Improving Student Retention in Higher Education

This research focuses on improving student retention in higher education, with a case study on London School of Science and Technology. It explores the concept of student retention, challenges faced, and strategies for improving retention. The study aims to understand the importance of student retention and recommend strategies for improvement.

BUSINESS RESEARCH
PROJECT

INTRODUCTION
Overview
Student retention indicates how well college assures the academic success. Mainly the
stakeholders use this to analyse performance of the institution or college. Internal promotion of
the student retention is more useful in order to make improvement in programs, academic
support, teaching staff and curriculum. In enhancing competitive as well as the results oriented
high education, retention of student is necessary to institutions and faculty. The universities
mainly look to make improvement in rates of graduation and also reduce tuition revenue rate
from students wither moving to or dropping out to various institutions. More and more students
study, so that they will be sure of it. So more students read, the more they are able to learn from
teachers or staff, accept confusion, and collaborate with individuals from diverse backgrounds or
different viewpoints, the more they practice and get input about their writing and cooperation in
the solution of problems.
Background
In the current world we live the students are leaving the colleges before completing their
degree or the course. The reason behind the fact that student retention is very necessary for the
colleges and universities. Also, this is a major issue for the parents of student as they are also
tense for the career of their children. This is the main reason underlying this research. The
present research is based in London school of science and technology. This a university which is
situated in London, England and has 5 different campuses. This was founded in 2003. The
present research will outline the different strategies which London school of science and
technology can use in order to retain the student within the society for higher education.
Aims and objectives
Aims
“To investigate the ways of improving student retention within the higher education. A
study on London school of science and technology”
Objective
 To understand the concept of student retention.
 To outline the challenges occurring at time of student retention
 To identify the strategies for improving student retention for higher education.

 To recommend strategies to London school of science and technology for improving
student retention.
Research question
1. What is the concept of student retention?
2. What are the different challenges faced at time of student retention?
3. What are the different strategies adopted by university for retaining student?
4. What is some recommendation for university to improve student retention?
Significance of study
The present study which is on improving the student retention in university is very
significant. This is because this could very helpful for the other universities also who are facing
the same problem of student retention. And the same strategies can also be applied in the other
universities as well. Also, this research work is helpful for other researchers also who are doing
the research on the same topic or the related topic.
Rationale
The main reason behind the selection of this topic is that this seems tohappening more
regular in universities. Thus, this research will help the company in outlining the reason behind
in which persist students to leave the university. Also, another reason for undertaking this topic
is that this is also the personal interest of the researcher because they want to know more about
the student retention and various relating strategies.
Structure of Report
This section gives the detailed knowledge regarding overall investigation and structure
that is mainly adopted through researcher in conducting the present investigation. It is an
overview of each chapter that mainly going to used. The explanation of each chapter included in
research given below:
Chapter 1: Introduction
It is first chapter that gives the overview regarding research. This includes the
background, aim, objectives, questions, rationale and significance. It present that what mainly
researcher is aiming to obtain from conducting present investigation.
Chapter 2: Literature review
It is second chapter that provides detailed information regarding the proposed topic with
view point of various publishers and authors. This chapter will include numerous books, journals

and online posts, newspapers and other published data containing information on soft skills in
properly carrying out their business activities. Separate information on all targets will be
collected here, using different sources. This section contributes greatly in less time for the
acquisition of full knowledge.
Chapter 3: Methodology
It is third section of research and initiated after finish of the literature review part. This
section mostly consists of various tools and techniques which the researcher uses to collect the
required information about the same relevant research results on the proposed subject. It mainly
includes different parts such as research philosophy, research approaches, design, data collection
methods, sampling, ethical considerations and limitations.
Chapter 4: Research and findings
This section of research considered the collected data that mainly gathered by using the
primary data collection method. Researcher analysed data in such as way so that this can be
identified to meet aim and objectives. This also contains detailed discussions on details gathered
in portion of the Literature Review and findings and analysis. The researchers concentrate
primarily on the general results and interpretation of the discussion. This segment allows
researchers to improve their awareness of what they really understood.
Chapter 5: Conclusion
This is last chapter of research which gives the researchers an actual conclusion on the
topic. Researchers may be said to draw conclusions from knowledge gathered in previous
chapter.
Chapter 6: Recommendations
Moreover, the following section gives a suggestion to the institutions considered to assist
their managers in cultivating soft skills and enhancing their business output contributing to the
institution success.

