Fixing the leaky pipeline: student transition into Higher Education (HE). Is it time for a rethink?

The initial weeks of a student’s HE life is their most important (Gale and Parker, 2014). This view is used to support targeted sessions, (‘induction activities’), during the student’s first day/week. An alternative viewpoint (and that of the supervisory team) is that transition should be viewed as a more fluid and enduring component of the learning experience, a longer process developing throughout the student’s first year. Central to this understanding is the idea that when entering HE, ‘student’ is not something one is by default, but something one becomes through a complex learning process, requiring navigation of ongoing, context-specific, social situations (Gregersen et al., 2021). This project forms part of a wider body of research being undertaken at Anglia Ruskin University which is seeking to understand the transitional needs of students as they enter HE.

Project aim:

Identify the transitional needs of underrepresented students within SES and develop sector-wide specific resources to facilitate transition and improved continuation.

Project outline & indicative research methodology:

This project requires a student with a background in qualitative research methods. There are 3 distinct phases of the project.

Phase 1:

With support from our PSRB (The British Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences - BASES), institutions teaching SES will be invited to participate. Responses from students' experiences of transitioning into HE, along with descriptive information (e.g., gender, ethnicity) will be collected to better understand the sample. Narrative Thematic Analysis (i.e., examining cultural themes portrayed in the text) will be used to analyse data from a sociocultural perspective, identifying narrative typologies representing the diverse experiences of students transitioning into HE.

Phase 2:

Digital resources will be created, and participating institutions will implement the resources to support the key transitional moments; pre-transition, early transition (e.g., welcome week), and throughout first year of study (e.g., PDT sessions). Evaluation of the success with implementing the resources will take place.

Phase 3:

Continuation and performance metrics obtained from participating institutions will be used to evaluate the success of this project (compared to sector average and own institution’s historic data). In addition, as students enter their second year, they will be asked to reflect upon the usefulness of the resources for facilitating transition; reflections occurring via focus groups, or one-to-one interviews.

Where you’ll study:

Cambridge

Next steps:

If you wish to be considered for this project, you will need to apply for our Sport and Exercise Sciences MPhil, PhD. In the section of the application form entitled ’Outline research proposal’, please quote the above title and include a research proposal.