Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
4.0
3.0
Journals
Education Sciences
Special Issues
Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities
share announcement

Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities

A special issue of Education Sciences (ISSN 2227-7102). This special issue belongs to the section "Higher Education".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 January 2023) | Viewed by 24839

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Diana Dias

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Centre for Research In Higher Education Policies, 450-227 Porto, Portugal
Interests: students academic success and integration process; learning outcomes; competencies assessment; quality assurance; access and equity; comparative analyses of policies systems; students choices and mobility; academic satisfaction and engagement

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleague,

The transition to higher education (HE) is a significant life event that is supposed to be a very pleasant experience for students. However, the impacts of this transition are not straightforward, being influenced by students’ psychosocial variables and by their own perceptions concerning the HE environment.

The transition to HE encompasses many tasks requiring students to cope with changes, deal with new kinds of responsibilities, and manage emotions. A wide variety of emotions take place in the HE transition, both positive and negative in nature, such as joy following enrolment success and fear related to social rejection.

This Special Issue is focused on the transition to HE, focusing on first year students’ personal and developmental variables. Articles that may contribute to scientific advancements in this area will be considered for publication, allowing readers to reflect on scientifically rigorous and innovative investigations.

Dr. Diana Dias
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • transition
  • higher education
  • first year students
  • organizational goals

Published Papers (10 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

13 pages, 858 KiB  
Article
Study to Live or Live to Study: The Link between Social Role Investment and Academic Success in First-Year Higher Education Students
by Diana Dias and Gina Santos
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(7), 758; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci13070758 - 24 Jul 2023
Viewed by 863
Abstract
Becoming a student, i.e., learning a set of new skills and lifestyles is an inevitable task for young people joining higher education (HE). Using Perrenoud’s (1995) conceptualization of the student’s role as a theoretical framework, this paper intends to reflect on the construction [...] Read more.
Becoming a student, i.e., learning a set of new skills and lifestyles is an inevitable task for young people joining higher education (HE). Using Perrenoud’s (1995) conceptualization of the student’s role as a theoretical framework, this paper intends to reflect on the construction of students’ identities and its repercussions on their academic success through analysis of the discourse between HE students. How students try to intertwine their personal lives with the demands of their new roles as higher education students is also discussed. Qualitative data analysis was conducted using semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 30 engineering students. Our analysis of the results confirmed that attending HE can indeed be conceptualized as the exercise of a “craft”. This craft could be taught in different ways, with more or less success, in the light of the construction of one’s own social identity with more focus on either their role as student or their role as a young person. The results allow for the emergence of a conceptual framework which, crossing the investment in their social role as students with academic success, brings out distinctive dimensions: “Live to Study”, “Study to Live”, “Study without living” and “Live without study”. These dimensions provide four major student profiles that can advise the management of higher education institutions to strategically take actions to promote not only student success, but also the pedagogic efficiency of their educational programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

14 pages, 637 KiB  
Article
Student Academic and Social Engagement in the Life of the Academy—A Lever for Retention and Persistence in Higher Education
by Maria José Sá
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(3), 269; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci13030269 - 03 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3893
Abstract
Research studies worldwide have focused on higher education dropout, persistence, and success. Given the profound changes in higher education that have taken place in recent decades, higher education institutions need to compete for students by attracting, retaining, and, ultimately, graduating them. Thus, higher [...] Read more.
Research studies worldwide have focused on higher education dropout, persistence, and success. Given the profound changes in higher education that have taken place in recent decades, higher education institutions need to compete for students by attracting, retaining, and, ultimately, graduating them. Thus, higher education institutions increasingly offer actions that aim to foster student success. While a smooth and supported process of student transition from secondary to tertiary education is one of the key variables in higher education student retention and paramount for preventing student dropout, the student’s overall experience in higher education plays a pivotal role in their performance and success. This paper focuses specifically on higher education students’ academic and social involvement, notably through their engagement in extracurricular activities and decision-making processes, which are perceived as critical mechanisms in their persistence in higher education. The study used a qualitative approach with the analysis of four Portuguese higher education institutions. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with students and institutional leaders, complemented with document analysis, and explored through content analysis. The results reveal that, from the wide range of opportunities for involvement offered to students by the higher education institution, activities of an academic nature are the most sought after by students to complement their educational experience. However, students perceive involvement in extracurricular activities in general as critical, both to their overall education and preparation for the labor market and to an easier integration into the institutional environment. Hence, student involvement in cultural or recreational activities, alongside their involvement in institutional decision-making bodies and associative movements, is a privileged way of complementing students’ academic training and is perceived by them as important in their overall education, both as professionals and as individuals. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

