ac.uk

University of Brighton