Early student withdrawal: The reasons students give for leaving the university

Each year, a substantial proportion of students withdraw entirely from their course of study. At Curtin University, little has been known about the reasons for this other than anecdotal evidence. This paper will report on a survey of all students who had withdrawn from their entire course by April 30.

The survey explores the reasons students give for their withdrawal. It also examines whether they regard the withdrawal as permanent, temporary, or whether they may be seeking entry to some other course. A further variable of interest is to learn whether students discussed their withdrawal with anyone.

The paper discusses findings from this survey, observing differences between older and younger students which may have implications for practice and further research.

Introduction

Background to this study

New students who are Australian citizens or permanent residents are recruited to the university effectively from two sources. A substantial group are those young people who have recently completed secondary education. A second group are mature-aged students. Entering students are offered a place in a university course over the mid-January to early February period each year. Students subsequently commence their course in late February. If such a student withdraws from a course by the end of March, he/she is not liable for the fees charges via the Higher Education Contribution Scheme (HECS). At Curtin University, students may also withdraw up until the end of April without academic penalty. That is, a withdrawal between the end of March and the end of April incurs HECS charges but there will be no failure grade recorded against the units involved. It was thought that it would be of interest to learn more about those students who have withdrawn entirely from their course by the April 30 deadline.

Little attention has been given to this group. While the university maintains records of student withdrawal, it appears that early and total withdrawers have never been the focus of specific study. This study thus is a pilot project where the purpose is to learn something about such students. As a pilot study, we developed no specific hypotheses. Rather, there were two broad research questions to guide the investigation. These are:

1. Descriptive - what can be observed about the characteristics of students who totally withdraw?

2. What variables appear worthy of attention for the university?

The literature on attrition

Methodology

i] Overview

1. Undergraduates
2. New to Curtin
3. Commonwealth funded students
4. Totally withdrew from their course by April 30

1. Name
2. Student number
3. Course of study
4. Telephone number
5. Sex
6. Date of birth

When contact was made, the former student was asked to participate in a brief questionnaire. The instructions for the interviewer and the questionnaire are attached in the appendices. No-one who was contacted refused to participate. The interviewer completed a data sheet which combined the data from the statistics office with that obtained directly from the student.

Given the small numbers of students involved, analysis has been restricted to descriptive statistics.

ii] Development of the questionnaire

1. Reasons contributing to the decision to withdraw - A list of items was generated to which students could respond. The items were generated by Counselling Service staff from factors suggested by the literature as potentially significant in student attrition. In particular, the theoretical models of Tinto (1975, 1988), and Bean and Metzner (1985) were useful in generating items. Students were asked to indicate whether any of the factors names influenced the decision to withdraw. They could respond to none, some or all of the items if they wished.

2. Possibility of Future Study - It was thought useful to obtain some indication of the students' intentions with respect to future study. Questions were devised concerning the intention to return to the same course, a different course at the same institution, a course elsewhere, or whether the withdrawal was viewed as a permanent one. Participants were given the option of responding with "yes", "no" or "maybe" to each item - or not responding to the statement at all.

3. People with whom the decision was discussed - Students who withdraw from their course very early clearly may discuss their decision with others. Participants were asked to indicate whether the decision was discussed with family members, university staff, other students, or peers who are not students. As in the first question, participants could choose to respond to none, some or all of the items.

iii] The sample

The contacted group of 56 student shows some differences with the whole group of 139 - most notably in having a larger proportion aged 25-29, and a lower proportion aged 15-19. It is clear that the students who withdraw early are not a representative sample of all incoming students on the basis of age. The youngest group in particular is clearly under-represented, whereas older students are more likely to withdraw.

Two variables of interest in making comparisons are gender, and school-leaver versus mature aged entry. Table 2 shows the gender breakdown. It also seeks to divide the students contacted into two age groups. The group aged 15-19 may generally be regarded as a school-leaver category, whereas age 20+ is formally defined by the university as a mature-aged entry. However, such a division provides a very small group of school-leavers for the purposes of later comparisons. If the group is divided between ages 15-24 and 25+, there is a more even division. Later figures presented in this paper will use both age divisions where appropriate.

Male students represented 41 per cent of the students who withdrew in 1996, whereas they are 56.6 per cent of the incoming student group as a whole. In combining an interpretation of the age and gender data, it appears that being an older female student is a risk factor.

The data from the statistics office included a list of the courses studied by individuals. Table 3 summarises these. Quotas for each course are not shown. However, the numbers withdrawing from particular courses are not wildly at variance with the number of commencing students in each course. The one exception is the data associated with the Early Childhood Education course.

There have recently been changes made to the qualifications required of child care workers who seek to work with children aged three to five years. A qualification in Early Childhood Education has become necessary. In consequence, a comparatively large number of such workers have sought enrolment in this course on a part-time basis. Information supplied by Faculty of Education was that there was some expectation that a substantial proportion of these students would not persist.

