6: Student Perceptions

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Reasons for Students Withdrawal
Increasing Student Persistence

Reasons for Students Withdrawal

In an endeavour to obtain student perceptions on the reasons for indigenous students not persisting with university studies, interviewees were asked to express their own views on a range of issues in respect to the success or otherwise of indigenous students at this university.

One of these questions (30), asked for responses to the question 'In your experience, what is the most important reason why students withdraw from university?'. As students involved in this survey understood that the study concerned 'factors affecting performance of indigenous students at Australian universities', all indigenous and the majority of non-indigenous students responded to this question in terms of the factors they perceived to be important in relation to the withdrawal of indigenous students from university.

Table 6.1: Question 30, Responses of Indigenous 'On-campus' Students Compared with External Students

* Not all students responded to all of these questions. Percentages represent responses and not the actual number of students. Some students responded to several categories.

From the above table of on-campus and external indigenous students' responses it is obvious that while there is some agreement between on-campus and external students regarding the factors which play an important part in a student's decision

to withdraw from university, the two groups differ significantly in relation to some factors which suggest they have some basically different pressures acting on them as students.

With respect to family problems and financial problems, there is no significant difference between on-campus and external students in the importance they place on these two issues in relation to students deciding to withdraw from university (family problems x2 = 1.70, p > .05; financial problems x2 = 1.54, p > .05). However, 63.6 per cent of external students indicated that family problems were, in their view, an important factor leading students to withdraw from university, compared with 46.9 per cent of on-campus students. Similarly, 54.5 per cent of external students expressed the view that financial problems were an important reason for students withdrawing compared to 38.8 per cent of on-campus students. Thus, on both of these factors a greater proportion of external students indicated problems than on-campus students with comments such as

full time work commitments, unable to combine full time work and family responsibilities successfully. Also a lack of resources (study materials and books) in an isolated community.

mature students are pressured-don't realise studying takes up so much time, hard to cope with work, family, financial, individual choices-hard to make time to study.

studying away from university (Adelaide) the participants were not in contact with their Tutor and therefore were reluctant at times to contact them for help, keeping to a time schedule…but the most important of all, if married, is the study commitment and family.

The problems of isolation, staff attitudes and lack of basic skills attracted a similar proportion of responses from both the on-campus and external students. Chi square analyses revealed no significant differences between the two groups of students with respect to these three sets of problems (isolation, x2 = .08, p > .05; staff attitudes, x2 = .26, p > .05; lack of basic skills, x2 = .08, p > .05).

In mainstream course found lack of support and guidance from staff-where to find resources and how to start. Prejudice from mainstream lecturers…stereotypes.

With respect to accommodation, problems with accommodation featured more prominently for on-campus students than for external students. As has already been discussed earlier in this report, many of the on-campus indigenous students come from 'out of town' and have to live in temporary rental accommodation or in hostels. A greater proportion of on-campus students (20.4%) expressed concern about accommodation than external students (9.1%). However, this difference is not significant by chi square analysis (x2 = 1.38, p > .05) (see Recommendation 22).

Table 6.1 shows that academic issues are mentioned more frequently by on-campus students than by external students (28.6% compared with 13.6%), although the difference was not significant by chi square analysis (x2 = 1.86, p > .05).

Significant differences were found between on-campus and external student responses with respect to the four remaining sets of problems:

• support problems;
• motivational problems;
• fear of failure; and
• workload problems.

In relation to 'support problems', there was a significant difference between the responses of on-campus and external students. Of the on-campus students, 51 per cent attested to the importance of support problems as being a factor in students deciding to withdraw from university, compared with 31.8 per cent of external students (x2 = 3.91, p < .05).

Comments from on-campus students highlighted the problem in this area:

not supported by teachers.

basically no strong support-not culturally appropriate-more Aboriginal staff members.

because people have no real support from teachers, who are not explaining things clearly for those who aren't as smart or well educated as others.

personal problems and lack of understanding and support when students have personal problems.

difficulty in changing lifestyle-they can't adjust to study life. I saw a lot of students who never spoke up when they didn't know what to do or what was going on.

