Thematic analysis identified five themes which were developed from the interview transcript datasets (see Table 2). The first theme ‘academic issues’ highlights the significance of a bad academic experience as a central aspect in the decision to leave university, with reference to TLA practices, course content, preparation and attendance. Theme two ‘does anybody even care?’ explores how a perceived lack of staff, academic and personal support can impact upon student’s overall experience of HE, leading to students often feeling ignored and overlooked. The third theme ‘balancing part-time employment alongside HE’ discusses participant's experiences of how finance had impacted upon both academic and social experiences. Theme four ‘family perception and pressure’ reveals how students feel a pressure from families to stay in HE due to the perception families have of HE and of obtaining a degree. The final theme ‘the importance of social integration’ explores the social experience of making friends and the importance of having friends on the same course to provide peer support and aid the overall HE process.
Table 2 Development from codes to themes Academic issues
For several participants, a bad academic experience largely influenced students’ decisions to leave HE. When participants were asked about TLA practices, responses revealed how the course failed to satisfy students’ needs, often with reference to a lack of enthusiastic teaching and staff inability to create stimulating learning and teaching environments for students. Most students entered HE with high levels of enthusiasm for their chosen course, often due to having previously studied and enjoyed the course at further education (FE) institutions and in many cases, this was lost when they attended HE. A common belief that staff failed to provide high-quality teaching due to a lack of enthusiasm and engagement was highlighted:
Mona
The people that were teaching English # didn’t seem like they were doing it because they actually loved # the course they did it because it was their job…I’m easily like demotivated like that
It was understood that participants found difficulty adjusting to the change of teaching style at HE which involved both lectures and online teaching methods. The challenge of engaging with the lectures and understanding the content being taught were attributed by some, to the large number of students present in the lecture halls which made it difficult for the participants to communicate and interact with lecturers. This form of teaching made participants feel like a number and spoken at rather than spoken with:
Rebecca
I didn’t like the teaching style…there was quite a lot of us in the lecture room and the lecturer was right at the front and then I would be at the back and I just couldn’t understand and then I didn’t feel like listening at the end or going in like it was hard enough anyway because it was such a big change
Adam
preferred the teaching at college because it was more classroom based
Attendance upon course commencement was often described as high; however, over time this progressively decreased as most students admitted to having below average attendance which eventually led to withdrawal. Many students voluntarily chose not to attend classes due to lack of effort and for social reasons, as at the time, outside influences were perceived as more important. Although, for some, the choice was not so straightforward as low attendance derived from factors which were beyond the individual and institution’s control. Such factors included health and family complications:
Aisha
My attendance was very low…I just couldn’t be bothered cus after a night out it just was hard to get up…then you’d go out the next night as well so it was just like # oh I guess uni is just the…second thing
Layla
Sometimes I had to leave early because of…family issues and stuff
During the discussion of assessment methods, participants often felt more confident and identified a preference for either exams or written assignments which was commonly based on achieving higher grades in one. Interestingly, some participants reported feeling unable to successfully complete the course, regardless of the topic area or module content but purely based upon the method of assessment. When the course did not offer students preferred assessment method, feelings of dissatisfaction were experienced:
Reece
The coursework’s I done # very well…in actually but just the exams I just # can’t ## sit there for three hours and just sit there my mind goes blank when I go in exams
The method in which assessments were graded had devastating effects on participants’ self-efficacy and self-confidence. The grading system was discussed by some as unfair, especially when concerning group work. When participants felt that their desired grades were unachievable, they stopped pushing themselves to complete assessments and achieve better grades. The decision to withdraw from HE was confirmed for some students following an inability to cope which derived from a perceived lack of academic control:
Salina
they’re not marking you they’re marking you guys as a whole which isn’t your capability which was annoying and really unfair…you couldn’t show your true understanding or knowledge like I just felt like I had no control when it came to my assessments
Several participants believed they had been misinformed about the course content, often prior to commencing the course. Participants commonly referred to induction days and discussed discrepancies between what they were told prior to enrolment compared to the reality of HE. Participants suggested that had they known the facts beforehand, they would not have chosen to enrol onto the course:
Layla
It’s just living up to that information…not lying about that information because they gave us information…then # it seemed like when I got there none of it was true
One participant (Tristan) further discussed how open days were an ineffective measure for HE course preparation due to the time of year in which they were allocated. Tristan recommended a ‘taster day’ closer to enrolment would have been a more efficient method to allow for preparation and could possibly have even avoided HE withdrawal:
Tristan
If I knew that the course was gonna be like that I wouldn’t’ve even gone…I feel like a taster day or some kind of class # like a prep class…or something like that before you lock in your selection # that would probably have been a lot more help to me…the open days like # they’re way too early…but with a taster day like a week or two before you start…it just kinda gets your mind going
The above data tell a clear story of how a negative HE academic experience can influence a student’s decision to leave HE, drawing upon many interrelating factors which include disengaging TLA practices, reduced attendance and prior misinformation. Students’ academic experience was further affected by support, finance, family and social factors which will be discussed in the following themes.
