Organizational Behavior: Short Changed

Abstract

There is a growing voice from concerned teachers and education researchers that ‘one of the worrying facts for schools is the potentially high drop-out rate from university’, (Marland, 2003, p. 202). 75% of students who drop-out of university state reasons associated with the first year of study (Tinto, 1995, cited in Dalziel & Peat, 1998). Power, Robertson, and Baker, (1987) suggests universities should devote ‘much attention in the early part of the first year’. The method of data collection was mixed methods. Quantitative data was collected from 45 students using a questionnaire distributed to both School A students (25) and University B students (20), the latter were School A alumni. For a majority of questions a Likert scale was used with a few questions being left open for a brief response. Some questions were rephrased or withdrawn for the University B questionnaire due to not pertaining to the data required. Qualitative data was collected from three respondents (a grade 12 student at School A, a member of the administration, and a lecturer at University B) via personnel correspondence. The research would appear to indicate, students at School A perceive their school experience will facilitate their university experience to a greater extent than students at University B perceive. The research would also appear to indicate University B students feel there is a difference in skill requirement and a lower levels of support, expectation and social activity. They also indicate that if School A were to develop more extended writing and prepared students for a university experience by developing reading and lecture expectation, this would be to the betterment of transition and would possibly decrease drop-out rates. The conclusions drawn are specific to the data gathered from participating respondents. Further research would be required to justify any wider statements.