External students commented:

need more support-especially initially-this helps overcome a feeling of lack of confidence in self. More networking between Uni and ATAS-takes too long to get a tutor through DEET…by the time the paperwork is through the semester is half over, lecturers need to ring office to ensure the tutors will be set up on time to improve study skills at home.

need support for DEC students-teach how to write in a Uni standard-optional course for preparation-count towards coursework.

uncertainty, insecurity about academic/intellectual ability relative to others-personal problems. Lack of money to meet expenses, pay fees etc. Lack of support or destructive intervention by family members…many women have spouses who don't support or understand their desire to study or try to undermine it.

they panic at initial confusion (support required). Lack of confidence (support required); not informed fully of commitment required.

The issue of motivation is another area where the responses of on-campus and external students differ significantly (x2 = 4.45, p < .05), with 32.7 per cent of the on-campus students naming motivational problems as an important factor leading to student withdrawal compared with 9.1 per cent of external students.

Lack of support-lack of money, lose interest, use too many big words, not relevant to everyday life, family pressure not to study (family, i.e. kids).

With respect to motivation, it is the case that on-campus students who have daily interaction with other students, would obviously be far more aware of other students' attitudes regarding university life and be more conscious of the indifference and lack of commitment of some students on-campus than external students would be. As one on-campus respondent said:

Also students that I have known through the course have been easy going. In that respect I mean that some times students say I could of done better in that assignment but I just got slack and didn't have time to read. I feel affected by these attitudes because I am honestly trying. Possibly I am wrong in my own personal perspective.

Student responses in relation to 'fear of failure' also differ significantly (x2 = 4.58, p < .05) with 27.3 per cent of external students expressing the view that this is an important reason for students withdrawing from university compared with 8.2 per cent of on-campus students.

From this analysis it is apparent that external students had a greater fear of failure than their on-campus counterparts, and this fear appears to have been a motivating factor to assist their success. Despite these findings it has been claimed that for some students the fear of failure may be somewhat akin to an expectation of discrimination, in that it can cause certain behaviours to occur which are not warranted by the circumstances. With the high attrition rates among indigenous university students being the norm for some, it might seem better to walk away than risk failure.

In relation to 'workload' as a factor leading to students withdrawing from university, the two groups again differ significantly in their responses (x2 = 12.56, p < .001), with 14.3 per cent of on-campus students naming this as a problem compared with 54.5 per cent of external students.

I was unprepared for the demands of University. There was pressure from too much work.

Not understanding educational requirements before entering unit, overwhelmed by the amount of responsibility you're given.

With respect to work load, it would seem obvious that this would assume a greater importance for external students who, from their homebase, are often having to juggle family, study and part time or full time employment commitments. Many external students commented on the extensive reading material associated with the course, some of which was perceived to be irrelevant to the topic.

For an analysis of the category 'DEC' problems, see the discussion following Table 6.3.

Table 6.2: Question 30, Responses of Indigenous 'On-campus' 'Successful' Students Compared with Incomplete Students

When on-campus successful indigenous students are compared with on-campus incomplete students, a different set of factors is seen to be at work. While the 'on-campus' successful students' responses show many similarities to the total indigenous on-campus group, the incomplete on-campus students give a different pattern of perceived problems.

These results suggest that for the on-campus indigenous students who had withdrawn from university, financial problems and the feeling of being 'isolated, distant from family, cut off from the support of the extended family and homesick' assumed a greater importance than they did for the successful on-campus indigenous students.

While there is no significant difference between on-campus successful and incomplete students with respect to the role which financial problems play in the attrition rate (x2 = .97, p > .05), it is nevertheless the case that 47.4 per cent of the incomplete students studying on-campus identified this as an important factor compared with 33.3 per cent of successful students. This is consistent with earlier findings (Chapter 5, question 22i), where a significantly greater proportion of incomplete than successful indigenous respondents said they had been worried about financial problems while at university.

