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22 SES 06 B: Students Trajectories
Paper Session
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22. Research in Higher Education
Paper Professional Integration: A Blind Spot in Retention Theory VIA University College Presenting Author:Dropout poses a significant challenge in higher education, straining institutions and incurring costs for society while potentially resulting in unnecessary setbacks for individual students. Research on dropout has been integral to higher education studies, with Vincent Tinto's seminal work on student retention forming a cornerstone upon which much of the current dropout research is built (Tinto, 1975, 1993). Tinto's theory, rooted in the concept of "integration," suggest that successful student retention is closely tied to the extent to which students integrate into the academic and social domains of their institution. The theory underscores the importance of academic and social support systems, as well as the role of faculty and peers in fostering a sense of belonging and commitment among students (Tinto, 1993, 2017). However, recent empirical research within professional education highlights a blind spot in Tinto's model. Academic and social integration alone cannot fully explain dropout in professional education; rather, students' integration into their chosen profession also plays a crucial role. Thus, the British researcher Deborah Roberts (2012) demonstrates the significance of professional integration for teacher students’ considerations of dropping out, while Glavind & Hansen's (2023) research on study groups shows that group work can have professional-integrative effects in addition to the academic and social integrative effects. In other words, studies of retention must also focus on students' sense of professional belonging. Students must be able to envision themselves in the profession they are training for. Otherwise, there is a risk that they will opt out of the program, even if they are performing well academically and socially. This paper aims to theoretically develop the concept of professional integration and integrate it with Tinto's model. Specifically, the paper addresses the research question: How can Tinto’s model be revised to include student integration in the professional domain? Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used To elucidate and construct the concept of professional integration, this paper will explore the following themes and questions: 1. The professional domain of professional bachelor education: What characterizes the teaching and learning contexts in professional bachelor education programs (the interaction between academic and practical contexts)? 2. The professional development of students: What characterizes the processes of transitioning from acting to becoming and being a professional? 3. Professional integration: What is professional integration in an educational context, and how does it differ from and complement the concepts of academic and social integration? To answer questions 1 and 2, the paper will draw on theories of professional education focusing on professional identity formation and professional development. The students' professional development is directed by the profession and the notion of professionalism, and it is characterized by constant evolution and emergence (Scanlon, 2011). It can be viewed as professional identity development (Heggen, 2008; Heggen & Terum, 2017; Terum & Heggen, 2016; Scanlon, 2011), which involves changes in an individual's understanding of themselves as professionals through continuous reflections on their roles within the practice and professionalism (Benner et al, 2010; Benner, 2011). Answering question 3, the paper will bridge Tinto's concept of integration with theories of professional education. With this foundation, professional integration is thus about the students' experience of belonging to the profession they are training to enter. It is their perception and experience of the profession as it presents itself to them. Attachment to the profession is formed through interactions with practice, which can occur both before and during education (Benner et al, 2010, Heggen, 2008; Roberts 2012). Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The primary aim of this study is to contribute to a deeper understanding of dropout in higher education, particularly within the context of professional education programs. Tinto's model provides a good starting point for understanding dropout, but it has a blind spot regarding the professional domain. Therefore, the intention is to develop a comprehensive model that can be applied across a wide range of professional education programs. The insights gained from this study are expected to have practical implications for educational practice. By highlighting the importance of professional integration in student retention, educators can design curriculum and pedagogical approaches that foster students' sense of belonging and attachment to their chosen profession, ultimately enhancing student success and program completion rates. In summary, this study endeavors to provide insights into the multifaceted nature of dropout and its implications for individual students, educational institutions, and society as a whole. References Benner, P. (2011). Formation in professional education: An examination of the relationship between theories of meaning and theories of the self. Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 36(4), 342–353. https://doi.org/10.1093/jmp/jhr030 Benner, P., Sutphen, M., Leonard, V., & Day, L. (2010). Educating nurses: a call for radical transformation (1st ed.). Jossey-Bass. Glavind, J. G., & Hansen, D. G. (2023). Professionsintegration - Studiegrupper som professionelle arbejdsfællesskaber. Dansk Pædagogisk Tidsskrift, 4, 97–113. Heggen, K. (2008). Profesjon og identitet. In K. Molander & L. I. Terum (Eds.), Profesjonsstudier. Universitetsforlaget. Heggen, K., & Terum, L. I. (2017). The impact of education on professional identity. In B. Blom, L. Evertsson, & M. Perlinski (Eds.), Social and caring professions in European and welfare states. Policies, services and professional practices (pp. 21–35). Policy Press. Roberts, D. (2012). Modelling withdrawal and persistence for initial teacher training: revising Tinto’s Longitudinal Model of Departure. Wiley Blackwell, 38(6), 953–975. https://doi.org/10.1080/01411926.2011.603035 Scalon, Lesley. (2012). ‘Becoming’ a professional. In L. Scalon (ed.), “Becoming” a professional: an interdisciplinary analysis of professional learning (13-32). Springer. Terum, L. I., & Heggen, K. (2016). Identification with the Social Work Profession: The Impact of Education. British Journal of Social Work, 46(4), 839–854. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcv026 Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from Higher Education : A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125. Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition. University of Chicago Press. Tinto, V. (2017). Through the Eyes of Students. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 19(3), 254–269. https://doi.org/10.1177/1521025115621917 22. Research in Higher Education
