Identifying the social, academic, and teaching factors that influence retention: Study

A recently published literature review by Ane Qvortrup and Eva Lykkegaard of the University of Southern Denmark examines the environment factors that influence retention in higher education. Qvortrup and Lykeegaard analyzed 65 peer-reviewed studies from 2013 and onward on the topic of students who “dropout” of higher education. They identified and grouped factors influencing this phenomenon into three analytical categories: the social system, such as social integration and the demographic composition of the student body; the academic system, such as workload, prior experiences with exams, and perception of the learning community; and teaching, such as instructional clarity, student research programs, and coherence between courses. The authors note that several studies indicated that there are important differences between students who drop out of the system entirely and students who change programs. Taylor & Francis| Taylor & Francis (Article) Note: Archived stories may contain dead links or be missing source links.