Considering the pivotal role of academic adjustment for student success, it is important to gain insight into how several motivational and behavioural factors affect academic adjustment and the extent to which academic adjustment influences student success. This empirical study investigated how intrinsic motivation, academic self-efficacy, selfregulated study behaviour and satisfaction with the chosen degree programme influenced academic adjustment in university and how these variables and adjustment affected three important indicators of student success: grade point average (GPA), attained number of credits (ECTS) and intention to persist. The sample consisted of 243 first-year university students in the Netherlands. Structural equation modelling showed that academic adjustment was influenced by intrinsic motivation, self-regulated study behaviour and degree programme satisfaction, which together explained 72% of the variance in adjustment. Motivational and behavioural variables did not influence GPA and credits directly but through academic adjustment. Furthermore, only satisfaction with the degree programme predicted intention to persist. These results point to the importance of academic adjustment in predicting university GPA and credits and the pivotal role of satisfaction with the degree programme in predicting intention to persist. Universities could integrate the development of self-regulated study skills-the biggest contributor to academic adjustment-in the first-year programme. Moreover, looking at the importance of students' satisfaction with the programme, communication and collaboration between secondary schools and universities should be enhanced in order to Eur J Psychol Educ DOI 10.1007/s10212-017-0347-8

High dropout rates, delay, and dissatisfaction among PhD students are common problems in doctoral education. Research shows that many different factors are associated with doctoral success, but these factors have not often been studied simultaneously. Moreover, characteristics of the PhD project are mostly neglected. In this study, we investigate which supervision, psychosocial, and project characteristics are related to satisfaction, progress, and quit intentions in a sample of 839 PhD candidates at a university in the Netherlands. Results of regression analyses show that experienced workload was negatively related to satisfaction and progress and positively to quit intentions. The quality of the supervisor-PhD candidate relationship, the PhD candidate's sense of belonging, the amount of freedom in the project, and working on a project closely related to the supervisor's research were positively related to satisfaction and negatively to quit intentions. The high workload of PhD candidates should be a major point of attention for universities who wish to increase their rates of PhD completion and PhD candidates' satisfaction. In addition, the 'match' between PhD candidate and supervisor is crucial, both personallya good relationshipand academically, i.e. that the PhD candidate works on a topic closely related to the supervisor's research.

One of the causes of the science teacher shortage is the low enrollment in science teacher education. In the Netherlands, science undergraduates can enroll in a half-year teaching course that leads to a teacher qualification for junior secondary education. The goal is that these undergraduates continue in teacher education to obtain a full qualification. The present study investigated how self-efficacy was related to continuing in teacher education, and to commitment, perceived workload, and stress. Moreover, we investigated how mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasions, and emotional states influenced self-efficacy. Findings based on 69 science undergraduates showed that self-efficacy was positively related to commitment and negatively to workload and stress, but unrelated to continuing in teacher education. Mastery experiences and positive emotional states explained variance in self-efficacy. We call for more research that investigates all sources of self-efficacy and for more attention to preservice teachers' emotional states in research and practice.

The ability to distinguish secondary school students according to characteristics that contribute to success in university represents important knowledge in the research areas of university preparedness and student success in higher education. This study identified five secondary school student profiles, derived from three dimensions of student engagement: behavioural engagement, cognitive engagement, and intellectual engagement. Students in different profiles differed in their success in university, measured by grade point average and number of attained credits, and in how well they had transitioned to university, measured by academic adjustment. Intellectually highly disengaged students (7%) and students with low behavioural and cognitive engagement (14%) were least successful in university. Students with the highest behavioural and cognitive engagement scores in secondary school performed best in university. These results point to the importance of both behavioural and cognitive engagement. Raising these factors in secondary school students could contribute to better preparation for university education.

Academic self-efficacy is a crucial predictor of first-year university study success, which makes it a key intended outcome of pre-university education. Students with high academic self-efficacy at the end of secondary education likely experience a better transition to university. This study aimed to investigate which factors relate to Dutch secondary school students' self-efficacy in terms of being a successful university student, including a personality variable (i.e. need for cognition), a motivational variable (academic interest), and behavioural variables (student engagement and outof-school academic activities). Structural equation models served to test the proposed model. The results revealed that need for cognition, academic interest, and out-of-school academic activities related directly to self-efficacy; need for cognition and academic interest were especially pertinent. By focusing on improving students' need for cognition and academic interest, secondary school teachers can contribute to the development of students' academic self-efficacy and thereby increase their chances for a successful transition to university.