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[This] is one of the first pieces of research to focus specifically on the factors which influence Maori students to stay on at school after the school leaving age of 16. While other research has concentrated on the negative factors which cause Maori to so often leave school earlier than their non-Maori counterparts, this study has taken the approach of focusing on those Maori students who have made an active decision to stay at school beyond the legal requirement. The other unique aspect of this survey is that it has asked students to say in their own words how they feel about school, why they have stayed on and how other Maori students could be encouraged to do the same.

What has emerged from this study is that these students, all of whom have stayed at school beyond the age of 16, tend to feel relatively positive about their schools and about education itself. They are well aware of the difficulties young schoolleavers typically experience in finding employment and that without qualifications opportunities are severely limited. However, rather than staying at school because they have nothing better to do, these students tend to focus on the positive things that school has to offer them. Many feel confident that if they stay at school and pass their exams, they will not become one of those with no hope of a job.

Overall, this research indicates a variety of factors may be at work in influencing decisions to stay on at school. Some of these are to do with a student's family background, some are to do with the school itself, some derive from the personal characteristics of the student, and others, such as financial barriers to education, are outside the control of any of these groups. It is clear from this study that it is possible to make school a place that Maori students value and want to be at. Increasing the numbers of Maori students who stay on at school, and improving their level of achievement, will require combined efforts from schools, families and Government. It is hoped that the words of the students who participated in this research will provide ideas and incentives to make these much-needed efforts into a reality.

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Increasing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in higher education can play a critical role in transforming lives and is the trajectory to closing the gap and reducing disadvantage. Despite recent progress, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples remain significantly under-represented in higher education. Poor retention and high attrition rates of these students come at significant financial cost for the individual, community, university and government. Wirltu Yarlu, the Indigenous Education Unit at the University of Adelaide has reviewed the role student support services play in improving retention and completion rates, with an aim to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student retention and completion.

The newly developed Student Success Strategy is an innovative approach to student support that aims to identify and respond to individual student needs in a more effective and efficient manner. The model encompasses a self-assessment tool designed to measure progress across several domains. Self-assessments are used to inform student specific support needs which in turn enable support staff to personalise future interventions for each student and respond accordingly in an attempt to reduce and prevent student attrition.

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Opportunity youth (OY; i.e., youth ages 16-24 who are neither working nor in school) are a population who is difficult to engage and retain in educational programs, particularly in community college career and technical education (CTE) programs. OY are an important population to community colleges, as CTE programs culminating in industry-recognized credentials and employment constitute an important on-ramp to the workforce for young adults. The Manufacturing Training Program is a vocational training program offered at a local community college in Phoenix, Arizona that was informed by input from youth and service providers to support OY in obtaining the necessary technical skills/credential for entry-level employment in manufacturing. Researchers conducted a qualitative study using in-depth interviews with 32 program stakeholders and beneficiaries (i.e., 14 staff and 18 youth). Data were coded and analyzed using content analysis to identify major themes for each stakeholder and beneficiary group interviewed as well as working hypotheses to guide future CTE program development. Findings suggest that there are both challenges and successes related to recruiting, retaining and employing OY. Recruitment challenges include lack of information about and disinterest in manufacturing, whereas successes include leveraging family members in recruiting youth. Retention challenges include meeting OYs' basic needs, whereas successes include providing quality case management. Employment challenges include limited employer participation whereas successes include developing an effective process to connect employers with trained youth. Findings and lessons learned on recruitment, retention, and employment challenges and successes offer direction for community colleges to develop and strengthen CTE programs for OY.

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This paper summarizes the findings of a five year study aimed at improving both recruitment and retention of female students pursuing careers in engineering. The study analyzed a series of five programs implemented at the college of engineering at the University of Toledo in Ohio, USA. The effectiveness of the programs over time is measured from the rates of female enrollment and retention rates over the five year time frame. These programs may serve as models for other colleges interested in improving opportunities and success rates for female engineers. A senior female engineering student also provides commentary regarding her experiences and opinions of the programs.

