ERIC Number: EJ1093141
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016-Apr
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0256-2928
EISSN: N/A
Breaking the Cycle: A Phenomenological Approach to Broadening Access to Post-Secondary Education
Cefai, Carmel; Downes, Paul; Cavioni, Valeria
European Journal of Psychology of Education, v31 n2 p255-274 Apr 2016
Over the past decades, there has been a substantial increase in post-secondary education participation in most Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and European Union countries. This increase, however, does not necessarily reflect a parallel equitable growth in post-secondary education, and early school leaving is still an issue of concern in particular regions and countries across the world. This paper presents a study on increasing participation in post-secondary education in Malta, the country with the one of the highest proportions of early school leaving in the European Union. The study was carried out in a region with one of the highest rates of early school leaving in the country, making use of a phenomenological approach as well as a resilient systems perspective to early school leaving. On the basis of students' narratives, the study identifies a number of risk and protective factors in early school leaving and makes various suggestions on how to build more resilient systems to facilitate access to post-secondary education, particularly for students coming from low socio-economic, excluded backgrounds.
Descriptors: Phenomenology, Access to Education, Postsecondary Education, Foreign Countries, Student Attrition, Academic Persistence, School Holding Power, Resilience (Psychology), Personal Narratives, Risk Management, Low Income Students, Socioeconomic Background
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Malta
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A