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The transition to higher education has been extensively documented in the literature. In this line, many individual variables were identified as strong predictors of academic achievement. Yet, this literature suffers from one main limitation; contextual factors have often been left out of the investigation. The majority of studies have tested the impact of individual characteristics assuming that the effects are the same in different programs. However, differences between institutions or programs could result in specific learning contexts leading to different adjustment processes. As an attempt to overcome this limitation, the current study has investigated the impact of both individual and contextual factors on academic achievement through a multifactorial multilevel analysis. The analyses were carried out on 1,173 freshmen from 21 study programs. Results highlighted that 15% of variation in students' achievement was found between programs. Aspects of curriculum organization that contributed to academic achievement were gender ratio, opportunities given for practice and class size. Besides, seven individual factors were also predictive of academic achievement in the multifactorial approach: past performance, socioeconomic status, self-efficacy beliefs, value, mastery goal structure, study time and paid job. Finally, significant random effects were identified for peer support, course value, attendance and external engagement (i.e. commitment in extra-academic activities). The implications and limitations of this study are discussed. By connecting individual and contextual predictors of academic achievement this study intends to endorse a frontline approach regarding the transition to higher education.

Transition into higher education (HE) remains at the forefront of policy and practice in education worldwide (Gale & Parker, 2014). Transition as a process (Nicholson, 1990) in which individuals move from one stage to another may cause stress and discomfort that possibly lead to negative outcomes. Transition into HE is a particularly challenging process for the student due to a large variety of difficulties and requirements which could impede study success (Trautwein & Bosse, 2017). Moreover, increasing student numbers and diversity in European HE have reinforced concerns about study success in general and the successful transition to university in particular (Abbott-Chapmann, 2006, 2011; Vossensteyn et al., 2015; Wolter, 2013). Consequently, it is important to further develop our understanding of factors that can contribute to a successful and less stressful transitions into higher education for a diverse student body. In this special issue, the authors go beyond considering individual factors, such as student characteristics (micro level). In addition to student diversity, the authors investigate the impact of the learning environment/ institution (meso level) and national educational policies (macro level). Each study contributes to this endeavour by connecting two of the three levels of higher education. To overcome the limitations of the existing literature in the field of HE, this special issue aims at entering a novel pathway to investigate diversity to HE by: (1) further investigating the role of diversity at different levels of HE; (2) connecting previously unconnected investigations of diversity in the transition into HE at micro, meso and macro level; and (3) developing methodological designs that can tackle this broadened perspective of diversity in the transition into HE.

The issue of considerable dropout rate in doctoral programs is well documented across a large number of countries. However, few studies address the factors associated with doctoral completion among Non-U.S. countries, multiple universities and fields of research. Nor do they investigate the interactions between these factors. The present paper aimed to overcome these limitations and analyzed the population of doctoral students in all disciplines of the two largest universities of the French-speaking Community of Belgium (N = 1509). Specifically, we focused on several factors: gender, nationality, marital status, master grade, whether students continued at the same university when transitioning to the doctoral degree, whether they continued in the same field, age at registration, research field and funding (i.e., type of funding and associated job requirements). Findings indicate that four factors (marital status, master grade, research field and funding) are directly associated with dropout rate when all factors are considered jointly in the same model. Furthermore, results indicate that some of these factors, such as the marital status and gender, interact. In addition, we found that an accumulation of risk factors leads to a massive increase in dropout rates. Finally, a time course analysis revealed that the highest dropout rate occurs during the first two years and is related to the absence of funding or scholarship. The results, limits and futures perspectives are discussed.

Students with disabilities are enrolling increasingly in higher education (HE). Yet little is known about the specific challenges they have to overcome in order to navigate this transition. This qualitative study tried to ascertain the transition-related needs of students with disabilities by comparing their experiences with those of students without disabilities. Two focus groups were formed, respectively composed of five special needs students and five traditional ones. Semi-structured interviews were analysed through interpretative phenomenological analyses. Five super-ordinate themes emerged from the data: the transition as a roller coaster, taming a new freedom, discovering oneself, overcoming obstacles and perceiving university as a supportive or a threatening environment. Similarities and differences were observed among the two groups that mainly showed that students with disabilities clearly enhanced their experience at university and expressed more positive emotions than traditional students did. In a way, it appeared that the lifetime management of their disabilities better prepared them to face the challenges of the transition to HE. These findings were discussed with regard to transition theories and led to some recommendations.

Although a vast body of studies regarding the variables related to students' achievement exists, only a handful has investigated how these variables combine and interact together. Such an investigation might make it possible to more accurately illustrate the heterogeneity of students enrolling in university and assess the impact of this diversity on academic achievement. The current study focused on the person-centered approach and investigated the possibility of determining significant subgroups of freshmen in the very first week of the academic year in the Belgian educational context. Using k-mean clustering, 2178 freshmen were classified according to their past performance, socioeconomic status, study choice process, and academic self-efficacy beliefs at the beginning of the first year at university. Analyses of variance were also conducted to analyze the relationship between these student clusters and academic achievement outcomes. Six distinct profiles of students were identified representing different combinations of achievement predictors. Results revealed different odds of success among these profiles. The implications of our approach to the understanding of the heterogeneity of freshmen and the first-year achievement process are discussed.