In the case of 'isolation', however, there was a significant difference between on-campus successful and incomplete students(x2 = 5.37, p < .05), with 47.4 per cent of the incomplete students naming isolation as an important cause of students withdrawing from university compared with 16.7 per cent of successful students.

This can perhaps be accounted for by the fact that 16 of the 24 on-campus incomplete students were from 'out of town'.

As discussed earlier in this report, 65.3 per cent of all on-campus indigenous students are from 'out of town'. That is, more than half of the on-campus indigenous students have had to leave their homeplace and relocate to Adelaide in order to study at university. This is of relevance to both financial problems and the feeling of isolation and its associated difficulties.

For a single student, being away from home (possibly for the first time), and having to cope financially with provision of rent, food, power and social outings, in a new environment and on their own, is quite daunting. Similarly, for the 'out of town' student with partner or partner and children, the situation must be equally if not more difficult. The 'out of town' 'married' student who has come to Adelaide to study has to cope not only with finding suitable accommodation, paying the bond if in rental accommodation, paying for the connection of services, furnishing the accommodation and providing all the necessities for a not too spartan existence, but also has to cope with making the necessary arrangements for any children in the family. In addition, if the student (single or married) has come from the northern areas of Australia, warm clothes have to be purchased quite early on in the academic year. All this is in itself quite an undertaking. If the student is also trying to adjust to a severely reduced income (Abstudy) the resulting financial worries are a real factor to be reckoned with.

As a majority of indigenous students (61.3%) come to university from a work background immediately before entry to university (see Table A4.23a) and only a small percentage are funded students, a considerable number of indigenous students would be attempting to cope with the problems of relocation, and reduced income, in addition to their study program. This could well account for the fact that 38.8 per cent of all indigenous students on-campus nominated 'financial problems' as a reason for students withdrawing from the course (see Table 6.1), with 47.4 per cent of the on-campus incompletes naming this as an important factor leading students to withdraw from university (see Table 6.2).

A combination of financial problems and feelings of isolation, distance from family and remoteness from the help and support of the extended family could well account for the fact that 50 per cent of 'out of town' 'on-campus' students do decide to withdraw from their course and return to their homes either interstate or in country South Australia (see Table A4.9).

Recommendation 14

• That the Aboriginal and Islander Support Unit encourage academic and non-academic staff members to involve students in informal, casual social events to give them a sense of belonging. This should include asking staff members with special links to specific community groups to notify students of local events in which they could become involved and to introduce students to representatives of the local community who could act as mentors.

As various indigenous students made clear in response to question 30, reasons they believed cause students to drop out include:

• moving interstate - homesick and isolated; high cost of rent in Adelaide; children sick in the cold climate; financial problems;
  
• away from home, loneliness; money problems, new country;
  
• accommodation problems, financial problems which cause homesickness;
  
• financial problems; accommodation unsuitable for study; tend to lose, and suffer from lack of commitment to attend university; and
  
• money and financial problems, living away from family and having to support yourself, not having someone (like family) to help…also people are afraid of failing. If someone (like myself) wasn't doing too well at my studies because I was thinking that this course wasn't going to help me when I left…I would rather withdraw/dropout than to keep going and failing.

Problems in the area of support are of concern to both the successful and the drop out 'on-campus' indigenous students. However, a greater proportion of successful students (though not significantly greater) named this problem than drop-out students (60% compared with 36.8% (see Table 6.2); x2 = 2.50. p > .05). Obviously the provision of adequate support is a crucial issue for successful outcome for indigenous students at university. The fact that 60 per cent of successful on-campus students and 51 per cent of the total on-campus group (see Table 6.1) identified problems in the area of support is important in relation to the attrition rate and must be met with proactive strategies.

