Publicação
Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses
| Resumo: | Despite growing enrolment in postgraduate education, completion rates remain low, often falling below those of undergraduate programmes. This disparity has raised concerns about the adequacy of current retention strategies, which are frequently designed with undergraduate students in mind and may overlook the specific needs of postgraduate learners. Master’s students often face distinct challenges, including balancing professional responsibilities, aca-demic demands, and family obligations, all of which contribute to a heightened risk of dropout. This study investigates the institutional factors contributing to non-completion in master’s education through a qualitative case study at a pub-lic higher education institution in Portugal. Using an adapted Delphi methodol-ogy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with first-year stu-dents and follow-up interviews with postgraduates to validate and deepen the findings. The results reveal three key areas influencing student retention: the early alignment between coursework and dissertation topics, the consistency and support provided by thesis supervisors, and the degree of flexibility in insti-tutional scheduling and workload management. Based on these insights, the study proposes practical recommendations such as structured dissertation time-lines and increased opportunities for academic engagement, including participa-tion in conferences. These measures can help higher education institutions re-duce attrition and improve the postgraduate experience by aligning academic structures with students' lived realities. |
|---|---|
| Autores principais: | Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. |
| Assunto: | Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| Ano: | 2026 |
| País: | Portugal |
| Tipo de documento: | comunicação em conferência |
| Tipo de acesso: | acesso restrito |
| Instituição associada: | Instituto Politécnico de Bragança |
| Idioma: | inglês |
| Origem: | Biblioteca Digital do IPB |
| _version_ | 1867173394777112576 |
|---|---|
| author | Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. |
| author_facet | Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. |
| author_role | author |
| contributor_name_str_mv | Biblioteca Digital do IPB |
| country_str | PT |
| creators_json_txt | [{\"Person.name\":\"Fernandes, Joana M.S.R.\",\"Person.identifier.orcid\":\"0000-0001-5962-2945\"}] |
| datacite.contributors.contributor.contributorName.fl_str_mv | Biblioteca Digital do IPB |
| datacite.creators.creator.creatorName.fl_str_mv | Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. |
| datacite.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z |
| datacite.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-25T16:23:25Z |
| datacite.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-25T16:23:25Z |
| datacite.rights.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec |
| datacite.subjects.subject.fl_str_mv | Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| datacite.titles.title.fl_str_mv | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv | Biblioteca Digital do IPB |
| dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv | Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. |
| dc.date.Accepted.fl_str_mv | 2026-01-01T00:00:00Z |
| dc.date.available.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-25T16:23:25Z |
| dc.date.embargoed.fl_str_mv | 2026-02-25T16:23:25Z |
| dc.format.none.fl_str_mv | application/pdf |
| dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv | http://hdl.handle.net/10198/35862 |
| dc.language.none.fl_str_mv | eng |
| dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv | Springer |
| dc.rights.cclincense.fl_str_mv | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
| dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ec |
| dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv | Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| dc.title.fl_str_mv | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| dc.type.none.fl_str_mv | http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794 |
| description | Despite growing enrolment in postgraduate education, completion rates remain low, often falling below those of undergraduate programmes. This disparity has raised concerns about the adequacy of current retention strategies, which are frequently designed with undergraduate students in mind and may overlook the specific needs of postgraduate learners. Master’s students often face distinct challenges, including balancing professional responsibilities, aca-demic demands, and family obligations, all of which contribute to a heightened risk of dropout. This study investigates the institutional factors contributing to non-completion in master’s education through a qualitative case study at a pub-lic higher education institution in Portugal. Using an adapted Delphi methodol-ogy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with first-year stu-dents and follow-up interviews with postgraduates to validate and deepen the findings. The results reveal three key areas influencing student retention: the early alignment between coursework and dissertation topics, the consistency and support provided by thesis supervisors, and the degree of flexibility in insti-tutional scheduling and workload management. Based on these insights, the study proposes practical recommendations such as structured dissertation time-lines and increased opportunities for academic engagement, including participa-tion in conferences. These measures can help higher education institutions re-duce attrition and improve the postgraduate experience by aligning academic structures with students' lived realities. |
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| institution | Instituto Politécnico de Bragança |
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| language | eng |
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| person_str_mv | Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. https://www.ciencia-id.pt/A41D-FF9D-929E A41D-FF9D-929E http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5962-2945 0000-0001-5962-2945 |
| publishDate | 2026 |
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| spelling | engSpringerengDespite growing enrolment in postgraduate education, completion rates remain low, often falling below those of undergraduate programmes. This disparity has raised concerns about the adequacy of current retention strategies, which are frequently designed with undergraduate students in mind and may overlook the specific needs of postgraduate learners. Master’s students often face distinct challenges, including balancing professional responsibilities, aca-demic demands, and family obligations, all of which contribute to a heightened risk of dropout. This study investigates the institutional factors contributing to non-completion in master’s education through a qualitative case study at a pub-lic higher education institution in Portugal. Using an adapted Delphi methodol-ogy, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with first-year stu-dents and follow-up interviews with postgraduates to validate and deepen the findings. The results reveal three key areas influencing student retention: the early alignment between coursework and dissertation topics, the consistency and support provided by thesis supervisors, and the degree of flexibility in insti-tutional scheduling and workload management. Based on these insights, the study proposes practical recommendations such as structured dissertation time-lines and increased opportunities for academic engagement, including participa-tion in conferences. These measures can help higher education institutions re-duce attrition and improve the postgraduate experience by aligning academic structures with students' lived realities.application/pdfengUnderstanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional ResponsesPersonalFernandes, Joana M.S.R.DSpacehttp://dspace.org/items/8302713e-f657-401c-b67e-b97e548968a6DSpacehttp://dspace.org/items/8302713e-f657-401c-b67e-b97e548968a6FernandesJoana M.S.R.Ciência IDhttps://www.ciencia-id.ptA41D-FF9D-929EORCIDhttp://orcid.org0000-0001-5962-2945HostingInstitutionOrganizationalBiblioteca Digital do IPBe-mailmailto:dspace@ipb.ptdspace@ipb.ptISBNIsPartOf978-303209073-7ISSNIsPartOf2367-3370DOIIsPartOf10.1007/978-3-032-09074-4_222026-02-25T16:23:25Z20262026-01-01T00:00:00ZHandlehttp://hdl.handle.net/10198/35862http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ecrestricted accessDropoutInstitutional StrategiesPostgraduate EducationStudent RetentionThesis Supervision309463 bytesother research producthttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_5794conference paper2026http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/http://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_16ecapplication/pdffulltexthttps://bibliotecadigital.ipb.pt/bitstreams/93e994e7-5890-4ad5-b618-df7b58804ffb/downloadPerspectives and Trends in Education and Technology1695219229 |
| spellingShingle | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses Fernandes, Joana M.S.R. Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| status | SINGLETON |
| subject.fl_str_mv | Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| title | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| title_full | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| title_fullStr | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| title_full_unstemmed | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| title_short | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| title_sort | Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses |
| topic | Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| topic_facet | Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10198/35862 |
| visible | 1 |