Exploring the role of student diversity for the first-year experience

The massification of higher education (HE) has raised concerns about student diversity and has led to various forms of interventions to support transition into HE. In order to investigate the meaning of diversity for the first-year experience this paper first reviews how diversity is accounted for in HE research. Second, it presents a study on transition into HE that seeks to explore how diversity is reflected in individual student profiles and in students' perceptions of first-year challenges. By revealing the manifold meanings of diversity factors and illustrating their complex interrelations from the student's perspective, the findings may inform the design of first-year interventions.

16.12.2015 | Elke Bosse (Hamburg)