Students in Hungarian Higher Education and Their Perception of Dificulties During Their Studies

Our research aims to examine the recruitment of students who experience difficulties with learning during their higher education studies and the motives behind their career choices, as well as the correlation of these factors with student persistence. The topicality of the problem stems from the diversity of students as a result of the expansion of higher education, as well as the increasing proportion of reading comprehension and other learning difficulties that can hinder individuals' progress in the labour market. Previous research has linked problems in learning in higher education to underdeveloped skills. However, we hypothesize that the occurrence of difficulties during students' studies and careers is determined by career choices, which are influenced by social background. While in higher education the social status differences of the family background already seem to disappear, the origin also affects the higher education career. To test the viability of this assumption, statistical methods were used to analyze the CHERD-Hungary database PERSIST -2019. In the case of difficulties and low persistence, we found a relationship with the career choice patterns of the students studied, especially with family factors influencing career choice and students' interest in their current education. One of our most important findings is that students who experience difficulties during learning can be divided into two groups. One group is characterized by low social status indicators, participating in low prestige and high risk fields of education, and there are specific cultural disadvantages in the background of their difficulties. The other group includes students who come from a higher-status family and concentrate on higher-risk but more prestigious courses, characterized by above-average selectivity and a higher risk of dropping out.

Experiences and perceptions of academics about student engagement in higher education

This article examines the experiences and perceptions of academics about student engagement and how their professional practice in a professional community enhances students’ persistence and success in a university in South Africa. While previous research has widely focused on students’ perception of how student engagement enhances student success and persistence, there is a paucity of research on the position of academics who constitute a professional community on how they could enhance student engagement in higher education. To address this knowledge gap, a qualitative research approach was used to gather and analyse data from a sample of 26 academics who shared their perceptions and experiences about how they contribute to enhancing student engagement in the university. Consequently, four main themes were explored to provide conceptual and empirical structure to the notion of engagement among academics in an expert community: institutional structure and culture, affective, behavioural and cognitive engagement. The results revealed that the cognitive, behavioural and affective features of student engagement as well as institutional structure and culture explain how academics experience and perceive how their professional practices enhances student persistence and success in relation to engagement. Particularly, the study shows that institutional culture, expert culture, professional community and institutional structure influence the perceptions and experiences of academics about student engagement. Conversely, when academics do not follow the expert and academic cultures of the institution, it could lead to poor professional practices that are antithetical to student persistence and success.

Wildy Prize Lecture, 2020–2021: Who wouldn’t want to discover a new virus?

Innovations in science education are desperately needed to find ways to engage and interest students early in their undergraduate careers. Exposing students to authentic research experiences is highly beneficial, but finding ways to include all types of students and to do this at large scale is especially challenging. An attractive solution is the concept of an inclusive research education community (iREC) in which centralized research leadership and administration supports multiple institutions, including diverse groups of schools and universities, faculty and students. The Science Education Alliance Phage Hunters Advancing Genomics and Evolutionary Sciences (SEA-PHAGES) programme is an excellent example of an iREC, in which students explore viral diversity and evolution through discovery and genomic analysis of novel bacteriophages. The SEA-PHAGES programme has proven to be sustainable, to be implemented at large scale, and to enhance student persistence in science, as well as to produce substantial research advances. Discovering a new virus with the potential for new biological insights and clinical applications is inherently exciting. Who wouldn’t want to discover a new virus?

The Role of Dispositional Optimism, Upward and Downward Counterfactual Thinking towards Student Persistence in Joining Competitions

Persistence is a key element contributing to college students’ success in an academic competition. We argue that dispositional optimism, and upward and downward counterfactual thinking have influence in determining individuals’ persistence. This cross-sectional study aimed to examine the role of dispositional optimism, upward and downward counterfactual thinking among persistence of student participants in university competitions. It employed quantitative methods and data were collected through the use of Dispositional Optimism Scale, Counterfactual Thinking Scale, and Persistence Scale. College students (N=204) who have competed in university competitions were recruited using a non-probability sampling method. Multiple regression assisted the data analysis process. Result showed that both dispositional optimism and upward counterfactual thinking simultaneously predicted students’ persistence. However, downward counterfactual thinking was unable to predict the students’ persistence. The research suggests that student competitors should enhance their optimism by developing positive thoughts concerning future competitions, as well as forming upward counterfactual thinking in subsequent competitions.