This paper presents a prospective study aimed at identifying the predictors of academic achievement among first-year university students. It tries to develop an inclusive view of academic achievement by taking into account the possible differential impact of several predictors in two different faculties of the university. Some 317 university students from the two faculties (science and physical education), who were in their first year at university, participated in the study. During the academic year, these students completed a questionnaire. The outcome variable was their average academic mark at the end of the year. Multiple regression analyses were performed to identify the most powerful predictors of achievement. The results showed that past school failure, parental education and self-efficacy beliefs predicted achievement in both programs. Age, secondary-school specialisation, reasons for choosing the program, deep processing, time spent studying and intention to persist have also been highlighted as significant predictors of success, but only in one of the two faculties. Self-efficacy was the most powerful predictor of achievement in physical education courses, whereas intention to persist was the most powerful predictor in science. These results show the importance of adopting an integrated and contextualised approach to exploring the predictors of academic achievement at university.

The transition into higher education (HE) is a particularly challenging process for students due to a large variety of difficulties and requirements. Moreover, increasing student numbers and diversity in European HE have complexified the issue of the successful transition to university. Consequently, it is important to further develop our understanding of the heterogeneity of students and the specific challenges that impact their successful and less stressful transitions into higher education. This paper contributes to this scientific endeavour. More precisely, a study was carried out among 1,048 first-year students from a French-speaking Belgian university. Using latent profile analysis, our results yielded five profiles representing different combinations of achievement predictors (high school grade, socio-economic status, informed-choice, and self-efficacy beliefs). When comparing the profiles, our results further highlighted key differences in the way students experienced the specific challenges associated with the transition and succeeded at the end of the first year. The discussion of the results allowed us to provide practical implications and future perspectives on the thorny issue of diversity into the transition to HE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The university transition is a period punctuated by challenges that the student will have to be able to meet in order to adapt to his new environment. While the concrete analysis of the obstacles to the transition remains too little developed in the scientific literature; With most studies focusing on student-centered determinants, academic transition is generally viewed as a universal and invariant process across countries and institutions. Nevertheless, national and institutional particularities suggest that the transition contexts would be specific and would not always involve exactly the same adaptation challenges. In order to meet these limits, this article proposes to carry out an exploratory comparison of the experiences of students between a French university and a Belgian university and to study the characteristics of the two contexts which stand out with regard to the obstacles perceived by the students during their university transition. The analyzes show similarities but also important differences such as a greater perception of obstacles for women of a low socio-economic level in the Belgian case and greater differences between the sectors of study in the case of Belgium. French. The discussion proposed at the end of the article is enriched by a presentation of future perspectives to advance the debate on the impact of the diversity of contexts in higher education. The analyzes show similarities but also important differences such as a greater perception of obstacles for women of a low socio-economic level in the Belgian case and greater differences between the sectors of study in the case of Belgium. French. The discussion proposed at the end of the article is enriched by a presentation of future perspectives to advance the debate on the impact of the diversity of contexts in higher education. The analyzes show similarities but also important differences such as a greater perception of obstacles for women of a low socio-economic level in the Belgian case and greater differences between the sectors of study in the case of Belgium. French. The discussion proposed at the end of the article is enriched by a presentation of future perspectives to advance the debate on the impact of the diversity of contexts in higher education. Transition to Higher Education constitutes a challenging adjustment step for students that deserves major investigation. Yet, the transition obstacles are still overlooked. Most of international studies focused on individual predictors of adjustment and consider transition to Higher Education as a universal and invariant process. However, contextual characteristics of educational environment should be considered because they don't imply the same requirements for adjustment. In order to address this limitation, this paper realized an exploratory comparison of first year student experience between a French and a Belgian university. The results highlighted similarities and important changes in student's experience. For example, girls from underprivileged background tend to express more difficulties in Belgium and more important program differences were observed in France. The discussion and future perspective proposes new rationales to address context diversity in Higher Education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the direction of the effect between goal orientation, self-regulation and deep processing strategies in order to understand the impact of these three constructs on students’ achievement. The participants were 110 freshmen from the engineering faculty at the Université catholique de Louvain in Belgium, who were followed during the first three years of their university studies. Data were analyzed through structural equation modeling. The main finding was that mastery goal orientation increased students’ subsequent deep processing which in turn enhanced subsequent self-regulation. Deep processing and self-regulation also appeared to be mutually influential from year 2 to year 3. The implications of our results for the understanding of the interplay between cognitive and motivational processes in higher education are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]