Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk

Since the expansion of higher education began, student motivation and institutional choice have been widely studied, yet the reasons behind high dropout rates in public institutions in Central and Eastern Europe remain poorly understood. In our research, we sought to answer the question of what subj...

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Main Authors: Pusztai Gabriella, Hrabéczy Anett, Csók Cintia
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: De Gruyter 2025-06-01
Series:Open Education Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2025-0089
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author Pusztai Gabriella
Hrabéczy Anett
Csók Cintia
author_facet Pusztai Gabriella
Hrabéczy Anett
Csók Cintia
author_sort Pusztai Gabriella
collection DOAJ
description Since the expansion of higher education began, student motivation and institutional choice have been widely studied, yet the reasons behind high dropout rates in public institutions in Central and Eastern Europe remain poorly understood. In our research, we sought to answer the question of what subjective and objective factors predict an increased risk of dropping out. We analyzed the views of students who had already dropped out and active students in our empirical research database (N = 1,502), recorded in 2018–19. A large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted to examine students’ perceptions. We hypothesized that family background, academic motivational factors, and external and internal institutional networks each have an independent impact on the perception of dropout risk in both groups studied. Our results, based on multivariable analysis, show that the effect of individual sociodemographic factors is significant. However, parental involvement clearly proved to be the strongest protective factor, along with the positive effect of institutional intergenerational support and intrinsic motivation for further education. We recommend that institutions develop a comprehensive strategy to enhance family support and reinforce the role of extracurricular activities in higher education.
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spelling doaj-art-64fc6f4e53ba4d0e972ea0edfdca69452025-08-20T02:37:42ZengDe GruyterOpen Education Studies2544-78312025-06-0171pp. 7110510.1515/edu-2025-0089Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout RiskPusztai Gabriella0Hrabéczy Anett1Csók Cintia2MTA-DE-Parent-Teacher Cooperation Research Group, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Education Studies and Cultural Management, University of Debrecen, 4032, Debrecen, HungaryMTA-DE-Parent-Teacher Cooperation Research Group, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Education Studies and Cultural Management, University of Debrecen, 4032, Debrecen, HungaryMTA-DE-Parent-Teacher Cooperation Research Group, Faculty of Arts, Institute of Education Studies and Cultural Management, University of Debrecen, 4032, Debrecen, HungarySince the expansion of higher education began, student motivation and institutional choice have been widely studied, yet the reasons behind high dropout rates in public institutions in Central and Eastern Europe remain poorly understood. In our research, we sought to answer the question of what subjective and objective factors predict an increased risk of dropping out. We analyzed the views of students who had already dropped out and active students in our empirical research database (N = 1,502), recorded in 2018–19. A large-scale questionnaire survey was conducted to examine students’ perceptions. We hypothesized that family background, academic motivational factors, and external and internal institutional networks each have an independent impact on the perception of dropout risk in both groups studied. Our results, based on multivariable analysis, show that the effect of individual sociodemographic factors is significant. However, parental involvement clearly proved to be the strongest protective factor, along with the positive effect of institutional intergenerational support and intrinsic motivation for further education. We recommend that institutions develop a comprehensive strategy to enhance family support and reinforce the role of extracurricular activities in higher education.https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2025-0089dropout riskparental involvement in higher educationstudent persistencehigher education
spellingShingle Pusztai Gabriella
Hrabéczy Anett
Csók Cintia
Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk
Open Education Studies
dropout risk
parental involvement in higher education
student persistence
higher education
title Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk
title_full Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk
title_fullStr Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk
title_full_unstemmed Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk
title_short Parental Involvement as an Antidote to Student Dropout in Higher Education: Students’ Perceptions of Dropout Risk
title_sort parental involvement as an antidote to student dropout in higher education students perceptions of dropout risk
topic dropout risk
parental involvement in higher education
student persistence
higher education
url https://doi.org/10.1515/edu-2025-0089
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AT hrabeczyanett parentalinvolvementasanantidotetostudentdropoutinhighereducationstudentsperceptionsofdropoutrisk
AT csokcintia parentalinvolvementasanantidotetostudentdropoutinhighereducationstudentsperceptionsofdropoutrisk