Does anybody even care?
When asked whether participants felt supported during HE, responses generally indicated a lack of staff support regarding academia and personal concerns. Students gave examples and explained experiences which, although differed in nature, generally related to students having felt overlooked by staff. Many participants spoke about how although academic guidance was sought, staff were reluctant to help:
Layla
Whenever I ask for help at university # or from my tutors they don’t seem that interested in helping me
Reece
When I’m confused I like to ask questions # loads of questions and some teachers they actually get annoyed but I actually wanna know # what’s going on with the work # so if that teacher says look you need to find out yourself you’re not in college…or school anymore that’s # I don’t find that fair
Not only did a lack of academic support raise concern but issues related to a lack of timely responses from staff were also evident. Several students discussed the importance and need for faster staff responses when seeking course-related help which in some cases eventually led students to refrain from seeking help:
Hassan
Every time I did ask for help from the tutors either they would # kinda delay in their emails or…wouldn’t really # get back to me so I kinda just left it
One participant (Sarah) also discussed how university reach out measures were too late to recognise student problems:
Sarah
By the time they realised that something was wrong it was too late
Many students mentioned feeling unnoticed by staff at some point, particularly during classes and at the time of withdrawal. Students discussed how they believed that staff knew about their personal challenges but chose willingly to ignore the reality of the situation and not to support the individual through this period:
Hassan
Knowing that I was struggling knowing that I wasn’t er being able to kind of # focus or take part in lessons # er they didn’t really help much they didn’t really take notice
Layla
The fact that she didn’t persuade me or wasn’t interested as as to why I wanted to leave…made me just think you know what just leave that is it…if she said you know what I can support you and stuff like that then that would have been ok # but she didn’t wanna support me and that just gave me my answer as well sort of pushed me on to just # leave
As can be seen in the above extract, Layla felt very strongly about the lack of support received during withdrawal which she described as influencing her decision to leave HE, demonstrating the significance of staff support. A few participants further spoke about how they simply just wanted reassurance and someone to speak to during times of difficulty:
Tristan
If there was someone there that could’ve said to me…it’s fine everyone goes through this stage where they feel like university is not for them I would’ve been a lot more # reassured
A lack of awareness of university support services resulted in numerous students feeling confused and therefore unsupported. Although some students acknowledged the institution’s support services, due to a limited knowledge on where and how such services can be found and used, students were unable to seek support:
Kyle
If they do already provide scholarships make it more known to students because not many students # may be aware of it because I certainly wasn’t # and I certainly still aint
When asked about what improvements could be made to HE, many students suggested they would like to see more support services to aid individuals academic and personal needs. Responses related to academic support from staff in the form of extra seminar classes, drop-in sessions, more class activities and mentoring. Counselling services were also suggested by one participant which covered more of a personal support approach:
Sarah
They could have like…a counsellor if anyone’s got any issues
In general, participants often described a rather negative experience of the academic and personal support received within university. The next theme considered how external sources (finance) can further impact upon students HE experiences.