Though the support staff strive to meet the many and diverse needs of the students, what the university has not yet fully recognised is that indigenous people coming to the university have to contend with difficulties undreamt of by most non-indigenous students and need all the support they can get. As one indigenous respondent observed 'Uni needs to understand what Aboriginal people go through while trying to make something of their lives'. Others commented on the need for culturally appropriate indigenous support staff, and for the appointment of additional support staff, especially the provision of both male and female support staff, to meet the needs of both male and female students.

Academic issues are another factor where there is a significant difference between the responses of successful and incomplete on-campus indigenous students (x² = 8.26, p < .05). While 43.3 per cent of successful indigenous students in this sample see this as an important factor in the high attrition rate of indigenous students from university, only 5.3 per cent of incomplete indigenous students acknowledge it as a problem (see Table 6.2). As such a high percentage of incomplete indigenous students in the sample withdrew from university in the first semester, it is possible that many would not have stayed long enough to form an opinion on academic matters.

For the on-campus successful students, family problems also assume a greater importance than they do for the incomplete students (53.3% compared with 36.8%); however, the difference is not significant by chi square (x² = 1.27, p > .05).

With respect to the six remaining factors (motivational problems, staff attitudes, accommodation problems, lack of basic skills, workload problems and fear of failure), the pattern of response is similar for successful and incomplete indigenous students.

Table 6.3: Question 30, Responses of Indigenous External 'Successful' Compared with Incomplete Students

The responses of external students have already been covered in the earlier section dealing with the comparison of on-campus and external student responses. What the above table does is to separate out the responses of external successful and external incomplete indigenous students.

The additional information of interest in Table 6.3 above relates to 'DEC' problems. While 40.9 per cent of the external indigenous students identified 'DEC' problems as a factor leading students to the withdraw from university (see Table 6.1), from the table above it is clear that this problem assumes a greater importance for incomplete students than their successful counterparts (83% compared with 25%; Fisher's Exact Test p = .02).

This category of problems covers several important areas of frustration for students studying in external mode. The lack of resources such as study materials and books; the lack of facilities, such as photocopiers and computers; the difficulty of contacting on-campus lecturers and tutors when problems arise; the frustration of phone calls not being returned; the extent of the reading material and the perceived irrelevance of some of the readings; the lack of clear guidelines re assignments; the inflexibility of due dates for assignments, despite personal or family problems; the long delays in the marking and return of assignments and the lack of feedback with respect to progress are some of the major factors identified by external students (indigenous and non-indigenous) and covered by the 'DEC' problems category.

Recommendation 15

• That Aboriginal and Islander Support Unit staff collaborate with the FLC staff to alleviate the problems being experienced with the external delivery of courses.

Recommendation 16

• That staff of the Aboriginal and Islander Support Unit take cognisance of the problems reported by external students and take steps to ensure that university policies and procedures recognise problems such as frequency of teleconferences, assignment turn around time, relevance of readings and lack of feedback on progress.

Recommendation 17

• That teaching staff preparing materials for delivery through FLC set realistic reading and work loads and investigate the development of alternative teaching methodologies to lessen the volume of print material.

Recommendation 18

• That all FLC and faculty staff dealing with external students have voicemail facilities for their telephones.

While there is no significant difference in the proportion of external indigenous successful and incomplete students with respect to the importance of 'support' problems, these problems featured more prominently for successful indigenous external students than for their incomplete counterparts (37.5% compared with 16.7%; Fisher's Exact Test p > .05).

A similar proportion of responses was found with respect to family problems and fear of failure (in both cases, Fisher's Exact Test p > .05).

Conversely, academic issues, financial problems and staff attitudes feature more prominently for incomplete external students than they do for successful external students. (However, in each case, Fisher's Exact Test, p > .05).

Increasing Student Persistence

Question 31 is another of the open ended questions where students were asked to respond in their own words. In this case they were asked to respond to the question 'can you provide some suggestions that might reduce or eliminate students withdrawing from university'.

The factor which gained most attention from indigenous respondents was support. Of the 65 indigenous students who responded to this question 73.8 per cent drew attention to the need to expand and improve support services in order to reduce the indigenous attrition rate.

