Academic success; Belgian French community; first-year academic studies; person-centred analysis; transition; Education
Abstract :
[en] The transition into higher education (HE) is a particularly challenging process for students due to a large variety of difficulties and requirements. Moreover, increasing student numbers and diversity in European HE have complexified the issue of the successful transition to university. Consequently, it is important to further develop our understanding of the heterogeneity of students and the specific challenges that impact their successful and less stressful transitions into higher education. This paper contributes to this scientific endeavour. More precisely, a study was carried out among 1,048 first-year students from a French-speaking Belgian university. Using latent profile analysis, our results yielded five profiles representing different combinations of achievement predictors (high school grade, socio-economic status, informed-choice, and self-efficacy beliefs). When comparing the profiles, our results further highlighted key differences in the way students experienced the specific challenges associated with the transition and succeeded at the end of the first year. The discussion of the results allowed us to provide practical implications and future perspectives on the thorny issue of diversity into the transition to HE.
Research center :
HEC Recherche. Changing workplace and strategic HRM - ULiège [BE] LENTIC - Laboratoire d'Études sur les Nouvelles Formes de Travail, l'Innovation et le Changement - ULiège
Disciplines :
Education & instruction
Author, co-author :
De Clercq, Mikaël; Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Parmentier, Michaël ; Université de Liège - ULiège > HEC Liège Research > HEC Liège Research: Changing workplace and strategic HRM ; Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Van Meenen, Florence; Université Catholique de Louvain-la-Neuve, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
Language :
English
Title :
Fair enough?! Investigating the specific challenges of diverse university first-year students
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