Abstract
This chapter takes it point of departure in a discussion of the current literature on student drop/opt out within science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) (This chapter is based on a section of Ulriksen L, Madsen LM, Holmegaard HT, Stud Sci Educ 46(2):209–244, 2010). It outlines Tinto’s model of understanding retention in general within higher education and it discusses the critique of the model. Tinto’s model approaches students’ meeting with higher education as an integration process involving both academic and social aspects of university life. Further, the chapter presents the ideas of Seymour and Hewitt. They reject the idea that students’ drop out/opt out should be understood as a problem within the student. Instead, they address it as a relation between the institutions and the students. The chapter argues how the concept of identity can be a way forward to understand this relation, and provides a short overview of the current research on identity and student persistence in STEM. Research focusing on identities has in recent years become a subfield in the study of students continuing with or leaving STEM programmes. Finally the chapter concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for further research.
This chapter is based on a paper of Ulriksen, Madsen and Holmegaard (2010): What do we know about explanations for drop out/opt out among young people from STEM higher education programmes? Studies in Science Education, 46(2), 209–244.
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Ulriksen, L., Madsen, L.M., Holmegaard, H.T. (2015). Why Do Students in STEM Higher Education Programmes Drop/Opt Out? – Explanations Offered from Research. In: Henriksen, E., Dillon, J., Ryder, J. (eds) Understanding Student Participation and Choice in Science and Technology Education. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7793-4_13
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