Student dropout from universities in Europe: A review of empirical literature

Abstract

This contribution is based on an extensive literature review of student dropout in Europe, which was carried out by a research group of the Danish Clearinghouse for Education in cooperation with an international expert group in 2012/2013. The review served to answer three basic questions: What is dropout? Why does it occur? What can be done to reduce or prevent it? Only empirical studies were included in the review and altogether 44 studies were included. The article points out that student dropout is a more complex and multidimensional issue than most people think and that it is important to distinguish between formal dropout (i.e., leaving university studies altogether before degree completion) and transfer (i.e., changing subject and/or institution). The review summarizes and discusses the main results of the 44 studies included in terms of nine dimensions: (a) study conditions at university, (b) academic integration at university, (c) social integration at university, (d) personal efforts and motivations for studying, (e) information and admission requirements, (f) prior academic achievement in school, (g) personal characteristics of the student, (h) sociodemographic background of the student, and (i) external conditions. The conclusions provide an answer to the three questions posed above and include recommendations for further research, university leadership, and policymakers.

Academic Failure: Individual, Organizational, and Social Factors

“…In other words, it is a sense of belonging to a specific institution and represents a protection factor with respect to dropout and dissatisfaction (Krause & Armitage, 2016). Finally, academic integration with other students has been found by several scholars to have a significant impact on retention of college students (Kehm et al, 2019;Tarazona & Rosenbusch, 2019) and wellbeing (Cattelino et al, 2020).…”

“…Always with respect to the Italian context, only three studies have investigated the psychological factors underpinning university success, investigating the protective role of autonomous motivation, self-efficacy (Costabile et al, 2013;Girelli et al, 2018), and self-regulatory strategies (Costabile et al, 2013), as well as how women report less self-efficacy, greater social adjustment, and more motivation to complete university (Monaci et al, 2012). In other countries these aspects have been investigated too, but within more complex models that also include other factors, both internal and external (de la Fuente et al, 2020;Jeno et al, 2018;Kehm et al, 2019). As suggested by Clerici et al (2015), motivational and emotional factors could affect academic success; therefore, such factors should be taken into account in research on university retention (Pekrun et al, 2009).…”

“…As described by Respondek et al (2017), academic success and failure were initially studied in terms of "real dropouts", measuring retention or persistence (i.e., duration of time in which a student remained enrolled at a university), or identifying students who have already decided to drop out of university (Kehm et al, 2019;Robbins et al, 2004). However, such research, which measured factors that led to real dropouts, had the limitation that dropouts had already occurred.…”

The Academic Dropout Wheel Analyzing the Antecedents of Higher Education Dropout in Education Studies

“…Economically, students from good socioeconomic backgrounds have a greater chance to succeed throughout their school and university due to the advantages and support they have access to and their ability to afford university studies (Chen, 2008;Finkel & Barañano, 2014). Several students with adult responsibilities as full-time workers or children are at a high risk of dropout due to their inability to balance their responsibilities, whether financial, personal, or educational (Kehm, Larsen, & Sommersel, 2019).…”

Examining the Sequence of Factors Affecting Student’ Tendency to Dropout: a Case Study in Greece

“…The phenomenon of student dropout seems to have crucial dimensions worldwide and is undoubtedly a European problem (Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2013; Kehm et al, 2019;Roso-Bas et al, 2016;Tinto, 2006Tinto, , 2017. The problem encompasses individual, social and economic aspects, (Mujica et al, 2019).…”