Balancing part-time employment alongside HE
Many participants described going through a difficult financial experience during HE due to inadequate financial funding which often led to students seeking part-time employment. Several participants had at some point during HE worked part-time alongside studying, the majority of whom lived with family, although both participants living with family and living in student accommodation faced financial difficulties. Participants discussed how they felt unable to cope with the pressure of working while attending university, many of whom were male. For some, the hours spent working, often shifts during the evenings and nights, was described as too much alongside the requirements of an undergraduate degree:
Reece
I was thinking exam revision at the same time I was thinking er # like I gotta go work in the evening it was just…stressing me both out
The inability to allocate time towards both revision and work corresponded with one of Reece’s decisions to leave university as he mentioned he would ‘rather do one thing work or uni’, so in the end withdrew from HE with the intention to work full-time. Balancing part-time employment alongside university also proved difficult for several other participants. The problems discussed ranged from coping with the academic workload to an inability to find time to revise for course assessments because of having to attend work:
Kyle
It would be sometimes be hard to manage my workload because # I couldn’t do my work on the weekends because when I come back from work I’d be tired
Part-time employment restricted students from participating in extra-curricular activities such as university societies. Participants generally perceived working part-time as more necessary than pursuing social activities. Although students showed interest in societies, due to a lack of available time outside of university hours (largely because of work commitments), students felt unable to participate. Despite this, a minority of individuals managed to sign up to a society during their time at HE, however, often only took part in a few sessions and eventually ended up not attending:
Amira
I did go to the climbing society but it wasn’t quite as well organised, people would more go at weekends so I couldn’t do that because of work
Interestingly, non-engagement in extra-curricular activities is not necessarily due to lack of interest or motivation but partly due to a lack of available time. For many students, the importance associated with part-time employment alongside university may not have been a direct factor influencing the decision to withdraw. However, when correlated with additional factors such as social and family experiences which will be discussed in the following themes, part-time employment did contribute to the overall (often negative) experience of HE.
Family perception and pressure
Family pressure to obtain a degree was evident across many participants. The importance and value associated with having a degree from the family’s perspective were often mentioned and on occasion students related this importance back to their ethnic background:
Sarah
My family did pressurise me like my grandparents especially # they would say to me like you # can’t stand up on your own two feet unless you have a degree… you had to go like everyone else goes in my family
Some participants, particularly Sarah and Hassan, further discussed how university was common within the family, setting a standard for the participant which they believed was essential to follow:
Hassan
Coming from an Asian background erm it was kinda known my since a young age that I’d have to go to university have to get a degree
Despite several students having recognised a dislike towards the course and having admitted to wanting to withdraw from the degree at a much earlier stage, due to family pressure the participants ended up remaining on the course longer than desired, regardless of personal views:
Hassan
Your parents tryna say to you no stay at uni but you know uni wasn’t for you…I kinda knew I wanted to leave ages ago but my parents kinda made me # because of my parents I just stuck at it
Obtaining a degree was often associated with good future prospects, including a good career and money which resulted in students feeling internally pressurised to complete HE:
Kyle
I felt there was a big pressure on to deliver and be able to take get a degree so I can provide for them in the future
Often the students who described feeling a pressure to continue in HE due to future family prospects also discussed family-related financial difficulties. Participants described feeling pressured to support financial needs through part-time employment and government funding, which was commonly used to contribute towards household bills and further necessities. One participant (Hassan) disclosed how he came from a ‘poor household’ indicating the pressures faced by BAME students who enter HE from low socioeconomic backgrounds:
Hassan
Coming from like a poor household and my dad wasn’t earning much # like finance was a really big issue and that was another stress on my head…my grant # cus it went straight to helping pay off like my dad’s debts # er other bills around the house
Due to the high expectations families had about completion of a university degree, some participants felt pressured to lie and withhold information from their families regarding their withdrawal. The family reaction to withdrawal was generally described as a negative experience where feelings of anger and disappointment were displayed. Participants identified how family perceptions were considered important during the withdrawal process:
Sarah
I sort of lied to them…I told them oh I failed cus if I told them I wanted to drop out…I’d get it in LOTS of trouble
Despite Sarah’s challenging experience with her family during the withdrawal period, Sarah considered her experience as a great learning curve and although her family thought she wasted a year of her life, Sarah believed she made the right choice. On the other hand, some participants were supported by their families in their decision, and they described that the families decided to accept and support their decision to withdraw especially, if the participants felt ‘their heart wasn’t in it’. Participants reported receiving general advice from their families such as, ‘keep going to the lectures’ and to just ‘try’. However, given that all the participants opted to withdraw from university, it is reasonable to suggest that this perspective was not helpful:
Rebecca
Yeah of course I had to talk to my mom about it and erm she said to just try and keep going to the lectures to get used to it
Family pressure was identified strongly as a factor in the withdrawal process as was the social experience which is further explored next.