22 pages, 4332 KiB  
Article
Understanding Influencers of College Major Decision: The UAE Case
by Mohammad Amin Kuhail, Joao Negreiros, Haseena Al Katheeri, Sana Khan and Shurooq Almutairi
Educ. Sci. 2023, 13(1), 39; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci13010039 - 30 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3039
Abstract
This study aims to understand and analyze what influences female students to choose a college major in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To accomplish our target, we conducted a survey with mostly female first-year undergraduate students (N = 496) at Zayed University to [...] Read more.
This study aims to understand and analyze what influences female students to choose a college major in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). To accomplish our target, we conducted a survey with mostly female first-year undergraduate students (N = 496) at Zayed University to understand the personal, social, and financial factors influencing students’ major choices. Further, this study also asked students to specify their actions before deciding on their major and assessed the information that could be helpful for future students to decide on their majors. Last, the study investigated how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) students differ from other students in their major decision. The results show that financial factors such as income and business opportunities related to the major are crucial. Further, gender suitability for the job and passion are influential. Students conduct internet searches, use social media, and read brochures in the process of major decisions. Moreover, students think job alignment with the UAE vision and information related to job availability, income, and skills are critical for future students to decide on their major. Finally, STEM students are more influenced by business opportunities, prestige, and career advancement than others. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

16 pages, 890 KiB  
Article
Exploring the BME Attainment Gap in a Russell Group University: A Mixed Methods Case-Study
by Aunam Quyoum, Stephanie Powell and Tom Clark
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(12), 860; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12120860 - 25 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1801
Abstract
Presenting the results from a mixed methods case-study, this paper draws together insight from the fields of ‘BME attainment’ and ‘student transition’ to explore how differential levels of degree attainment might be experienced within the context of a higher tariff university in England. [...] Read more.
Presenting the results from a mixed methods case-study, this paper draws together insight from the fields of ‘BME attainment’ and ‘student transition’ to explore how differential levels of degree attainment might be experienced within the context of a higher tariff university in England. Across a five-year period (2010/11–2014/2015) it compares the levels of degree attainment between UK-domiciled White and Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) students in relation to prior attainment, qualification type, and socioeconomic group (POLAR 3). A range of qualitative data then outlines a series of dynamic factors that can, when compounded, serve to constrain BME students’ capability to negotiate their way through very particular university landscapes. These include: academic expectation and preparedness; the pedagogic terrain; pastoral engagement and sense of belonging finance; and, the lived experience of diversity and ‘othering’. The paper argues that attainment gaps should not be viewed in terms of an individual deficit that needs to be ‘fixed’ or ‘filled’. Instead, greater attention needs to be directed toward enhancing the capacity of higher tariff universities to respond positively to the needs of a changing demographic. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

