Outward Bound New Zealand provides 21-day residential motivational intervention courses (Catalyst courses) to long-term unemployed clients approved by the Ministry of Social Development. During the period 2002/03, 20% of participants starting the course dropped out before course completion; which was double the contracted acceptable level set by…

There has been increased interest in retention and completion with regard to tertiary student outcomes in relation to students' successful completion of their study and what influences this. In New Zealand, the government through the Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) has made it clear that it expects institutions to meet retention and completion…

Initially, this study of the attrition of adult Maori students in a Tertiary Institute was undertaken to determine whether the factors in the literature explaining attrition/retention in tertiary institutions were relevant to Maori students and whether the literature covered all the factors. The main finding was that they mostly did apply.…

A problem-based methodology was used to explore why three students withdrew from a transition to postsecondary education program. The method treats dropout as students' solution to a problem and investigates their problem-solving processes, beliefs, motivations, and contextual conditions. For two students, withdrawal was a habitual response to…

"School refuser" is an always-already negative child identity. The term is used to categorize children or adolescents who appear to dislike and fear school (or aspects of school) and persistently refuse to attend or attend very unwillingly. Given that school attendance is generally considered a necessary social good, regular and anxious…

This report describes student technicians who dropped out of postsecondary education courses before qualifying for the New Zealand Certificate of Engineering (NZCE). The exploratory study describes some of the characteristics and progress of the students who dropped out of NZCE studies and investigates the reasons for high dropout among students.…

Female program completers and dropouts from a one-year course in radio and television servicing at Auckland Technical Institute (New Zealand) were followed up. Respondents included nine completers from the 1977 course, eight completers from the 1978 course, and three dropouts. Background information showed that 10 completers started the course…

The New Zealand Technical Correspondence Institute studied the internal and external factors influencing adult students enrolled in a tertiary-level distance education management course to abandon their studies. A literature review afforded definitions of: (1) distance education; (2) educational technology; and (3) drop out. Although research has…

This quarterly publication contains 13 articles covering various aspects of education and youth employment in Australia. "Youth Employment Strategies: Public Service of South Australia" (Jenny Rhodes) describes opportunities for South Australian youth to enter public service. "School Influences on Retention in Victorian Government…

This document contains 95 papers and summaries of 5 poster sessions from an Australian conference on putting vocational education and training (VET) research to work. The following are among the areas covered in the papers: factors affecting VET graduates' employability over time; technical and further education (TAFE) institutes as models of…