Institutional factors affecting student retention

Retention of International Students

The value of a college education is continually stressed today as an essential component of success in life. However, merely encouraging students to attend college is not enough: measures of student retention are far more critical in assessing the success of an academic program. Universities in Australia, the United States, and the United Kingdom have all had trouble retaining students, particularly from historically underrepresented groups (Lau 2003). The consequences of low retention rates are not simply grave for the individual, but also for society, given the advantages a professional degree can convey. For example, in the profession of engineering, from "1983 and 2002, the percentage of women among bachelor degree recipients went from 13.3% to only 20.9% [2]. In addition, the retention rates for female engineering students are substantially lower than their male counterparts" (Franchetti, Ravn & Kuntz 2010). A lack of female and minority representation in the sciences can perpetuates the economic disenfranchisement of these historically underrepresented groups in a field that is both lucrative and powerful in shaping the world.

However, restructuring university programs can make a different in retention rates. For example, the University of Toledo increased retention of women in its engineering major from 51% to 73% by instituting an academic support program which combined mentoring efforts, hiring new female professors, creating an academic society for peer support and offering female majors the opportunity to work in the field, to give them a sense of what completing the program might give them later in life.

The need for institutional support rather than a 'sink or swim' attitude towards historically underrepresented groups at a university is essential regarding the retention of international students as well. "Many more students leave because the institution has failed to create an environment, inside or outside the classroom, that is conducive to their learning and educational needs. These students do not return to their college because they are unhappy with the education that they are receiving...the inability to manage normal school work or to assimilate within the student population could discourage some students from returning for another year of torture" (Lau 2003). To increase retention of international students, there must be formal academic support systems where students can obtain help with studying and submitting assignments using English as a second language. Ideally, these support systems should be address cultural issues some students may face, such as the greater degree of debate within Western universities, versus schools in their home nation.

There must also be professorial and peer support so students feel comfortable seeking out academic assistance and so they do not feel so alone. Having an international student society where students can meet fellow international students and commiserate about their navigation from one nation to another can provide a vital source of social bonding. Students will be able to see how others have navigated the transition from one educational system to another.