19 pages, 288 KiB  
Article
No Budge for any Nudge: Information Provision and Higher Education Application Outcomes
by Sonia Ilie, Konstantina Maragkou, Ashton Brown and Eliza Kozman
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 701; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12100701 - 13 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1382
Abstract
Despite increasing efforts to improve their access, students facing socio-economic disadvantages are still underrepresented in UK higher education. In this paper, we study whether behavioural nudging with information provision through text messages, embedded within a larger programme of widening participation activities, can be [...] Read more.
Despite increasing efforts to improve their access, students facing socio-economic disadvantages are still underrepresented in UK higher education. In this paper, we study whether behavioural nudging with information provision through text messages, embedded within a larger programme of widening participation activities, can be effective at increasing higher education application rates. We conducted two randomised control trials in which final year students in schools and further education colleges in areas with low higher education participation rates in the East of England region received a series of text messages that prompted thinking and/or action regarding the process of applying to higher education. We find null and statistically insignificant effects on application outcomes, suggesting that behavioural nudging in a setting where it is implemented as part of a more intensive widening participation programme is not effective at increasing higher education application rates. These results add to recent evidence regarding the potential impact of nudging in education by studying such interventions within a busy intervention space. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
16 pages, 285 KiB  
Article
Highs, Lows and Turning Points in Marginalised Transitions and Experiences of Noncompletion amongst Pushed Dropouts in South African Higher Education
by Mukovhe Masutha
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 608; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12090608 - 06 Sep 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2063
Abstract
Against a backdrop of dominant deficit, victim-blaming and class/colourblind theories of unequal educational transitions and higher education outcomes, this article analyses thematically in-depth narrative interviews with Black working class “dropouts” in South African higher education to explore how this group of former students [...] Read more.
Against a backdrop of dominant deficit, victim-blaming and class/colourblind theories of unequal educational transitions and higher education outcomes, this article analyses thematically in-depth narrative interviews with Black working class “dropouts” in South African higher education to explore how this group of former students narrate and make sense of their educational journeys and how their accounts could strengthen efforts to achieve just and equitable experiences and outcomes for students from all walks of life. Their narrative accounts reveal that, (a) in their marginalised educational transitions, despite disrupted and sometimes traumatic formative years (lows), their transformative habitus and community cultural wealth enables them to find highs in nadir moments; (b) their educational pathways are paved with unlikely steppingstones and improvising agents of transformation who overcome the odds of under-resourced schooling experiences; (c) despite policymakers’ best intentions, student financial aid moderates but does not ameliorate the perils of being Black and working class in higher education; (d) as pushed dropouts, they are victims of a class and colourblind criminalisation of failure that naturalises injustice in already unjust educational contexts. This study illuminates the transformative and social justice potential in analysing narrative accounts of those who often disappear from higher education without a trace. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
13 pages, 248 KiB  
Article
The Higher Education Commitment Challenge: Impacts of Physical and Cultural Dimensions in the First-Year Students’ Sense of Belonging
by Diana Dias
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(4), 231; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12040231 - 23 Mar 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3415
Abstract
The students’ perceptions and experiences about the organizational attributes of the higher education institution in which they are enrolled seem to have a strong influence on their integration, sense of belonging, and commitment to their new academic reality. The present paper focuses on [...] Read more.
The students’ perceptions and experiences about the organizational attributes of the higher education institution in which they are enrolled seem to have a strong influence on their integration, sense of belonging, and commitment to their new academic reality. The present paper focuses on the analysis of how first-year students build a sense of belonging and commitment to the higher education institution that welcomes them, focusing on institutional attributes that can act as (positive or negative) catalysts, such as physical and cultural dimensions. However, besides physical and cultural dimensions, it is crucial to consider its synergies with psychological, social, organisational, political, and axiological dimensions that have emerged as critical variables for contextualizing the analysis. The results suggest that the physical dimension nourishes the students’ feelings of belonging, namely through the felt need to develop skills to manage their interaction with the spatial dimension of the institution that welcomes them. Moreover, newcomers’ self-concept seems to be significantly increased by the feeling that they are now part of a cultural but also social elite. On the other hand, the feeling of integration seems to be supported basically on successful peer relationships. This perceived prestige of the higher education institution where they now belong represents, a anteriori, a crucial demand for the career management of the Bourdieu’ “heirs,” and, a posteriori, a real (and sometimes surprising) achievement for first-generation students. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
11 pages, 202 KiB  
Article
A Process Evaluation of a Learning Community Program: Implemented as Designed?
by Tonya Scott Lanphier and Robert M. Carini
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 60; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12010060 - 17 Jan 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2562
Abstract
Learning communities can be useful to counter some of the challenges encountered by first-semester students as they transition to college. This 2-year process evaluation examines the launch of a campus-wide learning community initiative for developmental reading students at a community college in the [...] Read more.
Learning communities can be useful to counter some of the challenges encountered by first-semester students as they transition to college. This 2-year process evaluation examines the launch of a campus-wide learning community initiative for developmental reading students at a community college in the USA. Students, instructors, and administrators were interviewed about the implementation of the program, and program-related materials were reviewed. Findings suggested ways to enhance the effectiveness of learning communities of the linked-course variety through program implementation that is more faithful to key design aspects. Suggestions include (1) implement team-teaching across linked courses; (2) carry out an integrated curriculum across courses; (3) provide in-depth and continued instructor training as well as specialized resources; (4) expand support services available to students and require them to use at least some; and (5) create tools/methods for instructors and administrators to regularly assess processual aspects rather than just program outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
13 pages, 603 KiB  
Article
Measuring a University’s Image: Is Reputation an Influential Factor?
by Belén Gutiérrez-Villar, Purificación Alcaide-Pulido and Mariano Carbonero-Ruz
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 19; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12010019 - 30 Dec 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2007
Abstract
Today, the higher education sector can be considered a market and, within it, private university education is a common marketable service in the literature on higher education management. Research on the analysis of the variables that generate the university image has been the [...] Read more.
Today, the higher education sector can be considered a market and, within it, private university education is a common marketable service in the literature on higher education management. Research on the analysis of the variables that generate the university image has been the subject of numerous investigations. Although there is no generally accepted definition, most authors approach the measurement of image through multi-factor scales, with variables relating to functional and psychological elements. This research aims to contribute to study of the most determinant variables in measuring a product’s image, assessing especially the effect of the reputation construct. This was done through measuring the image of the “private university” product as perceived by citizens of Andalusia, based on a standardized model with three dimensions—functional and affective aspects and reputation. After adapting and validating the questionnaire, a two-phase procedure is performed with double validation through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. The results show an adapted scale valid for measuring the image of a generic product; with presentation and discussion of a series of advantages of incorporating reputation and measuring image through models with three dimensions. This article goes deeper into the possible influence of reputation as a determinant factor in measuring image, an assumption arising from some models for measuring image, something that so far has not been sufficiently contrasted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