LITERATURE REVIEW
Theme 1: Concept of student Retention
According to Raju and Schumacker (2015) the student retention refers to retention of
student in college in respect of gaining knowledge andhelping them to improve their skills
throughattending class of their professors. Thus, in such manner it is the major priority of the
colleges to make strategies regarding improving the student in college. Thus, in such aspect’s
student retention is necessary inrespect of maintaining the reputation of the collegesand this can
be done in respect of improving the colleges administrators. As the dignity of the colleges is
reflected through number of students studying in the colleges. in these aspects, it is necessary to
retain the student’s interest in colleges so that they can build new institution in the premises.
Kimbark, Peters and Richardson (2017) criticised that retention of students is necessary
in colleges so that they can utilize the proper facility which is provided by the boards to the
students. In respect of improving the administrator it is necessary to appoint the skilled person to
handle the queries of the students in better way. The issue arises in respect of not using the
appropriate strategies to retain the interest of students in colleges. In respect of not managing the
student’s administrators in better way it reduces the rates of the studies and also increases the
cost of the revenue. it gives rise to the tuition centres to earn more revenue in respect of
attracting customer through their services.
Beer and Lawson (2017) suggested that student retention isundertaken in respect of
improving the academic performance in colleges. So that they can improve the performance of
the student in respect of motivating them to focus more on other curricularactivities rather than
choosing the academic studies. in such manner the retention is done in respect of attracting the
students regarding their interest field and then only theretention of students is higher in education
field. In such aspects the student’sretention is higher in respect of building the trust among
students in attracting them through their own interest field.
Harackiewicz and Priniski (2018) argued that sometimes it is out of the range of the
students in respect of fulfilling their needs to interact with professors and also share their interest.
Thus, the less of retention also occurs in respect if lack of communication between the students
and professors. Students feel that their views and thoughts are not appreciated in the colleges and
also,they are not properly guided in right way.

Mah (2016) stated that cost is also one of the major reasons in respect of lack of student
retention in higher education as every student are not capable to afford the fees of the colleges
which is higher due to changes in time. Students are attracted of they find any scholarship
programs or also any other monetary benefits in respect of reducing the cost of expenses in
studying in higher education. the student retention is necessary in respect of managing the
overall structure of the higher education.
Theme 2: Challenges occurring at time of student retention
As per Travers (2016) the challenges which is faced by higher education in respect of
retaining students is relating to having different culture background. As every student are
different and carry wide ranges of ideas which they use at the time of carrying the studies in
better way. The challenges which are faced by higher education in respect of building trust
among the students are in respect of guiding or motivating the students to learn or gain
knowledge from other student or commit such activity in group. As students do not easily prefer
to mix with other person, thus difficulty arise in respect of keeping all the students on single path
and then undertaking the teaching activity to keep every student on single track.
Brooman, Darwent and Pimor (2015) examined that another challenge is examined in
respect of facing changes in values and polices which is designed for every person. As the main
reason of lack of student retention also arises in respect of not manging the education fees in
better way. Thus, challenges for higher education arises in respect of making such polices which
is specially designed for middle and poor class students so that they can manage the studies in
better way. This can be done in respect of offering the scholarship or any other activity through
which they can manage their studies in better scale. As this procedure is simple for students in
respect of bringing changes in policies of higher education but it is difficulty for the higher
education as every student are equal for the colleges and thus the studies are also equal. As no
discrimination is made in respect of charging low fees from the middle class or lower-class
people as the facility are provided to every student is similar way.
Mooring (2016) said that the challenges are also resulting to bring innovation at campus.
As this is also one of the major reasons in respect of not motivating the students toattend the
colleges or retain at such places for longer time period. As they do not feel motivated to attend
the classes or visiting to colleges for further studies. innovation is to be undertaken in respect of
attracting the student’s needs towards the campus, but the challenges areto be faced by the higher

education in resect of adopting such changes. The challenges areexamined in respect of making
the financial budgets in context of bringingsuch changes in campus or classrooms.
Moriña (2017) highlighted that the major issue which is identify in respect of student’s
retention to higher education is relating to lack of training sessions which do not motivate
students to visits to colleges for further studies. As due to organisingthe training session in which
the activities are to be organised or such training is to be organised on any different places which
is some type of trip or any otheradventure activity. in such aspectsthey can retain the interest of
the students for longer way. And thiscould result in lack of training session in colleges which
results in facing challenges which occurs at the time of retention of the students.
Theme 3: Strategies for improving student retention for higher education
Mezick (2015) viewed that student retention is to be improved in respect of organising
the minute check regarding the strategies which is adapted by the higher education in respect of
detaching the student’s strategy of enhancing their needs. As students are sometimes
demotivated or not focused towards their studies. Thiscan result in keeping an eye on the
students by keeping an update regarding their overall performance. In this they keep a check on
the behaviours, their attendance in college and also,if theyare involved in any cultural activities
which is organised in campus.
Gaytan (2015) on the other hand said that higher education can use strategies by
organising the social events in campus, where every student’s involvement in necessaryand
also,they organise such event at large scale. The students are motivated ny performing or taking
part in the events so that they can promote the higher education at large level. Through these
aspects, the universities pay attention to students and howthey are dealing with their emotional
barriers which they are facing atsocial levels. hopefullythey can improve the performance of the
students by them chances of building their own identity in higher education. Another thing which
they can also build is relating to developing theirskills andleaning in university and by this
procedure they can create their own identity andmake newfriends in colleges. This is also one the
issue which is identifiedby lack of student retention as they not ready to engaged with any other
students whichresulting in lack of commitment in respect of attaining the particular task.
Stone (2017) suggested that innovate training session are to be organisedso the
interaction with studentspersonallyand building trust among them. As students not retain in
respect of not having rights to share the information or any other matter with their superiors.

