Identifying possible causes for high and low retention rates in language and culture programs at the Australian National University: A characterization of three groups of students crucial for understanding student attrition

In this contribution we summarise the main results of a student retention and attrition study carried out at Australian National University in 2008–2009. We focus on a crucial finding of the study, namely that the dichotomy continuing/ discontinuing to classify students needs to be reconceptualised. Three very different groups of students are identified: (1) Continuing students who indicated that they had not considered seriously the possibility of discontinuing, (2) Continuing students who indicated that they had seriously considered the possibility of discontinuing (but had continued nevertheless), and (3) Students who had discontinued their language and culture studies. The second group is analogous to the ‘at risk’ group conceptualised in other student attrition studies. Conclusions for future retention and attrition studies are presented.