Measuring the Expectations and Experience of First-Year Students

Across the world, the student population in higher education is becoming increasingly diverse. The current student profile in Australia includes increased participation by students from underrepresented backgrounds such as non-English-speaking backgrounds, low socioeconomic status, first in family to attend university, refugees and students from remote areas who live far from the university. If institutions are to improve academic outcomes such as retention and success, they must be able to measure the expectations and actual experience of these non-traditional students (described in this chapter as ‘new majority students’). This is also important because many countries are placing increased emphasis on increasing the participation and success of non-traditional students in higher education. This chapter provides a case study of using a first-year experience survey with undergraduate and postgraduate students that measures both expectations and experience in the first year.