Dropout and incoming skills of Italian undergraduate students: a longitudinal study

Dropout is a widespread problem in Italian universities and, as the literature highlights, among the factors that most influence that phenomenon there are students’ socio-demographic characteristics, personal-family conditions, cognitive and metacognitive incoming skills at university (Cazzolle et al., 2011; Staffolani, 2012; Aina, 2013; Zotti, 2015). The transition from the school to the university require students to develop complex organizational, self-regulatory and relational skills (Moè & De Beni, 2000; Pintrich & Zusho, 2002), skills on which guidance and tutoring actions can play a decisive role (Duran & Vinyet Vidal, 2004; Zago et al., 2014). For that reason, the development of adequate guidance strategies (Tinto, 1987; Appleton et al., 2008; Burgalassi et al., 2016) and the provision of tutoring services seem to be an effective resource to counter the dropout and to support students in the development of skills that allow them to live actively and to successfully complete the formative process (Álvarez & González, 2006; Moretti et al., 2015; Da Re, 2016). The paper deepens the results of a research conducted at the Department of Education of Roma Tre University. The main objective of the research was to understand if and how the planning actions of the Tutoring Service (S.Tu.Di), which is aimed at students admitted to Department with Additional Educational Obligations (OFA, insufficiency in the access test), can contrast the decision of students to leave the university and can encourage the continuation and the success in the course of study. The research involved actively the tutors of S.Tu.Di and the students with OFA belonging to the cohort of the enrolled students of the academic year 2017/18. To give the research a diachronic perspective were also developed retrospective analyses on the cohorts of students 2016/17 and 2013/14; the analyses carried out were about service instructional design, academic dropout phenomenon and students’ academic career. These longitudinal analysis allowed to reflect on the dropout development during different academic years and on how students’ formative career may have been influenced by the innovation of S.Tu.Di Service’s annual planning. During the research we worked with the cohort of the enrolled students 2017/18 using instructional tools that also the literature highlights as effective in favoring engagement and resilience. These instructional tools have been integrated into the planning already foreseen by S.Tu.Di, which included activities in presence and online. To collect data has been used qualitative and quantitative tools. The data collected show that, by supporting students who present situations of potential difficulties in terms of learning and transversal skills from the outset, the actions taken by tutoring services seem to be effective in counter dropouts and promote formative success. The actions carried out with the OFA students (cohort 2017/18), in fact, seem to have enabled them to fill in the informational and formative gaps shown during the access test at university, to acquire skills able to mitigate the risk of dropout (which for those who completing the “OFA integration path” is lower than that of students without OFA) and to be able to aspire to results of formative success that in the long run are in line with those of non-OFA students.