The importance of social integration
Social integration was a significant factor that occurred repeatedly across all interviews. A common expectation shared by participants was that ‘social integration would be easy at university’ which failed to align with the realities of HE. This was well documented by Haroon, describing an initially enthusiastic view that university is an enjoyable social experience although in reality, Haroon had not made any good friendships but instead experienced loneliness:
Haroon
I was looking forward to the social side because everyone makes out that students have the best social life…but it wasn’t like it was really hard to make friends which was horrible because I’d be alone and no one to really talk to
Making friends at university was an important concept as every participant spoke about the experience of forming friendships. For several participants making friends was a challenge, especially during the early stages of HE:
Mona
On my first day when I had to go sit with people and try and make friends # it was really awkward
However, this was not the case for all individuals as some participants described a positive experience of making friends through socialising. For these students, making friends had improved the overall HE experience:
Sarah
Once I made friends and realised like everyone is going through the same experience it sort of became # it was normal to me
Sometimes, participants reported having focused too much attention on socialising, demonstrating an inability to balance both the student social lifestyle alongside the academic requirements of HE. Students mentioned how spending a large amount of time socialising had impacted upon their academic experience, as students reported missing lessons and favoured going out with friends rather than studying:
Aisha
I was too focused on kinda just # going out and having fun rather than…actually doing uni work
Reece
I was just too much in the social side like I just # hanging around with my mates going out to eat…too like busy chilling around rather than doing my work
Culture was described by several students as a hindrance to social integration. Participants reported how being part of a minority ethnic group led to feeling different compared to the majority population. Variation between minority and majority ethnic groups was further highlighted as students reported differences regarding student treatment and the ability to voice opinions:
Layla
I just think cus of my culture and my religion that made me feel different # and I thought that I got # treated differently
Mona
They could be outspoken more whereas we had to like # stay a bit quiet…in case we felt a bit out of place if we said anything wrong…or just finding friends and being comfortable was a bit # hard…they were predominantly white they had very # narrowminded perspective
Several students recognised their minority ethnic background within the course studied and indicated that the lack of social integration and friendships formed, resulted from differences in cultural background. Other ethnic students were perceived as ‘reserved’ and unwilling to socialise with the participants:
Sarah
The majority of my students on my course were white…English students so they # I felt # wasn’t not exactly racism but I felt like they didn’t wanna converse with us
The majority of participants mentioned how they believed peer support and academia were related. Some students discussed how they felt socially supported due to having friends who studied the same course which enabled individuals to seek academic support from peers when needed. These students also generally reported having a good social experience during HE:
Kyle
It was easy to make friends in the course and I got along # with most of the class…every time I was # stuck they would tend to help…we would get on very well
Even for those students who had no friends on the same course, peer support was suggested to be a big part in aiding the academic experience. The conflict between a lack of peer support and a lack of friends studying the same course resulted in participants describing a difficult academic journey:
Mona
I didn’t have that many friends it made # like my like work life a lot harder cus I find it harder to ask for help
Further, the participants who reported having minimal course-related friends discussed how having more friends on the same course would have improved their overall academic experience:
Aisha
It woulda been better if I made friends on my course…I would’ve # like even felt more comfortable going to lectures
Students highlighted the importance of social integration and peer support during HE regarding feeling confident enough to attend lectures and seek support when needed. Overall, findings demonstrate a lack of a sense of belonging and cohesion, which manifested in a reluctance and hesitation in verbalising needs and dissonances within the student experience.