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Is Drop‐out from University Dependent on National Culture and Policy? The Case of D enmark
Author(s) -
Troelsen Rie,
Laursen Per F.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
european journal of education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.577
H-Index - 45
eISSN - 1465-3435
pISSN - 0141-8211
DOI - 10.1111/ejed.12094
Subject(s) - danish , uncertainty avoidance , drop (telecommunication) , drop out , sociology , individualism , demographic economics , psychology , political science , social science , economics , engineering , collectivism , telecommunications , philosophy , linguistics , law
National cultures are known to influence educational institutions and practices in many ways. It therefore seems reasonable to assume that drop‐out from university is also influenced by differences in national cultures. In this article, we compare drop‐out from Danish universities with drop‐out from E uropean universities. Based on Danish national culture (characterised by individualism, low power distance, femininity, and low uncertainty avoidance) and on the high level of economic support for students, we find that drop‐out from higher education in D enmark as compared to most other E uropean countries is less influenced by socio‐economic factors and by the students’ degree of social integration. Hence, our review of the research on drop‐out identifies some differences that might rest on national cultural varieties. It also points to difficulties in comparing results from different research studies, not only in D enmark but also across E urope. This difficulty results from varieties in research designs and definitions of drop‐out.