organising the training session which is to be held outside the premises or may be in the form of
any outing, this helps them to build the trust among them. As the students leavewith other
students, thisalso helps to know each other better and increases the chances of knowing each
other in better way. As it is in the hands of the professors to assign same task with different
group so that they can grab the learningcapabilities individually and also helps them to treat them
in better way.
Mackey and Gass (2015) responses that various monetary benefits are to be given to the
students in respect of giving excellent performance during exams. Through these aspects, it
results in retainingtheir interest in universitiesfor longer time period and it also motivates other
students to achieve such task in better way. By these aspects it helps students in two major ways
firstly they can manage their own cost in own ways and secondly, they motivate other students to
improve their performances in exams.So that they can also learn or gain knowledge in respect of
attaining the classes on regular bases.

RESEARCH METHODOLOY
Research methodology is defined as specific process that mainly used to determine, choose,
process and also analyse the information regarding topic. It allows a researcher in evaluate
overall reliability as well as validity of study. The research methodology consists the different
parts such as type of investigation, research approaches, designs, methods of data collection, data
analysis, sampling, ethical consideration and limitations. The use of all of these methods helps
researchers to conduct systematic, effective research. With respect to current study, the
researcher uses different research methods which help the researchers conduct research in a way
that results in validity and reliability of research results. All the methods used by the investigator
are defined as follows:
Research type- This refers to as the type of method which is being used by the researcher
for completing the research on the topic improving the student retention in higher education.
There are many different types of research methods which can be used but mainly are the
qualitative research and other is quantitative research (Kumar, 2019).
The research for the present research has been used the qualitative research. The main
reason for using this type of research is that the qualitative research helps the researcher in
deeply understanding the concept of the research problem. Rather than emphasizing more on the
numerical facts and figures. Qualitative research is frequently used to study the subject. It helps
the researcher to obtain a reliable understanding of basic opinions, reasons and intentions. It
provides in-depth information and insight into issue or encourages the creation of hypotheses or
opinions for prospective quantitative studies
Research approach- The approach is defined as the different steps and process which are
taken by the researcher in accomplishing the research aim. It is an efficient process created
through the investigator based on assumptions related to techniques or methods used by
investigators to effectively conduct various kinds of task or operation during the analysis and to
generate positive results effectively. There are many different approaches which can be used to
complete the research but the two most important are inductive and the deductive approach.
For the present research in student retention the approach which has been used is the
inductive approach. This is pertaining to the fact that inductive approach helps in generating
some meaning from the raw information and to draw some conclusion from that information to
solve the research problem.

Research philosophy- The research philosophy is defined as the assumptions and beliefs
on which the whole research is being based. The research starts with these assumptions only. The
philosophy of research was also defined as the successful step forward through which the overall
methodology was properly established. The main research philosophies which can be used at
time of research are interpretivism and positivism.
For undergoing the current research on improving ways of student retention has been
interpretivism (Mackey and Gass, 2015). This is majorly used by the researcher pertaining to the
reason that this philosophy helps the researcher in understand the main reason behind any of the
concept or anything. Its primary purpose is to interpreting the information and converts the
information collected in such a way that it can be easily understood by investigator and team
members working on the research. It also lets them draw valid conclusions on the topic they have
presented that allow them to draw valid results on the same topic.
Research design- It is set of procedures and methods which mainly used in gathering as
well as analysing the measures of variable which specified in research issue. This is related to the
entire approach that seeks to systematically and logically incorporate the different components of
the analysis. This means that researchers solve the study issue effectively. For data collection,
evaluation and analysis, this forms the blueprint. There are descriptive, explanatory and
experimental are different research design.
In conducting present research, there has been descriptive research design used because it
provides the information in detailed manner. Its main focus is on describing the nature of the
study and also gives in- depth investigation.
Data collection- This is defined as the act of collecting the data in order to complete the
research. This is very necessary because of the reason that without any data the research cannot
be done (Fletcher, 2017). For collecting the data there are mainly two sources of data that is
primary and secondary data. Collection of data is related to data collection techniques and the
processing of information. Data was collected for first time in the primary data gathering
collection process, and multiple forms of data collection include questionnaires, observations,
focus groups, interviews, etc. Data are, however, collected by some other person or affected in
secondary methods and specific sources of secondary data collection are journals, books, web
sources and others.