Bases para un modelo «pro-persistencia» estudiantil en educación superior aplicable en contextos socio-académicos desfavorables

La investigación que se reseña en este artículo se centró en dos focos problemáticos: (i) la afectación que las características estructurales del contexto socio-académico en el que se inscribe una organización de Educación Superior (ES), cuando su cualidad es desfavorable, produce en las condiciones inherentes al estudiante que ingresa, en especial en su disposición y motivación hacia el aprendizaje; (ii) la evaluación del grado en que esa afectación pone en riesgo la persistencia estudiantil. En el caso de Rivera, en el noreste de Uruguay, la estructura de oportunidades laborales y fundamentalmente educacionales terciarias –escasas y poco diversificadas– constituye un caldo de cultivo de eventos de riesgo de abandono de los estudios. El objetivo capital de la investigación fue aportar insumos teóricamente consistentes y empíricamente sustentados para la elaboración de un modelo «pro-persistencia» estudiantil en ES aplicable a contextos socio-académicos desfavorables y entonces superador, en su aplicabilidad, del modelo más aceptado en el actual mundo académico: el «Model of Institutional Action for Student Success» (MIASS) formulado por Tinto en 2012. En la investigación se tuvieron especialmente en cuenta algunos relevantes planteos teóricos y conceptuales sobre la temática, entre los que se destacan, por su profundidad y rigor, los más recientes de Tinto, Seidman, Kuh y Pascarella & Terenzini. La investigación asumió un enfoque meso-estructural y una estrategia metodológica predominantemente cualitativa: análisis documental, entrevista en profundidad, grupo de discusión; también se aplicó una encuesta censal. El más relevante de los resultados alcanzados es que en lugares que, como Rivera, ofrecen pocas opciones de estudios superiores, las posibilidades de la persistencia estudiantil resultan notoriamente restringidas, ya que en esos casos la motivación intrínseca del estudiante hacia sus estudios suele ser débil: una considerable cantidad de estudiantes, al egresar de la Educación Media, decide cursar alguna de las pocas ofertas de ES existentes en su ciudad y no la que preferiría cursar si existiera esa opción. Esa débil motivación es, pues, el principal factor de riesgo de abandono, sobre todo en el primer año. Tal constatación es la base sustantiva sobre la que habrá de elaborarse un modelo «pro-persistencia» estudiantil alternativo al MIASS, en tanto aplicable en contextos socio-académicos desfavorables. Aquí radica la principal contribución que esta investigación puede ofrecer a organizaciones de ES inscriptas en contextos con oportunidades educacionales y laborales reducidas, tanto en cuanto a una inserción laboral atractiva (durante los estudios superiores o al finalizarlos) como, muy especialmente, a una oferta de ES escasa y poco diversificada. The research reviewed in this article focused on two problem areas: (i) the affectation that the structural characteristics of the socio-academic context in which a Higher Education (HE) organization is inscribed, when its quality is unfavorable, produces in the inherent conditions of the entering student, especially in his/her disposition and motivation towards learning; (ii) the evaluation of the degree to which this affectation puts student persistence at risk. In the case of Rivera, in the northeast of Uruguay, the structure of labor and mainly tertiary educational opportunities -scarce and not very diversified- constitutes a breeding ground for dropout risk events. The main objective of the research was to provide theoretically consistent and empirically supported inputs for the development of a "pro-persistence" student model in HE applicable to unfavorable socio-academic contexts and thus surpassing, in its applicability, the most accepted model in the current academic world: the "Model of Institutional Action for Student Success" (MIASS) formulated by Tinto in 2012. The research especially took into account some relevant theoretical and conceptual approaches on the subject, among which the most recent ones by Tinto, Seidman, Kuh and Pascarella & Terenzini stand out for their depth and rigor. The research assumed a mesostructural approach and a predominantly qualitative methodological strategy: documentary analysis, in-depth interview, discussion group; a census survey was also applied. The most relevant of the results obtained is that in places which, like Rivera, offer few options for higher education studies, the possibilities of student persistence are notoriously restricted, since in these cases the intrinsic motivation of students towards their studies is usually weak: a considerable number of students, upon graduating from high school, decide to study one of the few HE offers existing in their city and not the one they would prefer to study if that option existed. This weak motivation is, therefore, the main risk factor for dropping out, especially in the first year. This finding is the substantive basis on which an alternative "pro-persistence" student model to MIASS will have to be developed, as it is applicable in unfavorable socio-academic contexts. Herein lies the main contribution that this research can offer to HE organizations in contexts with reduced educational and employment opportunities, both in terms of an attractive labor market insertion (during or upon completion of higher education) and, especially, to a scarce and poorly diversified HE offer.

STEM Identities: A Communication Theory of Identity Approach

Education and psychology research has established STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) identities as an important factor in explaining student persistence in STEM fields. Few studies in social psychology of language or communication have investigated STEM identities, despite the fundamentally communicative nature of identity. Identity talk produced in semi-structured interviews with undergraduate engineering majors ( N = 16) at three U.S. universities was analyzed qualitatively using the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI) as a sensitizing framework. The analysis showed that these students’ STEM identities emphasized personal attributes such as work ethic and a desire to make a positive difference in the world as well as relationships with peers in engineering. A number of potential identity gaps which might present barriers to forming a STEM identity were also evident in the data. These results underscore the importance of a communicative (interactive and relational) perspective in understanding students’ development and expression of STEM identities.