Student Retention and Success in Higher Education

“Going to university changes your life for the better, but dropping out worsens your future prospects more considerably than if you had never been at all. So, we have a moral and social responsibility to help all students to thrive. This strongly values and research-led book shows us why and how we can do this. It is essential reading for that reason”.

–Helen E. Higson, Provost and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Aston University, UK

This book draws together international research to assess the quality of successful efforts to retain students. The editors and contributors unite diverse global research from countries who have led student retention and success projects at national, institutional, faculty or program level with positive outcomes. The book is underpinned by the philosophy that a more diverse student population requires higher education institutions to fundamentally change, in order to facilitate the success of all students. All of humanity, its economiesand societies, are being pummelled by waves of pandemic-induced crises in tandem with globalisation and demographic shifts. Ultimately, this book acts as a clarion to higher education institutions to better support and retain their students, in order to create a more stable learning environment.

Mahsood Shah is Professor and Dean of Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. In this role, he provides overall leadership and management of the campus.

Sally Kift is Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law and elected President of the Australian Learning & Teaching Fellows. From 2012 to 2017, she was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) at James Cook University, Australia.

Liz Thomas is Professor of higher education at Edge Hill University, UK and has more than twenty years’ experience undertaking and managing research about widening participation, student engagement, belonging, retention and success, and institutional approaches to improving the student experience and outcomes.