Mathematical courses have highest dropout rate

Students cannot hack maths and more boys leave university than girls, according to research released in Ireland yesterday. A new study suggests students are more likely to complete their degrees only on certain courses and at certain institutions.

The study, by Dr Mark Morgan from Dublin City University and his colleagues, looked at the progress of all 1992-3 entrants to the Republic of Ireland's seven universities.

Overall, the drop out rate was 20% higher for boys than it was for girls, although there are differences between institutions.

One of the most interesting findings is that students do better when they are in a minority. For example, almost all of the girls on engineering courses or boys on social studies courses finished their degrees.

Professor Maggie Woodrow, executive director of the European Access Network at Westminster University, said the research made sense: "To get onto these courses you probably had to be pretty determined to start with, pretty tough."

Fewer students completed courses that involved mathematics, a trend that Dr Morgan felt was most pronounced where students were surprised by that part of the course.

For example, the course with the lowest completion rate was computer studies, which he felt some students might sign up for without being aware of what was involved. In all universities, over one quarter of students did not complete their computer studies courses.

However, Professor Woodrow suggested that the dropout rate might be caused by the amount of tutor contact on computer courses, which the UK higher education select committee's report identified as a key factor in student retention.

Medicine was found to have one of the lowest dropout rates, contrary to traditional expectations, as the course is always thought to be one of the most rigorous. However, president of the Barthes and London medical student association, Tom Dolphin, said it made sense that medics stuck with their courses. "It is more of a vocation. People choose medicine because they want to be doctors and stopping short is not really an option. I know of a lot of people getting kicked out or dropping down a year, but not many leaving university," he said.

The report also emphasises the clear, though possibly not direct, relationship of entry qualifications to course completion. The higher a student's marks on entry, the more likely they are to finish. However, it is not clear how much of this is because of ability or commitment and how much is influenced by the facilities and finances of the institution they attend.

Dr Morgan stressed the difficulty of applying the Irish findings to UK higher education. The seven Irish universities have kept a traditional structure, remaining clearly divided from polytechnics, and cater to a relatively small population.