Paper New Empirical Model for the Theory of Biographical Learning Masaryk University, Czech Republic Presenting Author:Biographical learning "places confidence in the competence of individual learners to handle biographical disruptions caused by late modernity "(Hallqvist, 2014). This type of learning was closely related to biographical research methods from the very start but is also connected to a particular educational practice of autobiographical storytelling. The broadest definition claims biographical learning deals with the relationships between biography and learning, biography as a way of learning and the influence of biography on learning (Tedder & Biesta, 2007). This definition opens up the theoretical view into biographical learning but does not help operationalise it to capture it precisely in the empirical data. Therefore, the research gap in biographical learning knowledge is a lack of clear understanding of the internal processes that occur when an individual engages in biographical learning. Alheit, the author of the biographical learning concept, also pointed out the lack of a systematic theory of biographical learning (Alheit & Dausien, 2002). According to Alheit, biographical learning is about understanding changes in personal and social identity, as well as bodily identity, as a potential for growth and ownership of one's life story and biographicity (Alheit et al. 1995). The paper aims to present biographical learning as a theoretical and empirical perspective on learning. The leading question for the theoretical analysis of this study was what the role of biography, narrative, and identity is within biographical learning. The empirical analysis of biographical learning was a concrete analysis of non-traditional students' narratives about their biographical experiences to understand their biographical learning in relation to what they learned and how they learned it. Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The study presupposes the process of making sense of biographical experiences can be evidenced through storytelling during the research interview. Data was collected through 29 biographical narrative interviews with adult learners in Czech higher education and analysed through different means of narrative analysis. The narrators had at least 26 years old, had a break in their previous educational trajectory before entering university and were studying for education degrees in different Czech universities. The abductive synthesis of the results enabled the creation of graphic empirical models of the process of biographical learning. This study applied abductive reasoning using biographical data (Bron & Thunborg, 2017) as "abduction is intended to help social research, or rather social researchers, to be able to make new discoveries in a logically and methodologically ordered way" (Reichertz, 2010, p. 4). Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings The results of the narrative analysis showed biographical, narrative and identity categories, respectively. Biography and identity level correspond to what is learned, whereas narrative level corresponds to how it is learned. It was also discovered that connections between experiences are created in three possible ways through storytelling: biographical learning by analogy, biographical learning by audit, and biographical learning by authority. Learning by analogy takes place when two different events from a biography, distinct in time, are connected by creating an analogy between them in the narration. The narrator was not aware of this link before and they are thus learning something new about their identity. The second type of biographical learning is when the narrators’ experiences are linked to the present day and the direction of link goes from the past experience to the present day. The narrators become aware of the effect in their past and reflect upon it during storytelling. The third type of biographical learning found in the narratives can be observed when the narrator is analysing the past experiences with the current biographical knowledge containing all the experiences that came afterwards. Biographical learning was evidenced by creating meaningful connections between biographical experiences stored in the memory. Moreover, the empirical model determined that identity is the guiding element for the selection, transformation and integration of the experiences. Identity is a condition and outcome of biographical learning. The consequence of the process of biographical learning is the constant construction and reconstruction of one's biography and identity. Understanding these processes more fully can help to shed light on the mechanisms behind biographical learning and how it can be effectively facilitated in various settings. References Alheit, P., & Dausien, B. (2002). The 'double face'of lifelong learning: Two analytical perspectives on a 'silent revolution'. Studies in the Education of Adults, 34(1), 3-22. Alheit, P., Bron-Wojciechowska, A., Brugger, E., & Dominicé, P. (Eds.). (1995). The biographical approach in European adult education. Vienna: Verband Wiener Volksbildung. Bron, A., & Thunborg, C. (2017). Theorising biographical work from non-traditional students' stories in higher education. International Journal of Contemporary Sociology, 54(2), 112-127. Hallqvist, A. (2014). Biographical learning: two decades of research and discussion. Educational Review, 66(4), 497-513. Reichertz, J. (2010). Abduction: The logic of discovery of grounded theory. The SAGE handbook of grounded theory, 214-228. 22. Research in Higher Education
