Canadian Council on Learning | Conseil Canadien sur l'Apprentissage

Question Scans

Question 37: How are the concepts: retention; attrition; persistence; graduation rate; course success/failure rates defined in the PSE literature?

Overview

Defining Retention and Persistence Terms in PSE Literature

This Question Scan was conducted at the request of the Maritime Provinces Higher Education Commission (MPHEC). It sought to identify how the concepts: retention; attrition; persistence; graduation rate; course success/failure rates are defined in the post-secondary education.

Four academic databases and 23 websites were searched resulting in a total of 1983 citations being captured; 156 of which met the inclusion criteria and where reviewed for thematic content.

The Scan revealed an absence of established definitions for “persistence”, “retention”, “attrition”, “graduation rate” and “course completion”. Among the articles included for thematic analysis, a large proportion evaluated models or predictors of retention, graduation and attrition rates without tackling how these rates ought to be measured. Statistical research organizations appear to have created flexible definitions for these terms, allowing for alteration and adaptation depending on the requirements and goals of a given academic study. 

While graduation rates are more firmly defined based on a set equation, determining what constitutes retention, persistence and attrition is more complicated and depends on the specific contexts and how tracking data is collected and used. Gap years pose another challenge for accurately determining persistence between high school and university. Similarly, what constitutes course completion can vary depending on when measurement begins. 

It appears there remains a number of unanswered questions and ill-defined terms. A more comprehensive and detailed reading of the literature-base may provided more insight.

View full report (392 KB)