Student attrition in the Ontario midwifery education programme

Abstract

Objective: to identify the factors associated with student withdrawal during their university training.

Design: an Internet-based survey questionnaire was designed and administered.

Setting: two universities in Ontario, Canada.

Participants: senior level students in years three and four, graduates of the programme and those students that withdrew prior to graduation.

Findings: students who withdrew from the programme were more likely to report not feeling academically supported and not being prepared for the time commitments required. Students with the greatest risk for leaving the programme were those that took a leave of absence, over half of which were maternity leaves.

Conclusion: having identified those significant factors associated with student attrition, we can now begin to develop specific interventions to improve retention rates.