Factors as to Why Students Stop Pursuing their Studies within the Humanities Course

Nina Galea

Department of Psychology and History of Art, University of Malta

CSP1000: Communication and Academic Skills 1: Core Skills

Marija Dogan

April 11, 2024

Factors as to Why Students Stop Pursuing their Studies within the Humanities Course 2

Factors as to Why Students Stop Pursuing their Studies within the Humanities Course

Introduction

The humanities with its vast array of subjects would be thought to appeal greatly to

students who have a great passion for the arts. Although on many occasions the humanities

students would truly enjoy the concept and subject matter of their course, the drop out rates

as researched are relatively high. This paper will focus on the various factors that can be

categorised as to why this may occur, mentioning aspects that will be divided into different

sections such as the personal, social, institutional and course related reasons as to why

attrition is so great as well as discussing possible solutions to this matter.

Personal Factors

Residence and Additional Responsibilities

Be it a local or international student, the domain as to where a student resides is a factor

that impacts the individual's ability to focus on their studies. Notably, it is proposed that

students who reside close to university or live on campus, along with those students who

receive at-home parental social support, attend university for longer (Ishler & Upcraft, 2005

as cited in Hundermark, n.d) (Pascarella et al, 2004 as cited in Hundermark n.d). Those

individuals who live alone and have to fend for themselves experience higher attrition rates

(Hundermark, n.d) most likely due to added stressors of external responsibilities such as

cooking, cleaning, whether one has access to transport and what type, food security and

moreover, financial stability and expenses. (Bojuwoye, 2002 & Hinton, 2007 as cited in

Hundermark, n.d)
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Employment, Finances and Activities

Many may have come across the concept of the “broke college student” as living away

from home has its expenses. Especially as an emerging adult without a financially stable job,

additional responsibilities outside those of university obviously have a great impact on

performance in academics (Bojuwoye, 2002 as cited in Hundermark, n.d). Students have to

be conscious of sustaining themselves by working part-time jobs and some may also have to

balance extracurriculars (be it sports, clubs etc). Time management is a major factor that

many students end up struggling with, so with the added stressors that coalesce with

responsibility, leave the individual to feel inadequate and drop out. (Hinton, 2007 as cited in

Hundermark, n.d)

Student Requirements and Motivation

A student’s motivation and interest to pursue their studies contributes to their success in

university, especially among students within the humanities who are usually inclined to be

motivated by the love for their subjects. Unfortunately, new students may be overwhelmed by

the change of environment and requirements for becoming increasingly independent in

learning, as it is not always accommodated by the university (Waters, n.d). This results in

many students losing their sense of purpose and direction due to a lack of guidance, hence

why students may feel disillusioned and bored of their subject over time and drop out (PIPU,

2009-2010 as cited in Mestan, n.d). Clearly, the motivation for learning comes from the

student when they are equipped with the tools that are taught to them in order to assimilate

information efficiently to eventually apply them with ease. Fostering students' self-learning

skills is crucial from the beginning. Without proper guidance, students may struggle to cope,
Factors as to Why Students Stop Pursuing their Studies within the Humanities Course 4

leading to confusion and academic challenges that will make them feel unfulfilled and pull

out. (Edmundson, 1997 as cited in Mestan, n.d)

Social Factors

The motivation to continue attending university is highly an individual matter, but it can

also be an impressionable stance influenced by the people that surround the individual.

Firstly, studies show that if a student has parents who have attended university in the past,

they are more probable to complete their course as compared to first generation learners (Fike

& Fike, 2008 as cited in Hundermark, n.d). This could relate to the first generation student

experiencing adapting difficulties and less encouragement from the parents, derived from a

lack of knowledge and awareness (Pascarella et al 2004 as cited in Hundermark, n.d).

Besides university being an institution mainly for academics, it is ultimately formed by its

community. Many students befriend people who share the same course as they do, but as

university and scholastics are a personal choice, students selecting different units encounter

different people at different times. Thus, if one always takes units different from others, they

are therefore always meeting new people and in fact, never able to establish a proper friend

group, which could make the university experience very isolating for the individual. (Jones,

2008; Thomas, 2012; Tinto, 2012; Yorke & Longden, 2008 as cited in Mestan, n.d). If there

are possibly more contact hours within university, students will have more quality time to

spend with friends and wish to remain there, and thus developing a sense of belonging

(Mestan, n.d).
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Course Related Factors

The course itself and how it is designed also plays a role in affecting attrition within the

humanities. The matter of guidance was previously discussed; however, now the emphasis

will be on guidance and career direction within the humanities.