Paper Information Capital and Resilience Education Sciences Group, WU Vienna, Austria Presenting Author:The European agenda for widening participation in Higher Education (HE) aims for a reflection of the diversity of the European population in the student body as well as equity of opportunity in education (European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice, 2015, 2020). This has led to an increase in so-called non-traditional students (NTS) entering universities throughout Europe (ibid.). The term “non-traditional student” includes but is not limited to students who, e.g., are first-generation students, are engaged in regular paid employment, belong to an ethnic or migrant minority or have care responsibilities (Gillen-O’Neel, 2021; Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2018). NTS, however, are overrepresented among HE dropouts (Thaler & Unger, 2014; Tieben, 2020; Wolter et al., 2017), which contradicts the European Union’s above stated goals. This may be due to HE-institutions' predominant orientation toward “traditional” full-time students with tertiary-educated parents etc., which may cause NTS to experience additional difficulties in HE (Nairz-Wirth & Feldmann, 2018). The majority of HE dropouts happen during the transition to university (Aina et al., 2022), which can therefore be described as a particularly challenging time for students. To deal with challenges, students need resilience, the ability to adapt to and grow during challenging times. As NTS may face additional difficulties in HE (see above), they would especially benefit from a high level of resilience. Previous empirical research established that resilient students are significantly less likely to drop out of HE than less resilient students (see e.g., Ayala & Manzano, 2018). An important dimension of resilience is the perceived self-efficacy (Jardim et al., 2021, p. 6). Bandura’s (1994) conception of self-efficacy is employed to define a university student’s study-related perceived self-efficacy: The study-related perceived self-efficacy therefore describes the belief/expectation of a student to achieve certain levels of performance in their studies through their own abilities and actions, e.g., during an exam, which in turn affect the student’s progress, e.g., through the result of this exam. Low-threshold access to study-related information capital strengthens the expectation of self-efficacy (Crozier & Reay, 2011), especially during the transition to university. Because students can make decisions on which skills to acquire and which actions to take to positively influence their study progress only based on appropriate information. Notably, access to informal high-quality information capital, so-called hot knowledge (Strecker & Feixa, 2020), e.g., information exchanged through informal chat with other students, is critical for a student’s perceived self-efficacy. Cold knowledge, e.g., the information displayed on the homepage of a study program, in contrast, embodies formal information capital, which often does not match the quality of hot knowledge (Strecker & Feixa, 2020). NTS, especially first-generation students, may be at a disadvantage in accessing hot knowledge, as they cannot access it through their families (Strecker & Feixa, 2020). This contribution aims to identify study conditions, which facilitate student’s access to hot knowledge and are therefore, as conceptualized above, suitable for enhancing student’s resilience. For this purpose, Bourdieu’s relational theoretical framework with the concepts habitus, field and capital (Bourdieu, 1977, 1983) is applied and expanded by information capital as a combination of social and cultural capital (Lessky et al., 2021). As different fields of study vary greatly regarding the accessibility of hot knowledge due to differing field structures and conditions, three vastly different study programs are investigated with each being viewed as a specific social field. This leads to the central research questions of this contribution: 1. Which study conditions are suitable for facilitating student’s access to hot knowledge during the transition to university? 2. How do three different study programs compare regarding the student’s access to hot knowledge? Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used As our focus is on student’s experiences with and perceptions of study conditions regarding the accessibility of hot knowledge, we chose a qualitative research approach. 26 problem-centered interviews (Witzel, 2000) and eight group discussions provide the basis of the empirical study presented here*. The interviews and group discussions were conducted with non-traditional students from three different study programs at Austrian state universities (human medicine, engineering and an undergraduate program that combines business, economics and social sciences), which were chosen because of their greatly varying study conditions. The interviews took place between 2019 and 2023 and ranged in length from 18 to 135 minutes. At the time of the interviews, the interviewees were between 20 and 34 years old. To gain further in-depth insights into the topic (Kühn & Koschel, 2011, pp. 23–24), semi-structured group discussions with three to four participants each, took place in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Two group discussions were held with engineering students and three each with human medicine students and students of business, economics and social sciences. One out of the three group discussions with human medicine students and with students of business, economics and social sciences each also included a lecturer. The group-discussions ranged in length from 52 to 94 minutes. The interviews and group discussions were audio-recorded with informed consent (Witzel 2000) and subsequently transcribed verbatim for coding and analysis. We used pseudonyms throughout to guarantee anonymity. The data was analyzed using the ATLAS.ti qualitative data analysis software program. In accordance with the principles of Constructivist Grounded Theory, open coding was initially used, whereby