It is also worthwhile looking at the courses which do not appear in the above list at all. While it is beyond the scope of this study, in the future it may be worth investigating variables which may be implicated in course differences in withdrawal rates. Courses which have had no withdrawals according to the criteria used are:

Results/Data

i] Raw Scores

Subjects could respond to more than one item on the above list. Several items were discarded for later comparison where there was a low response rate. For example, item B provided a zero response. Item C was not used for later comparison as all three respondents gave further clarifying information that pregnancy was the issue involved.

Not all subjects chose to respond to all items in question 2. Clearly some responses were mutually exclusive.

It is interesting to observe that no category of university staff was as popular with withdrawing students as family or friends in this context. Perhaps students had not been here long enough to form any relationship or to learn of the sources of help available. Or perhaps they simply chose to consult with people familiar to them.

ii] Comparisons

1. Mature-age versus school-leaver entry and reasons given for withdrawal

It is interesting to observe that younger students are far more likely to choose items which have something to do with the decision to enter a particular course. Often such a decision was not well-founded. Older students are more likely to name extraneous factors as affecting their decision to withdraw.

2. Mature-age versus school-leaver entry and likelihood of further study

3. Mature-age versus school-leaver entry and people consulted before withdrawal

4. Gender differences and reasons given for withdrawal

5. Gender differences and likelihood of further study

6. Gender differences and people consulted before withdrawal

Discussion

• more likely to be in this withdrawing group than their proportion to the numbers at the university would suggest.
• more likely to note that environmental variables have influenced their decision to withdraw.
• more likely to acknowledge study difficulties.
• more likely to leave because something more important warrants their attention.
• more likely to indicate an intention to return to the same course.
• less likely to discuss their intention to leave with anyone at the university - either staff or students.

• more likely to state that their reasons for withdrawal were to do with factors that bear some relationship with their degree of commitment to the course in question.
• more likely to discover after they have begun that the course does not suit them.
• more likely to leave from Engineering-based courses than any other category.
• likely to consult people outside the university. Within the university, they are likely to consult peers.
• less likely to acknowledge study difficulties
• possibly more likely to indicate some confusion over future plans for study.

These observations from descriptive statistics may be confirmed with further research which uses more sophisticated statistical analysis. Nonetheless, the qualitative messages that one may infer from these data are several. Perhaps young students may not have fully considered the implications of university entry and the link with a career goal. It may be that many accept a place offered at university because it just seems the next "natural" thing to do. The reality of the experience leads to an early attrition for a small proportion.

With respect to mature aged students, there are some confusing messages which are in contrast to some of the prevailing views around the university. There is a widely expressed anecdotal view that older students "do better" than younger ones. That is, their grades are higher; they have fewer failures; they are more likely to be given faculty prizes. Perhaps this is indeed so - for those who make it through the first semester.

It is apparent that the students who withdraw early do not use the support services of the university in any systematic way. This is not a surprising finding. After all, in such a brief period, many may be unaware of sources of help.

Conclusions/Recommendations

This university enrolled 3959 new students this year. Of these, 139 withdrew fully by April 30. This statistic superficially at least appears a rather low proportion of student numbers. Comparatively few entering students see the need to entirely withdraw from their course. However, the group as defined is not the only group of students who experience difficulty. Clearly there are also those who withdraw partially; those who "soldier on" whilst recognising they are struggling: those who fail; those for whom problems arise after formal withdrawal dates; and so forth. While the figures for this particular group are low, it is probably wise not to become complacent.

With respect to the group studied, it is worth examining the variables which have appeared important. Are they variables which in any way reflect poorly upon the university? In this study, there were two broad categories on entering student whose problems were such that they withdrew. The first was the younger student who discovered after entry that the course did not suit. The second was the older student who learned that extraneous variables made it difficult to meet the demands of their course of study.

Are these issues acceptable? It is hard to put a case that they are not. The university's selection process takes little or no account of such issues. Selection for courses is conducted on academic grounds. It is widely acknowledged that course entry criteria are by no means perfect - and that consequently there will be some "error rate" in selection. In the context of the numbers entering, it is hardly surprising that some find the course unsuitable or unmanageable.

Related questions are to do with predictability and responsibility. If we may assume that a small proportion of students will withdraw for the reasons shown, how predictable is this and who is responsible for making such a prediction? Could any of these students known in advance that their enrolment was not going to work out and thus avoided the inconveniences of enrolment and subsequent withdrawal? Is the university responsible for providing "risk-factor" information to potential students?

These questions are beyond the scope of this study. The students in question did not appear to discover the problems associated with their enrolment until they had experienced the reality of being at the university. It is conceivable that many entered their course with some misgivings but thought it was worth a try. Equally likely is the hypothesis that the difficulties which appeared were a complete surprise. Further research may be able to address the question.

It is nonetheless worth considering whether the university could have legitimately intervened to make any difference to the withdrawals in any cost effective way. Intervention may occur at pre-enrolment and post-enrolment. Typically, pre-enrolment interventions consist of information provided to students about the university. Such information as is available to potential students has a recruitment and marketing function. As such, information about failure, withdrawal, risk factors and the like would sit uneasily with the rest of the content. Nonetheless, there may be an acceptable way of introducing appropriate consumer-style information to incoming students which will help them to assess whether proceeding with their enrolment is likely to have a positive outcome.

