E&D NEWS: Psych Researchers Secure Funding from Department of Education to Research Student Success at University

What kind of student do you picture when you think of a successful student? Chances are your idea of a successful student is one who gets HDs, passes all their courses and graduates as quickly as possible. From the perspectives of governments and universities, success at university generally boils down to these kinds of statistics.


However, research has found that when you ask students to define success they have very different indicators and ideas about what they are trying to achieve at university. From a student’s perspective, success takes on an array of meanings ranging from tangible outcomes such as CVs and careers, to personal growth and achievement, to developing the ability to change the world for the better. This is especially true for students from non-traditional backgrounds. In particular, research has shown that students from low socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds come to university with different motivations and have different ideas about what they are trying to achieve. Thus, it is possible that the current limited definitions of success held by institutions may undermine low SES students’ own feelings of their success.

A/Prof Mark Rubin and Dr Olivia Evans from the School of Psychology, along with a team of researchers from the University of Newcastle, the University of Wollongong, the University of the Sunshine Coast, Western Sydney University, the University of Queensland and La Trobe University, have received a Higher Education Participation and Partnerships Program National Priorities Pool grant to investigate these issues of SES and success at university.

The project will use quantitative and qualitative research methods to produce a comprehensive, integrative understanding of perspectives to success in higher education and when and how it is predicted by SES. The project will develop our understandings of student success in terms of both (a) objective definitions and measurements and (b) subjective experiences of success and being ‘successful’. The project will also provide insight into which factors contribute to success in terms of broader trends and students’ own attributions of their success. 

To find out more about the grant, follow the link here.
For any questions or to discuss further, contact Mark at: Mark.Rubin@newcastle.edu.au | Twitter: @RubinPsyc
or Olivia at: Olivia.Evans@newcastle.edu.au | Twitter: @Oliviosa