‘Getting in, Getting through and Getting out’: Student Persistence and Retention among Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Students in Higher Level Education

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Student retention and progression is an issue within every third level institution and the improving retention and achievement of our students is an important issue for all. This proposal seeks to examine why certain students in higher level abandon programmes and why others do not achieve their full potential. The purpose of such research is to ascertain which causes of student withdrawal are within the influence or control of an institution; what makes the most difference to student completion and withdrawal; understand why the majority of students complete programmes and where could an institution concentrate its efforts to make improvements.
Research examining induction practices and student retention, highlights the first semester as a critical period for students. In particular, the first three weeks of a programme are crucial in retention terms. Students moving into third level through the Links programme go through a series of steps. Some students cope exceedingly well but for some completion becomes impossible. The reseacher seeks to map feeedback captured in student surveys and interviews from a group of students from disadvantaged backgrounds in year one of third level against theories on student retention.

Stream: Curriculum and Pedagogy; Student Learning, Learner Experiences, Learner Diversity

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Lecturer in higher education and I have been in education for 25 years now. I am completing a PhD in Education on the topic of student retention and persistence. I am interested in elearning and train other lecturing staff to get involved in using elearning. I have acted as the Irish representative on the European Commission QualiTraining programme. I am also a member of the National Centre for Franco-Irish Studies in Dublin.