Post-enrolment interventions may also occur. Institutions and faculties within institutions vary widely in the quality of transition support. Some consideration may be given to the nature and timing of orientation procedures. It may also be worth devoting attention to on-going support to new students.

Clearly, this study provides very limited data upon which to base any conclusions about attrition in general. There are some further research questions which would help form a better picture of the issue. A first and obvious question is the extent to which the group studied is typical. That is, if we surveyed withdrawing students over a number of years, would the same picture emerge? (A related and highly important question is the extent to which the questionnaire used is a valid instrument. This question is beyond the scope of this discussion). It would be unwise to assume the opinions expressed by this small sample to be representative. It would also be interesting to learn whether students who withdraw are different in any way from other students. If were to ask similar questions of those who persist, those who fail, those who are terminated, International students, and so forth, would we see a difference? If students who experience problems are hard to distinguish from those who do not, it is hard to imagine any effective intervention.

The most suggestive information from this study is that older and younger students very likely experience quite different issues in the early weeks and months of university enrolment. Further research may possibly focus on whether this is indeed so, and how the university may address such different needs. There may be alternate approaches to orientation activities and first semester support which may make a worthwhile difference to incoming students.

Acknowledgements

Appendices

1. A copy of the questionnaire used in the telephone survey.
2. A copy of the instructions provided for the interviewer.

Instructions for the interviewer conducting the telephone survey

1. Identify yourself and the fact you are calling on behalf of University Counselling Services.

2. State that we are conducting a confidential survey of students who have withdrawn from their course - and that the student's cooperation for 5-10 minutes in helping with the survey would be appreciated. Make it clear you are not selling anything.

3. Acknowledge that their action in withdrawing is not uncommon, and that we are seeking to understand better why students do so.

4. Conduct interview schedule.

   Question 1 - Reasons for Withdrawal - state that you are going to go through a brief checklist of possible reasons he/she may have had for withdrawing. Ask the client to state whether an item was involved in his/her decision to withdraw. If it was, place a tick next to that item. If there are other reasons not on the checklist, add them as uncodable responses.

   Questions 2 & 3 - ask as they are on the questionnaire

5. Thank the student and advise him/her that they may discuss any issue arising from this survey with a counsellor if they wish. Advise them how to make an appointment - by telephoning the service on 351 7850, or in person at building 109.

6. Place the student's name and student number on the questionnaire so that data may be matched to data supplied by the statistics office.

Selected bibliography on transition and attrition issues

Empirical Studies

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Theoretical Views

Cabrara, A., Castaneda, M.B., Nora, A., and Hengstler, D. (1992). "The Convergence Between Two Theories of College Persistence", Journal of Higher Education, 63, 2, 143-164.

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Reports

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Peter Hanley (1996). Assisting First Year Students to Develop Effective Study Habits, Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Student Services Association, 7, April , 23-29.

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Roe, E., Foster, G., Moses, I., Sanker, M., and Storey, P. (1982). A Report on Student Services in Tertiary Education in Australia, Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission, Canberra.

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Weil, S.W. (1986). "Non-traditional Learners Within Traditional Higher Education Institutions: discovery and disappointment", Studies in Higher Education, 11 (3), 219-235.

Williams, C., and Pepe, T. (1983). The Early Experiences of Students on Australian College of Advanced Education Campuses, The University of Sydney, Sydney.

Material directed at Students

Gerow, J.R., and Lyng, R.D. (1975). How to Succeed in College: A Student Handbook, Charles Scribner, New York.

Hall, W.C. (1985). Being A Successful Student: A Guide to Success at College and University, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne, 1985.

Langam, J., and Nadell, J. (1980). Doing Well in Collge: A Concise Guide to Reading, Writing and Study Skills, McGraw-Hill, New York.

Lenz, E., and Shaevitz, M.H. (1977). So You Want to Go Back to School: Facing the Realities of Re-entry, McGraw-Hill, New York.

McEvedy, M.R., and Jordan, M. (1986). Succeeding at University and College, Nelson, Melbourne.

McKowan, C. (1979). Get Your "A" Out of College: Mastering the Hidden Rules of the Game, Kaufmann, Los Altos, California.

Marshall, L.A., and Rowland, F. (1981). A Guide to Learning Independently, Longman Cheshire, Melbourne.

Maxwell, M. (1980). Improving Student Learning Skills, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco.

Murphy, E. (1987). Curtin Up! An Insider's Guide to Outrageously Successful Study, Curtin University of Technology, Perth.

Orr, F. (1988). How To Succeed At Part-Time Study, Allen and Unwin, Sydney.

Raahaim, K., and Wankowski, J. (1981). Helping Students to learn at University, Sigma Forlag, Bergen.

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Thackray, C., and Thackray, M. (1979). How To Succeed at College or University, Thackray Publishing, Sydney

Young, P. (1982). From Schoolyard to Campus: Transition from School to Tertiary Study, Sound Information, Sydney.