the codes were developed based on the statements of the interviewed students. In a further step, the resulting codes were divided into categories, which were then assigned to Bourdieu's theoretical concepts. The interpretation of the data was therefore primarily guided by Bourdieusian theory, but sufficient care was taken to ensure that the process was not only deductive but also inductive, thus avoiding any mono-theoretical reductionism. *The empirical study presented in this article is based on the analysis of part of the qualitative data material collected as part of a research project (No. 18454), funded by the OeNB Anniversary Fund. The project is being carried out by the Education Sciences Group at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings In the three fields of study examined, students obtain information capital in the form of hot knowledge from peers, digital groups, student councils and the student union. However, the sources of hot knowledge vary in the three fields analyzed due to the different institutionalization of access to information capital. In the study program of business, economics and social sciences, students mainly obtain hot knowledge from peers and digital groups, as well as from the student union. The digital groups are of particular relevance in this field regarding access to hot knowledge. This may be due to the low level of institutionalization of access to social capital, the peers. Engineering students also obtain hot knowledge from digital groups, but to a lesser extent, as access to information capital is more institutionalized in this field due to the student council’s services. These services include providing networking opportunities and spaces, and students obtain hot knowledge from the peers they get to know this way. In the field of human medicine, access to social capital is most strongly institutionalized due to the prevalence of a small group system; students obtain hot knowledge primarily from peers within the small group, but also from digital groups and the student union. Peers are the most important source of hot knowledge for students in all three fields of study, as digital groups, student councils and the student union are also primarily maintained by students. Accordingly, the results highlight the connection between access to social capital, relationships with peers, and access to information capital in the form of hot knowledge. Relationships with peers as well as the associated access to hot knowledge, promote students’ resilience. In addition, digital groups can be clearly assigned to hot knowledge. References Aina, C., Baici, E., Casalone, G., & Pastore, F. (2022). The determinants of university dropout: A review of the socio-economic literature. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 79, Article 101102, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2021.101102 Ayala, J. C., & Manzano, G. (2018). Academic performance of first-year university students: The influence of resilience and engagement. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(7), 1321–1335. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2018.1502258 Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. V.S. Ramachaudran (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 4, 1–65. Bourdieu, P. (1977). Outline of a Theory of Practice. Cambridge studies in social anthropology: Vol. 16. Cambridge University Press. Bourdieu, P. (1983). Ökonomisches Kapital, kulturelles Kapital, soziales Kapital. In R. Kreckel (Ed.), Soziale Ungleichheiten (pp. 183–198). Schwartz. Crozier, G., & Reay, D. (2011). Capital accumulation: Working-class students learning how to learn in HE. Teaching in Higher Education, 16(2), 145–155. https://doi.org/10.1080/13562517.2010.515021 European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice. (2015). The European higher education area in 2015: Bologna process implementation report. Publications Office of the European Union. http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/thematic_reports/182EN.pdf https://doi.org/10.2797/998555 European Commission/EACEA/Eurydice. (2020). The European Higher Education Area in 2020: Bologna Process Implementation Report. Publications Office of the European Union. https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/c90aaf32-4fce-11eb-b59f-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF/source-183354043 https://doi.org/10.2797/756192 Gillen-O’Neel, C. (2021). Sense of Belonging and Student Engagement: A Daily Study of First- and Continuing-Generation College Students. Research in Higher Education, 62(1), 45–71. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-019-09570-y Jardim, J., Pereira, A., & Bártolo, A. (2021). Development and Psychometric Properties of a Scale to Measure Resilience among Portuguese University Students: Resilience Scale-10. Education Sciences, 11(2), Article 61, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11020061 Kühn, T., & Koschel, K.‑V. (2011). Gruppendiskussionen (2nd ed.). Springer VS. Lessky, F., Nairz-Wirth, E., & Feldmann, K. (2021). Informational capital and the transition to university: First-in-family students' experiences in Austrian higher education. European Journal of Education, 56(1), 27–40. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12437 Nairz-Wirth, E., & Feldmann, K. (2018). Hochschulen relational betrachtet. In AQ Austria (Ed.), Durchlässigkeit in der Hochschulbildung. Beiträge zur 5. AQ Austria Jahrestagung 2017 (pp. 79–94). Facultas. Strecker, T., & Feixa, C. (2020). Gender and social class in study choice: narratives of youth transitions in Spain. Gender and Education, 32(3), 429–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/09540253.2018.1495831 Thaler, & Unger (2014). IHS_Dropoutstudie2014. Tieben, N. (2020). Non-completion, Transfer, and Dropout of Traditional and Non-traditional Students in Germany. Research in Higher Education, 61(1), 117–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-019-09553-z Witzel, A. (2000). Das problemzentrierte Interview. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 1(1), 1–7. Wolter, A., Dahm, G., Kamm, C., Kerst, C., & Otto, A. (2017). Nicht-traditionelle Studierende: Studienverlauf, Studienerfolg und Lernumwelten. Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) | ||