For carrying on with the current research, the researcher has been the combination of
both the sources that is primary and secondary. The underlying reason behind this fact is that the
primary source of data is the original source where the first- hand data is collected. Under this,
researcher has been developed the questionnaire as collecting the data and information from
selected sample size. On the flip side, the secondary source of the data is the one which has
already being used.
Sampling- It is explained as process that mainly used in the statistical analysis in
predetermined observations numbers which are taken from larger population. Methodology
mainly used to sample from the large population that based on analysis types that being
performed but this may consist the random sampling. For doing the research the researcher
cannot apply the test on all the population. Thus, a small sample size is selected from the whole
population and then the tests are being done on the sample size. The sample is defined as the
small part of the population which is being selected for the completion of the research. The
sample size that will be used for researching for improving the student retention in university of
London will be up to 25students of the university.
Data analysis- In order to find useful information for decision-making, data analysis is
characterized as process of maintenance, transformation and modeling data. Data analysis is
intended to collect useful data and to take a decision based on data analysis. The collection of
data is not enough it is very essential for the researcher to also analyze the data. This is majorly
because of the reason that the data collected is of no use if any meaning is not coming from that
data. It is very necessary for the researcher to accurately analyze and interpret the data to draw
some meaningful conclusion from it.
In this, collected data will be analyzed by using the thematic analysis techniques. There
has been interpretation of the collected data to know about the detailed information and getting
positive results.
Ethical consideration- This is very necessary for the researcher to take into consideration
all the ethical requirements of completing the research. This is very necessary for the researcher
to consider all the requirements of the research completion. These are like the data must be
collected from the ethical sources and also before taking the data from the participant the
researcher must ask the respondent to fill the ethical consent form and the ethical approval form.
Also, the researcher must not use such information which may mislead any participant and the

researcher must ensure the participant that the data collected from them is kept confidential and
safe and will not be misused. In order to collect the data in literature review part, it is necessary
for the researcher to use the authentic as well as reliable source. This helped in giving the better
outcomes in an effective manner. In this, information gathered through magazines, books,
internet sources and articles was rephrased and provided because credits to authors to neglect
misconduct risk in plagiarism form.
Limitation- In this, there are several limitations which witnesses at the time of performing
the research activities. Time for this project is one of the key limitations. The subject of research
is extensive and time is required to collect the response. It can also be clarified in general that
time is not enough for the entire analysis. There are various limitations that the investigator
faced, such as inaccurate funding, insufficient time, sample size collection, inaccurate behavior,
etc. These are all the main questions that the investigator has encountered in the ethical and
systematic conduct of each investigative mission. This impacts the investigator when research
work is done in due course as well as costs.
TIMELINE
The timeline is the time plan which is made by the researcher. In this plan the researcher
outlines a schedule which will be followed by the researcher to complete the research project.
This plan outlines the different parts of the whole research and decides the time that in which
time frame what work will be completed.
Activity 1Wee
k
2We
ek
3Wee
k
4
Week
5Wee
k
6
Wee
k
7Wee
k
8
Week
9Wee
k
10We
ek
11We
ek
Selection
of the
research
topic
Formation
of aims

and
objectives
Conductin
g the
literature
review
Analysing
the
methods
used in
research
Preparatio
n of the
questionna
ire
Collects
facts and
data of that
topic.
Analysis
of the data
with help
of
thematic
data
analysis

Recheckin
g the data
and
informatio
n before
final
submission
.
Final
submission
of the
report

RESEARCH AND FINDINGS
It is the best way to obtain true and accurate outcomes as this segment of study is efficient in
the review of the collected knowledge. The main purpose of this chapter of the investigation is to
collect sufficient information and make the correct decision that is consistent with data analysis.
Furthermore, the data analysis is successful in providing the researcher with the correct guidance
to help the entire study in reaching the main findings. In relation to present research, work is
based on investigating ways of improving student retention within the higher education. Under
this, research findings are based on the primary and secondary both the data collection method.
The primary data analysis has been conducted from questionnaire and secondary analysis is
related to literature review.