Toward an Institutional Analytics Agenda for Addressing Student Dropout in Higher Education: An Academic Stakeholders' Perspective

Although the number of students in higher education institutions (HEIs) has increased over the past two decades, it is far from assured that all students will gain an academic degree. To that end, institutional analytics (IA) can offer insights to support strategic planning with the aim of reducing dropout and therefore of minimizing its negative impact (e.g., on students, academic stakeholders, and institutions). However, it is not clear how institutional stakeholders can integrate IA in their practice to overcome academic-related issues and to offer support to students who struggle to achieve their academic goals. To address this gap, we conducted focus groups with 13 institutional stakeholders of an Estonian university. By analyzing the focus group data, we identified three main categories of factors influencing dropout from the perspective of institutional stakeholders: (1) institutional experience, (2) educational goals, and (3) personal aspects. We discuss our findings from an institutional perspective with the aim of reflecting on institutional processes, organizational structures, and facilitatory roles in the context of dropout in higher education (HE). We argue that IA can provide insights into students’ institutional experience, educational goals, and personal aspects to further support decision-making on the institutional level. We envision our findings contributing to a participatory agenda for the design, implementation, and integration of IA solutions focusing on addressing dropout in HE.