The Importance of Social Support Structures for Retention and Success

Abstract

This chapter is concerned with the social relationships of non-traditional students. While we are certainly interested in the ways in which these can influence integration into the university community, the pape also explores the ways in which students' networks change through the course of their study. It draws on a research study of retention and non-traditional learners in Scotland, undertaken as part of a wider European research project. Among other things, the project was concerned to identify those factors that can promote retention for non-traditional students, as well as those that inhibit retention. We concentrate in this chapter on the ways in which students' social relationships can help or hinder their integration. Retention and student integrationStudents leave courses early for a variety of reasons. The National Audit Office (NAO) summarised the most commonly cited as personal reasons, lack of integration into the institution, dissatisfaction with course or institution, lack of preparedness, wrong choice of course, financial reasons, and to take up a more attractive opportunity (NAO, 2007, p. 23). In many cases, a combination of different factors influences students' decisions to leave or stay, with different factors having a different weight at different times (Longden 2004). Perhaps the most influential author, and certainly the most frequently cited, is Vincent Tinto. Brian Longden (2004, p. 128) has described Tinto's student integration model as having achieved 'near paradigm status' in the field. It has also been widely adapted for policy purposes, with a particular focus on promoting academic and social integration within higher education (Stolk et al, 2007, p. 58).Tinto (1975, 1988) treats retention as a process that occurs through the life cycle of studenthood, from pre-university stages through to graduation. In this process, he argues that student interaction with the formal and informal dimensions of the university plays a critical role in shaping decisions on departure or persistence. The process starts with the separation stage, during which students prepare to leave their previous environment (home, school/college), and are largely influenced by personal characteristics such as family background and educational ability. This is then followed by the integration stage, in which students start to identify with the institution, and with the wider community of students (and staff), leading them to re-evaluate their institutional commitment and academic expectations. In Tinto's model, the processes of academic integration and social integration are therefore intertwined, and indeed complement one another.Hilary McQueen has noted that Tinto's work is itself heavily influenced by Durkheimian notions of social integration (McQueen, 2009, pp. 70-1). While Tinto notes the importance of academic factors in understanding retention and withdrawal, his model also encompasses other aspects of interaction between institution and student, including the degree to which students see themselves as shari...

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