A study of non-completion in dual sector further education in Northern Ireland.

Abstract

Purpose

The paper deals with an empirical question in the under-researched area of student retention in higher education in Northern Ireland; specifically, it explores the barriers to learning and programme completion that full-time higher education students encountered in a specific dual-sector further and higher education college in Northern Ireland from the perspective of ten withdrawn students .

Research Design

Data was gathered with the support of interpretive paradigm and analyzed with the grounded theory method of data analysis.

Findings

On the basis of this analysis, barriers to learning were identified to illustrate students non-completion of studies within the case institution and, in doing so, the theories of hot knowledge, capitals and habitus were explored, modified and added to in the context of this study. However, these barriers in isolation did not lead students to withdraw, it is only when barriers combined that the desire to withdraw was outweighed by the decision to complete.

Contribution to the Field

This subject area of student retention is poorly investigated in an environment which has a long history of conflict, with a legacy of high unemployment and significant poverty. This study will form the foundation blocks and commence a body of knowledge on student non-completion in dual-sector further and higher education institutions in Northern Ireland. Furthermore, this study adds to both national and international knowledge on the barriers to completion which students encounter as members of a dual-sector educational system.