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Tertiary enabling programs have become an increasingly important part of the post-secondary schooling landscape. In recognition of the need for increased access for certain under-represented groups within the university population, enabling, bridging or foundational programs are offered by a large number of universities in Australia as alternative entry pathways. This paper explores the outcomes of an enabling program being offered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults who are arguably one of the most under-represented groups within the university system in Australia. It explores, in two parts, the combination of factors that are resulting in these positive outcomes.

Part one explores the 'data story' of the course and the factors that support retention and completion. Part two explores the 'stories of transformation' as told by the students themselves, providing insider accounts of richness and depth about the things that truly enable success in a tertiary learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. While not ignoring the limitations of evaluating a course that is still in its infancy, the students undertaking this course are completing and moving on into higher education courses at an impressive rate, empowered by the skills, strategies and confidence they have developed through the course.

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In this article, [the author proposes] that neither traditional assessment nor alternative, competence-based assessment is adequate to meet the challenges of uncertain change. Existentialist assessment that focuses on developing learners' commitment, rather than their competence, may be more decisive in empowering learners who are facing adversity. Existentialist assessment shifts the focus from impersonality, achievement, and universalism to the inclusion of the adult learner's commitment to making meaningful connections between learning and his or her existence (being). These committed meanings are willed and produced by the learner, not only to bring to an end a disturbing situation and uncertainty but also to develop a sense of significance and sustainability when facing uncertainty and processes of change. To ascertain a learner's ability to commit, self-assessment, with its first-person perspective, must be taken into account. Implications include the alignment of assessment with pedagogy that facilitates the adult learner's commitment to connecting his or her existence with the world.

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This qualitative study reports on an on-entry orientation intervention designed to support and retain students transitioning to higher education at an Irish private higher education institution. Following the intervention, a qualitative study was conducted with the aim of exploring new undergraduate student experiences of transitioning to higher education and their narratives of participating in the orientation. Six themes emerged during the analytical process: academic anxieties, expectations of higher education, the impact of studying on students' lives, finding our way: orientation, fitting in and making friends, and the transition from secondary school. Findings indicate that orientation interventions which focus on the on-entry phase of the study lifecycle can have a positive impact on new higher education students.

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The present study investigates the career development of college student persistence decisions through the theoretical lens of social cognitive career theory (SCCT). Specifically, the authors sought to understand the potential role of college self-efficacy in first-year student persistence and academic success at a medium size university. Using a final sample of 401 undergraduates, regression analyses suggested that increased levels of college self-efficacy at the first semester's end were associated with greater odds of persisting into the Spring semester and of being academically successful, after controlling for gender, ethnicity, first-generation status, high school grade point average (GPA), and initial level of college self-efficacy. Results suggest that college self-efficacy may be an important cognitive variable in college students' persistence decisions and their academic success, which offers additional information about their early career development and is valuable for career counselors to consider. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.

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[This report] provides information on the educational experiences of foster youth attending a subset of community colleges and universities in California. [It] builds on the work of the California College Pathways (CCP) initiative, a public and private partnership that supports campuses and community organizations to help foster youth succeed in postsecondary education. This strategy is designed to increase the number of foster youth in California who earn a college degree or certificate. The report, presented in two parts - part 1: community colleges and part 2: universities - aggregates data across 31 CCP campuses and demonstrates how foster youth students are faring on a common set of key indicators of access and success in community colleges and universities.

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The majority of students in the United States completing advanced technologies coursework, certifications, and [Associate of Science/Associate of Applied Science] AS/AAS degree programs within two-year colleges are adults with complex lives. They have to balance an array of challenges including health, children, and work. These school-work-life challenges can be informed by a body of knowledge related to adult decision-making patterns. Based on a national study of students in advanced technologies, we found females were significantly more likely to participate based on personal reasons. African American/Black students were significantly more likely to participate based on personal, life circumstances, and program fit. Hispanic/Latino students were more likely to participate based on personal, life circumstances, and program fit factors. Thus, enrolment and recruitment strategies at the 2-year institutional and program levels should prioritise adults/working professionals, females, and ethnic and racial minority students as a critical component of their support system, and faculty need to be knowledgeable about adult life patterns and transitions to accommodate working adult learners in their courses and programs.

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