Research study: student attrition

Every year in Australia over 250,000 students begin their university journey. About 18% drop-out in the first-year. There are many reasons students may elect not to continue their studies. This research is an important part of finding out why.

Have your say

Contribute to this project by completing a voluntary survey. Select one of 3 surveys below based on which one relates to your situation.

You are an enrolled 1st year student

You are no longer enrolled as a student

You teach 1st year topics

Thank you for taking the time to complete this important survey.

^{Ethics approval: (NO: 8467) Flinders University of South Australia.}

About the project

My name is Lyza Helps and I am a PhD student in the College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, at Flinders University. I am doing research into what factors impacts on the decisions students make when they leave their studies in the first-year and what things may help the university to assist students to remain at University.

This project is titled ‘A transformative investigation and comparison of student attrition decisions in the first year and the relationship of teaching practices to those decisions'.

I am particularly interested in your explanations as it is important, to understand what was happening for you at the time you made the decision and how we could have helped.

The study has three phases:

Phase 1

Phase 1 includes:

Students who have already left their studies, from Flinders University in the first-year between 2015-2019, by direct interview.
First-year students still enrolled in their first year at Flinders University, (2020) by direct interview or online survey.
Teachers in first-year programs (2015-2019) at Flinders University, by direct interview or online survey.

Phase 2

Phase 2 includes:

Students who have left their studies in the first-year, from Adelaide University, University of South Australia or Flinders University, between 2015-2019, by either direct face to face interview or online survey
Teachers in first-year programs (2015-2019) at Adelaide University, University of South Australia, or Flinders University, by online survey.