Informing Institutional Management: institutional strategies and student retention

Abstract

European universities are facing demands for better student retention, especially in countries where state funding is no longer based on the number of students, but on the number of graduates. An extensive literature on retention focuses on the characteristics of students who leave higher education without a degree. Much less is known about the measures taken by higher education institutions to encourage study progress. This article examines whether retention strategies are incorporated into the institutions’ overall strategies and the policies and activities developed by universities to foster study progress and enhance retention rates. The results suggest that the universities’ overall strategies and retention activities are loosely coupled and that the universities tend to use blanket measures addressing retention, regardless of why students are leaving.

New Literacy for Reading Using ICT

“…Here, in Spain, we find a perfect example of the determinant power of these factors (economic) which have a huge effect on providing effective education (Fernández-Macías, Antón, Braña, & Muñoz, 2013). In order to avoid the current brain drain of young people who abandon their studies even though there have never been so many technologies and tools to help them, we need strategic management at the institutional level (Austin & Hunter, 2013;Hovdhaugen, Frølich, & Aamodt, 2013).…”

Análisis de estrategias gubernamentales e institucionales para la retención de estudiantes universitarios.

“…Mantener a los estudiantes en las IES ha sido estudiado desde diversas perspectivas, como psicología (Deil-Amen, 2011), sociología (Kerby, 2015), economía (Chen y Desjardins, 2010), marketing y negocios (DeShields y Kaynak, 2005), y organizacional (Chen, 2012). De igual forma, estudios empíricos han contribuido para comprender los factores que inciden en la decisión del estudiantado por no mantenerse en sus programas de estudio, entre estos, socioculturales (Holden, 2016), estructurales (Arias y Dehon, 2013), institucionales (Hovdhaugen et al, 2013), personales (Hovdhaugen, 2014), del aprendizaje (García-Ros et al, 2018), y estudios para identificar a estudiantes que pueden estar en riesgo (Urbina-Nájera et al, 2020); lo anterior contribuye a definir estrategias oportunas para la permanencia del estudiante.…”

“…En Hovdhaugen et al (2013) se ha cuestionado a funcionarios para conocer la planeación estratégica universitaria, sus estrategias para la retención, y a los estudiantes respecto a la capacidad de la institución para retenerlos. Encuestas de satisfacción han permitido definir factores clave a evaluar por las instituciones educativas, entre estos, la experiencia docente, cursos ofrecidos, entorno de aprendizaje, instalaciones del aula (Butt y Rehman, 2010); conectividad o integración social, participación en actividades y programas, accesibilidad de la facultad y el personal, relación con proveedores de servicios universitarios, experiencias de aprendizaje, servicios de apoyo, como tutorías o laboratorios para la escritura y la matemática (Roberts y Styron, 2010); asesorías, currículo, calidad de la enseñanza, asistencia financiera, costos de matrícula, e instalaciones (Farahmandian et al, 2013); programa de estudios, facilidad de servicios (Trang et al, 2018); estudios que se han centrado principalmente, en estudiantes de primero y segundo año.…”

consequences of student retention strategies : a case study at metropolitan college

“…This concept of some attrition being beneficial to both institutions and students appears to be frequently lost in the strategic decision-making that can guide retention policy creation and implementation (Tinto, 1975;Tinto, 1993). Hovdhaugen, Frolich, and Aamodt (2013) contended that institutions typically show a general interest in reducing student departure, however their "conceptualization of the issues around departure is still not very developed" (p. 175). The authors further revealed that while institutions concerned with student attrition do often choose to take action, their awareness of the complexity of the student retention issue has not yet been translated into strategies that effectively guide the overall institution.…”

“…This extra attention was offered in an attempt to improve the academic preparation of this particular segment of student, and specifically to strengthen those students' ability to persist. Hovdhaugen et al (2013) posit that retention strategy formulation is often motivated by concerns related to institutional reputation or finances. Similarly, the Theory of Behavioral Consequences of Service Quality (Zeithaml et al, 1996) very clearly states a customer's unfavorable behavioral intentions have financial consequences.…”