The comments on support covered issues such as the need:

1. for support services to be well structured and organised, and adequately staffed and resourced to allow increased interaction and communication with all students, including later year and external students;
   
2. to ensure that support staff have no other responsibilities in order to allow them to devote their entire time and attention to student needs and problems;
   
3. for more culturally appropriate (i.e. indigenous) support staff who can communicate effectively with indigenous students;
   
4. for individual support (i.e. a one to one relationship with a mentor from the beginning of the academic year);
   
5. for counselling for couples, especially those studying externally, to help the non-student partner understand the time/study demands being made on the student partner;
   
6. to streamline the procedure for obtaining an ATAS tutor and an increase in the tutoring hours permitted. This was an issue raised by external students in particular, some of whom resent the long delay between application and provision of a tutor; and
   
7. for more organised social events involving staff and students.

While the matter of support is obviously important to all students, it assumed its greatest importance for successful external students, 93.8 per cent of whom expressed the opinion that one important way to reduce the attrition rate was to expand and improve the support services in the ways indicated above.

Recommendation 19

• That indigenous support staff take individual responsibility for identified external students to ensure they receive adequate support through teleconferencing, telephone calls and fax.

Among the on-campus indigenous students, 82.4 per cent of the incomplete students recommended that changes be made to improve support services, as did 69.2 per cent of the successful students (only 16.7% of incomplete external students made reference to this factor).

The consensus among indigenous students with respect to the importance of support services is remarkable. However, many of the indigenous students do enter university through the provisions of special entry, and many on-campus indigenous

students come from interstate or country South Australia. They are not only coping with a new environment as well as feelings of isolation and homesickness, but many are also living on a reduced income. Individuals in this situation need 'support' greatly in excess of that offered to other students at university.

Indigenous students identified eight other specific areas where-in their opinion-changes need to be made in order to reduce the attrition rate.

One third (33.3%) of the indigenous students in the sample made recommendations in relation to academic issues. (See later 'DEC issues' for academic issues relating specifically to external students). Suggestions in relation to academic issues included:

• the staff student ratio be reduced to allow more individual attention;
  
• class sizes be reduced;
  
• staff be properly qualified and committed and not preoccupied with their own study;
  
• lecture material be well prepared and of a high quality;
  
• the teaching program be made more interesting and relevant to all indigenous students. The focus on traditional issues must be replaced by a greater attention to issues/problems facing urban as well as traditional people, in all parts of Australia;
  
• an effort be made to replace non-indigenous authors with indigenous authors where possible, as too much of the set reading material is written by non-indigenous authors;
  
• a serious effort be made to de-westernise teaching methodology/must adopt adult learning techniques/small interactive group discussion; and
  
• there be less theory and more practical, hands on experience in the courses offered by FAIS, especially in relation to the computing subjects.

Recommendation 20

• That the Head of School discuss the issues regarding curriculum materials with academic teaching staff so that they better meet the needs of indigenous students.

When responses in this category were analysed in relation to the four sub-groups of indigenous students in the sample, it was found that academic issues were of particular concern to the incomplete external students, 83.3 per cent of whom recommended that changes needed to be made to the academic program in order to reduce the attrition rate. Of the 35.3 per cent incomplete on-campus students, 30.8 per cent of the successful on-campus students and 18.8 per cent of the successful external students also felt this to be an important issue.

Of the remaining factors, 24.6 per cent recommended that attitudes of non-indigenous staff needed to change, identifying issues such as:

• non-indigenous staff be more culturally sensitive and more flexible re deadlines when indigenous students are facing family and personal traumas;
  
• non-indigenous staff be more committed and offer greater support, especially to struggling students;
  
• non-indigenous staff improve communication with students/be more professional and respect student confidentiality; and
  
• non-indigenous staff show greater understanding of cultural differences; for instance, the importance of the family.

Recommendation 21

• That non-indigenous teaching staff workshop cross-cultural understanding issues with staff of the Support Unit.

