Determinant Factors Influencing Part-time Students Withdrawal in SPACE, UTM

Abstract

One of the significant problems is student withdrawal from higher education, which harms institutional effectiveness, students' career paths, and national education policies. Even though much work has been done on student attrition, most of the studies focus on the full-time students with little emphasis on the part-time students. This gap is significant because part-time students are distinct in their challenges, which include work-study balance, financial constraints, and limited institutional support. This study aims to fill this gap by exploring the factors leading to part-time student withdrawal in the School of Professional and Continuing Education (SPACE) of University Technology Malaysia (UTM), thereby contributing to a better understanding of student retention strategies. This research used a descriptive research design to explore the factors that lead to student withdrawal at SPACE, UTM. The study participants were 749, consisting of 369 students who had left the institution and 380 graduates who had finished their programs. The sample was taken from institutional records, specifically, the university system's data, which comprised part-time bachelor's degree students registered between 2010 and 2022. The findings indicate that both internal and external factors contribute to student withdrawal. However, external factors were identified as the primary cause, encompassing health-related issues, financial constraints, bereavement, program suitability, and personal circumstances. In contrast, internal factors accounted for only a tiny proportion of student withdrawals, suggesting that external pressures play a more significant role in students' decisions to discontinue their studies.