An Insight into Students’ Transition to Tertiary or Academic Pathways Programs

ABSTRACT There is a lot of research on pathways students’ transition to universities, however, little is known about those students’ initial transition to the Academic Pathway Program (APP). This study investigated students’ transition to an Academic Pathway Program (APP) offered at a College affiliated to a metropolitan university in Sydney, Australia. Data collected from a sample of students using the Transition, Wellbeing, Help-seeking, and Adjustments Survey (TWHAS) were analysed both descriptively and inferentially. Most students reported positive moods, emotional coping, and were able to seek help without many barriers. Also, most students reported adjusting positively to the College, despite facing a few personal and social challenges such as finding time to exercise, balance study with family commitments and socialise with friends outside the College. Further, a possible association between students’ adjustments and their initial feelings when beginning the College, proficiency in written and spoken English, and help-seeking was noted. Additionally, differences in the students’ transitional challenges, wellbeing, help-seeking behaviors, adjustments across gender, age, and type of enrollment were evident. The implications of these findings for supporting students’ transition to the Academic Pathway Programs and recommendations for future research addressing the limited sample size are discussed.