The relevance of social and academic integration for students’ dropout decisions. Evidence from a factorial survey in Germany

The social integration experiences of international doctoral students at Russian universities

“…Rigler et al (2017 found that one of the main reasons why so many doctoral students drop out is that they feel isolated. These suggested activities, if successfully implemented in Russian universities, would ensure that IDS are properly absorbed into the university's social and academic culture, which will improve retention and persistence (Piepenburg & Beckmann 2021). This relates well with Tinto's theory, which argues that all students attend universities with previous experience.…”

“…However, doctoral students' social integration (SI) experiences are viewed generally rather than regarding various departments, despite the importance of the university department in ensuring that doctoral students are socially integrated (Gardner 2010). Furthermore, most of the research on SI in doctoral education focuses on students in higher education without distinguishing between international and domestic students, as evidenced in studies by Rockinson-Szapkiw et al (2014), Rigler et al (2017), Sverdlik et al (2018), Holmes and Rockinson-Szapkiw (2020) and Piepenburg and Beckmann (2021). Also, no such study investigates SI between international and domestic doctoral students in the Russian context.…”

“…IDS who are not properly absorbed into their university's social and intellectual culture will abandon their chosen field of study. According to reports, a lack of social interaction is one of the primary reasons German IDS drop out(Isleib, Woisch & Heublein 2019;Piepenburg & Beckmann 2021).…”

“…found that doctoral students' perceptions of participation in and belonging to academic communities affected their positive experiences, well-being, contentment and persistence in doctorate studies. According toPiepenburg and Beckmann (2021),…”

Predictive model of the dropout intention of Chilean university students

“…The present study confirms the need to reinforce students' interactions and bonding with their peers and with their teachers. A study in German university students showed the relevance of social and academic integration for decision making regarding staying or dropping out of university; they found that academic and social integration predict dropout intention, with academic interest in their field of study, and social integration with peers, being the most relevant subdimensions (Piepenburg and Beckmann, 2021).…”