Framing Attrition in Higher Education: A Complex Problem

This study situates student attrition within the strategic framework of Australian public universities. It draws on organisational theory to describe higher education within a bureaucratic framework. The study uses a quantitative approach to undertake a content analysis of attrition and retention po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of further and higher education 2018-05, Vol.42 (4), p.497-508
Main Authors: Beer, Colin, Lawson, Celeste
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attrition
Attrition (Research Studies)
College Students
Colleges & universities
Content Analysis
Educational Policy
Foreign Countries
Higher Education
Organizational Theories
Research Problems
School Holding Power
Student Attrition
Universities
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Summary:This study situates student attrition within the strategic framework of Australian public universities. It draws on organisational theory to describe higher education within a bureaucratic framework. The study uses a quantitative approach to undertake a content analysis of attrition and retention policy statements from all Australian universities. This reveals that Australian universities, and the higher education sector as a whole, are attempting to address attrition within their existing bureaucracies. Attrition however is a wicked problem that includes many variables outside the influence of universities, which limits the potential of strategic approaches to problem solving. The practical implications of these findings are that current approaches to attrition are likely to fail. The wicked nature of the attrition problem needs to be taken into account when developing strategies or policies within higher education.
ISSN:0309-877X
1469-9486
DOI:10.1080/0309877X.2017.1301402