Identifying and lowering student attrition risk: a counselling interventionist approach

Abstract

This study evaluates the relationship between student counselling intervention and university persistence. We find that students deemed high-risk can directly benefit from student counselling intervention thus reducing their propensity to withdraw. We find that the characteristics of students who are at greatest risk of withdrawal include both pre-entry and post-entry attributes. Such pre-entry characteristics include gender, age, socio economic level and previous schooling, whilst level of satisfaction, perception of value for money and stress are the materialisation of events occurring after the point of enrolment. Management implications are discussed and, based on the strength of the relationships between variables, a withdrawal probability model called the ‘Attrition Risk Matrix’ is presented for further research and as possible tool for managers and educators within the tertiary sector.