First-year dropout in ICT studies

Abstract

There is high demand for qualified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) practitioners in the European labor market. In Estonia, the problem is not a low number of ICT students but a high dropout rate. The aim of this study is to find how it is possible to predict first-year dropout in higher education ICT studies and possibly to engage methods to decrease dropout rate. Data was collected from 301 first-year ICT students in Estonia who filled in a questionnaire at the beginning of the first semester and after the first semester. Additionally, some information was collected electronically during the admission process. The results showed that on average, 32.2% of the ICT students in Estonia dropped out during the first study-year. It was found that students who dropped out had lower scores in the state mathematics exam. This means that the score of the mathematics exam is one characteristic that can predict dropout during the first study-year. At the beginning of the studies there were not many differences in students' perception of their interest and how well the studies met their expectations. However, the answers received after the first semester showed some statistically significant differences between the students who dropped out during the first study-year and those who did not. Differences occurred, e.g., in the case of the following questions: how big their interest in ICT was, how well the studies met their expectations, how pleasant studying was for them, and how high they felt was the probability of them finishing their studies. It can be concluded that asking questions after the first semester gives information to universities as to who are about to drop out. Based on the information universities can support their students to retain them. The results support some factors that were found in literature to be important for avoiding dropout (e.g., motivation, earned credit points, prior studies, expectations), but in some cases the results of this study are different than the literature suggests (e.g., age, gender, working during studies, number of friends in the ICT field). It could be that these factors are not that important in influencing first-year dropout in ICT studies.

What Happens to IT Education? The Case in Estonia with Some Recommendations for International Discussion

“…In addition to programming experience, learning mathematics in school also contributes to success in later IT studies, where mathematics becomes a necessity. The current study revealed that students who scored lower in the mathematics state exam were more likely to drop out in their first study year [2].…”

“…who had learned programming before had a higher average grade and considered their studies to be easier than those who first came into contact with programming in their higher education studies [2]. Other studies have also shown that the more programming languages a student has learned, the better he or she performs in tests and exams [34].…”

“…In addition to the interviews, some differences were detected in the large-scale survey between the students who dropped out and those who continued studying [2]. The students who dropped out had statistically significantly lower high school mathematics state exam results than their peers who did not drop out.…”

“…Dropout of IT students is a problem worldwide (an average of 19% of students drop out in Europe according to Hüsing et al [1]), but the issue is very serious in Estonia, where about 32% of IT students already drop out of higher education institutions during their first study year [2].…”

“…Both academic performance and academic motivation have an effect on students' dropout probability ( [14] and study of authors, work in progress), but dropout in higher education can be influenced by many more factors (see [2]). Firstly, dropout is influenced by student demographics.…”