Student retention in higher education: the role of institutional habitus

Thomas, Liz

doi:10.1080/02680930210140257

Cited by 737 publications

(610 citation statements)

References 10 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

529

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…In studies which have investigated students' sense of belonging in relation to their study progress and persistence in higher education, the theoretical framework has often been based on the concept of institutional habitus (Berger 2000;Thomas 2002;Zepke et al 2006). According to Berger each campus is composed of students who generally share a common habitus which to some extent is congruent with the organizational habitus of that institution.…”

Section: Sense Of Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Environment, Interaction, Sense of Belonging and Study Success in Ethnically Diverse Student Groups

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The purpose of this paper was to investigate a model for describing the relationships between the extent to which learning environments are activating and students' interaction with teachers and peers, sense of belonging, and study success. It was tested whether this model holds true for both ethnic minority students and ethnic majority students. A total of 523 students from four different universities completed a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (Amos) was used to test the model. The model that best describes the relationships in the group of ethnic minority students (N = 145) was shown to be different than the model that best fits the group of majority students (N = 378). Ethnic minority students appeared to feel at home in their educational program if they had a good formal relationship with teachers and fellow students. Ethnic minority students' sense of belonging to the institution nevertheless did not contribute to their study progress. On the other hand, in majority students, informal relationships with fellow students were what led to a sense of belonging. In these students, the sense of belonging did further academic progress.

show abstract

Section: Sense Of Belongingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Learning Environment, Interaction, Sense of Belonging and Study Success in Ethnically Diverse Student Groups

2010

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…student success (Thomas, 2002;Young et al, 2007). Allowing students to spend more time in smaller groups encourages a greater sense of belonging and solidarity, aiding student engagement.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Investigating the relationship between student engagement and transition

Vinson

Nixon

Walsh

et al. 2010

Active Learning in Higher Education

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Failure to establish meaningful and effective transition for undergraduates can lead to academic underachievement. Student engagement represents a key component of student success. This study sought to investigate the impact of a bespoke transition programme featuring a wide range of innovative, student-centred activities on enhancing students' engagement with educationally effective practices through examining student relations with others, learning and the discipline. For the study 104 undergraduates on a Sport Development course at a British university undertook a five-week transition programme. Data were collected via weekly questionnaires and focus groups at the end of weeks 1, 3 and 5. The investigation revealed that transition programmes require a highintensity, novel and varied timetable supported by a student-centred staff team. Effective transition programmes can enhance students' engagement with educationally effective practices. Future research should investigate the longer-term impact of such programmes.

show abstract

“…At institutions where there was ''significant numbers of students of the same age, class and/or ethnicity'' (p. 270), non-traditional students still felt a sense of alienation and isolation. It is possible that this sense of nonbelonging stems less from specific student-related characteristics and more from the ''institutional habitus'' of the university (Thomas 2002) As Read et al remark: Firstly, the student experiences institutional 'controls' through, for example, the 'regulated communications' of the lecture, the essay and the examination, and the rewards and punishments of the grading system. Secondly, the student is constrained by her or his own 'knowledge' of what it is to be a 'good' student, a knowledge which has been constructed through socially dominant discourses, including those produced and maintained by the university itself.…”

Section: Fatalistic Suicidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such 'knowledges' and practices are legitimated by their 'naturalization': they come to be seen as the only or 'natural' way of thinking or acting (2003, p. 269). Thomas (2002) also concludes that ''educational institutions are able to determine what values, language and knowledge are regarded as legitimate'' (p. 431). If non-traditional students feel that their knowledge is undervalued and that they hold inappropriate cultural norms and practices, then, she argues, they may be more likely to drop out.…”

Section: Fatalistic Suicidementioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this approach fails to examine institution-related behaviors and institution-related characteristics such as the climate of academia. For example, issues such as ''the institutional habitus'' of a university (Thomas 2002), the pedagogic authority of institutions to control and sanction discourse (Grenfell 1998), the determination of appropriate participation (Hand 2012), and the acceptance of the perpetuation of the superior power position within the classroom of teachers (Bourdieu 1986(Bourdieu , 1998Bourdieu and Passeron 1990) all fall outside this dominant research focus. But more fundamentally, assigning causation of student departure to individual (student) characteristics stands in stark contrast to the theoretical underpinnings of Durkheim's work on suicide.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Academic Fatalism: Applying Durkheim’s Fatalistic Suicide Typology to Student Drop-Out and the Climate of Higher Education

Godor

2016

Interchange

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Student drop-out remains a critical issue facing educational professionals. For higher education, the vast research in the past 40 years has been influenced by the work of Tinto and his model of student persistence. In this model are several elements that have proven to sharpen the focus of student drop-out research such as the concept of integration. The philosophical foundation for these concepts stems from Durkheim's work on suicide. Specifically, Tinto's employs Durkheim's ''egotistical'' suicide type as an analogy for student departure while attributing students' departure as a decision to separate themselves from the academic community. However; assigning causation of student departure to students' decisions stands in stark contrast to the theoretical underpinnings of Durkheim's work. Durkheim believed that certain social tendencies cause suicides. If student drop-out is to be typified by a certain Durkheimian suicide ''type,'' then specific social facts must exist in those societies. In this article, student departure in higher education will be examined using Durkheim's theory of suicide complemented with Bourdieu's theory of symbolic violence. Egotistical suicide will then be re-examined as an analogy for student departure and the Durkheimian suicide ''fatalistic'' will be presented as suitable analogy for student departure.

show abstract

Student retention in higher education: the role of institutional habitus

Cited by 737 publications

References 10 publications

Learning Environment, Interaction, Sense of Belonging and Study Success in Ethnically Diverse Student Groups

Learning Environment, Interaction, Sense of Belonging and Study Success in Ethnically Diverse Student Groups

Investigating the relationship between student engagement and transition

Academic Fatalism: Applying Durkheim’s Fatalistic Suicide Typology to Student Drop-Out and the Climate of Higher Education

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About