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Orientador(es)
Resumo(s)
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.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Dropout Institutional Strategies Postgraduate Education Student Retention Thesis Supervision
Contexto Educativo
Citação
Fernandes, J.M.S.R. (2026). Understanding Dropout in Postgraduate Education: Challenges and Institutional Responses. In: Abreu, A., Carvalho; J.V., Castanho, R.A. (eds). Perspectives and Trends in Education and Technology. ICITED 2025. Springer, Cham. ISNN: 2367-3370. 1695, p. 219-229
Editora
Springer