As the need for education grows, learning institutions continue to explore ways in which they can retain students until completion of their courses. Student retention has remained an important aspect of focus with many scholars still unable to find concrete answers on the failure to graduate for many learners. Several theories have been proposed to explain this phenomena. Tinto explains the psychosocial, family and individual factors that determine the extent of academic integration. This paper discusses these theories, the significance of these propositions in the retention of students in institutions of higher learning.
Tinto’s original theory of Student Integration contains five components that work in an interplay to determine whether a student will drop from school or not. Tinto explains these factors by exposing that an institutions attitude on and commitment to retain all but not just a few of the students is a huge factor ( Tinto, 1975) . This should come with the necessary social and educational support systems, which must be integrated within the institution to foster outcomes. A sense of belonging and availability of social support mechanisms highly influence the decision to drop out. The sense of belonging diminishes or rises with the interactions that one has within their academic or social circles within the institution of learning ( Tinto, 1975) . These, together with the expectations of the student may act to solidify or modify the intent to remain within the system or drop out. Whereas positive university experiences reinforce integration into the social and educational systems, negative experiences decrease the drive to perform ( Tinto, 1975) . Ambitious intentions and strong goals can reinforce the willingness to stay in school despite the absence of favorable social or academic support structures.
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The longitudinal model of institutional departure is an expansion of the student integration theory. In this theory, Tinto adds other factors such as adjustment, isolation, financial capability, external drivers and duties as contributors to the decision to drop out (Tinto, 1993) . An individual who achieves stronger social and academic integration is likely to pursue their educational goals until graduation ( Tinto, 1975) . Characteristics such as the achievement at secondary school, family background, financial capabilities and the overall student motivation influence the commitment that one would have both to the institution they enroll in and the goal to graduate (Tinto, 1993) . These characteristics are also contributory to the overall academic performance of a student. Persistence depends on among other factors, the level of integration that are student achieves both socially and academically ( Morrow & Ackermann, 2012) . Pre-existing student characteristics and the longitudinal interaction between their social and scholarly components interplay with other external factors to determine the decision of whether to stay or drop out of school.
The theories of retention and attrition are essential in the understanding of how both student and environmental factors influence schooling. Tinto’s theories are crucial to educators and education policy makers as they expose the contributing factors to attrition. Formulation and implementation of mechanisms to increase social and academic integration according to the factors described by Tinto could help in increasing retention and curtailing attrition. Institutions of higher learning should therefore facilitate social support mechanisms as a way of boosting student integration. Learning processes should also be tailored to cater for student needs holistically in order to maintain student focus and keep relevance to students’ goals ( Morrow & Ackermann, 2012). Being able to predict and determine the probability of student retention and attrition can offer a great insight to institutions on their processes of recruiting and retention of learners. The theories also uncover the importance of incorporating components that increase student’s quality of life and experiences in the universities.
References
Morrow, J., & Ackermann, M. (2012). Intention to persist and retention of first-year students: The importance of motivation and sense of belonging. College Student Journal, 483-491.
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of educational research, 45 (1), 89-125. http://dx.doi.org/10.3102/00346543045001089
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving College: Rethinking the Causes and Cures of Student Attrition (2nd ed). University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL.