Undoubtedly, the humanities offers a vast array of options to study and in doing so, many

universities even offer the possibility of obtaining generalist degrees rather than solely

specific ones (Mestan, n.d). Although it is intrinsically beneficial, many students however

could be overwhelmed by their subject range and unit variety, making it difficult to identify

which areas the student would like to specialise in for the next year, let alone choose a career

(Kraus et al, 2005 as cited in Mestan, n.d)). According to Pascarella & Terenzini (2005),

students who have a goal and know what career to pursue are less likely to cease their studies.

Consequently, one should also keep in mind that to solve this, one should not ultimately

restrict the selection of options as certain students may prefer the arts due to its vast, open and

flexible nature.

As university demands students to engage in reading and complete assignments, the topic

of workload and time commitment naturally arises. Workload varies from course to course

and the amount that is required varies, and if too much, ultimately causes stress on the

student. According to the survey of David Waters (Waters, n.d) workload perceived by

students in the humanities is on average manageable. The point here is that workload in fact

depends on the individual and how they cope and manage perceived stress in order not to

give up.
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Many courses at university also require students to participate in informal learning groups,

which the same survey shows a high disregard for social learning and stating that they are

useless or unimportant, despite studies stating its beneficialities (Waters, n.d). This may not

be a direct cause of dropouts per say. It is related to the fact that there are not many places

suited for group learning in universities, making the process increasingly difficult and

resulting in dissatisfied students who will potentially drop out.

Teacher/Institutional Factors

Many may encounter poor teaching quality among different lecturers at university, but it

is surprisingly not a major cause of attrition. However, it is yet again mentioning the sudden

change of learning style to independent learning as well as how guided and prepared students

are which affects it. Thus, the key factor is now the relationship a student has with their

lecturer in order to communicate what is needed to learn and assimilate material well

(Mestan, n.d).

It must be understood that students upon entry to university do not know what is

expected of them, yet Waters’ survey suggests that mentoring programs are not given much

importance by lecturers. Students must be shown the techniques for acquiring the specific

skills and discipline required for their course and especially in the beginning, the lecturer

should be available to students and give clear feedback (Waters, n.d). Lecturers should also

note that each student enters university with different levels of knowledge. One may

encounter students who may not be as technologically advanced as others or have reading

difficulties and thus the transition to independent learning may be much slower for other

students, especially if they did not receive any guidance (Hundermark, n.d & Waters, n.d).
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Above all, there should be institutional support provided for the teachers themselves.

Ultimately, if staff feel mistreated, unprepared and experience a lack of support, this will

reflect on their teaching style and thus the material a student learns from (Waters, n.d).

Solutions to Consider

Evidently, a crucial factor that seems to affect student performance leading to attrition

within the humanities is the lack of guidance in career orientation and the process of

transitioning to independent learning.

Career Guidance and Directness

Firstly, universities should prioritise this universal problem related to lack of guidance.

Within the humanities courses, universities should implement ways to make the arts more

career oriented and purposeful whilst not greatly restricting choice. This is so that students

would not be as overwhelmed or lost as to what career to pursue, all the while having a

balance by keeping their options open. Thus, universities should adopt the “mainstream

approach” (Thomas, 2012 as cited in Mestan, n.d) in which students when selecting units

could be given the option ‘opt out’ of programs rather than ‘in’ where students will

experiment with different subjects and if disliked, they simply drop out (Mestan, n.d).

Mentoring Programs and “Hands on” Work

With regards to independent learning, students should be given the opportunity to be

guided on how to become autonomous and disciplined self learners through mentoring

programs (Waters, n.d). Lecturers would provide clear and effective communication with

students, presenting constant feedback, guidelines to lectures and overall being present for
Factors as to Why Students Stop Pursuing their Studies within the Humanities Course 8

their students. Having smaller tutorial groups may also strengthen the lecturer/student

relationship as to convey and emphasise availability and aid. Moreover, having smaller

groups could attempt to strengthen social integration (Clerehan, 2003 as cited in Mestan, n.d)

and peer bonding, which can be achieved through more contact hours at university and in

class group work (Tinto, 2012 as cited in Mestan, n.d).

Conclusion

As presented, attrition in general is an occurrence that is not only affected by personal

matters, but by many others that are related to university structures themselves. Furthermore,

attrition with the humanities should not be overlooked or held in low regard and can very

much be resolved if the universities emphasise and take into consideration simple solutions

relating to guidance and management.