Financial issues were also of concern with 18.5 per cent of students suggesting that:

• Abstudy allowance be increased;
  
• HECS fees be reduced; and
  
• a financial adviser be appointed to help students adjust to living on a reduced income.

Recommendation 22

• That a rental subsidy scheme using State Housing and Aboriginal Hostels Limited funding be established for those students who fit the criteria.

Accommodation problems attracted the attention of 13.8 per cent of indigenous students in the sample who felt strongly that:

• live-in accommodation be provided close to university where students can act as support and provide company for one another;
  
• married quarters be provided near to university with child care facilities and in-house tutors;
  
• accommodation; and
  
  

they can't get settled until nearly end of year, thus can't concentrate on the course and its requirements until this is done.

99% of my friends failed assignments etc withdrew because they spent course time trying to get accommodation arranged…also, financial and sudden family situations.

• I would say three of the most important reasons is lack of on-campus accommodation and finance and travel problems. Find the appropriate housing is too far from the university-travel time too and from uni discourages students.

This factor was of greatest concern to the incomplete on-campus indigenous students.

Recommendation 23

• That the university through the Aboriginal and Islander Support Unit consult with Aboriginal Hostels Limited, and State Housing authorities and make greater efforts to obtain suitable housing for indigenous students.

The need for better preparation of students prior to entry to university was of importance to both on-campus and external students with 16.3 per cent of on-campus students recommending that there must be:

• a more thorough assessment of basic skills prior to entry to university;
  
• preparatory courses be provided in study skills, essay writing and other academic tasks; and
  
• a more thorough briefing of students before the start of the academic year with respect to the time/study commitment necessary for successful completion of the course.

The need for better preparation was recommended by 72.7 per cent of external students who identified issues such as:

• the need for better basic skills assessment and preparatory courses in study skills and essay writing;
  
• a more thorough briefing prior to entry with respect to the resources available to external students (where and how to access them); and
  
• a better organised, resourced and staffed on-campus orientation program for external students with indigenous staff members acting as mentors/guides etc.

Recommendation 24

• That particular attention be paid to better preparing commencing students, especially those gaining special entry (e.g. more thorough orientation and the provision of preparatory or foundation courses and support in study skills and essay writing).

'DEC' problems received the attention of 31.8 per cent of external students and covered issues such as:

• 'DEC' material be well prepared and presented;
  
• lecturing staff ensure that they provide clear instructions and unambiguous questions in their study guide, as well as clear instructions as to the area to be covered in an assignment;
  
• amount of reading material in readers be reduced and made more relevant;
  
• staff accessibility be improved or one staff member should be appointed to act as a contact for external students; all queries/problems to be channelled through this staff member;
  
• on-campus staff be more involved with external students to show that they are valued. Staff must take the initiative and make frequent contact in the first two months of the academic year, with continual follow-up throughout the year by phone or letter;
  
• improved feedback for external students. Staff to mark and return papers in the shortest possible time;
  
• external students should be given frequent feedback about their progress generally;
  
• external students be given feedback that their assignments have been received; and
  
• on-campus staff take more notice when external students have personal/family problems and adjust deadlines accordingly.

Recommendation 25

• That the existing first year materials for distance delivery be revisited by faculty staff in recognition that many students are 'special entry' and thus require materials and assessment procedures which recognise their situation.

A final factor identified by external students concerned study centres. This factor attracted the attention of 13.6 per cent of external students and covered issues such as:

• need for study centre staff to be more involved in the marking of student assignments;
  
• culturally sensitive lecturers to be appointed to provide lecture input at study centres;
  
• study centre resources and facilities to be expanded and improved and computers/photocopiers to be well maintained; and
  
• study centres are needed in Katherine and in the Torres Strait Islands.

In summary, the major recommendations made in response to question 31 by the various groups of indigenous students were:

On-campus Successful Students

On-campus Unsuccessful Students

External Successful Students

External Unsuccessful Students