12 pages, 1003 KiB  
Article
Educational Challenges of Higher Education: Validation of the Information Competence Scale for Future Teachers (ICS-FT)
by Gerardo Gómez-García, Francisco-Javier Hinojo-Lucena, Francisco-Domingo Fernández-Martín and José-María Romero-Rodríguez
Educ. Sci. 2022, 12(1), 14; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/educsci12010014 - 29 Dec 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1914
Abstract
The irruption of information and communication technologies has brought about an abrupt change in the demands placed on future professionals. In this sense, in recent years, information competencies have gained importance in university education from a cross-cutting perspective, which advocates as its main [...] Read more.
The irruption of information and communication technologies has brought about an abrupt change in the demands placed on future professionals. In this sense, in recent years, information competencies have gained importance in university education from a cross-cutting perspective, which advocates as its main purpose the training of young people in information search, evaluation, processing and communication skills, especially through a digital network. Based on this idea, the present work aims to develop the Information Competence Scale for Future Teachers (ICS-FT), in order to measure the level of self-perceived skills in this area. For this purpose, a work design is presented below concerning an empirical validation, divided into different phases: the validation of content, construct and reliability, which has taken as a pilot sample a total of 259 university students studying the degree of Primary Education. The results of the validation determined the optimal conditions of content, construct and reliability that allowed the application of this scale as a generic approach to determine the level of competence in the information skills of future teachers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Transition to Higher Education: Challenges and Opportunities)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-10
Back to TopTop