Imke Buß; Jutta Rump; Janina Kaiser; Melanie Schiedhelm; Petra Schorat-Waly

Learning behavior and academic success are influenced by multiple factors. Psychological constructs such as intelligence, motivation, stress management strategies etc. play a significant role. However, not only personal but also situational factors are important for learning and academic success. Empirical findings suggest that the support and encouragement experienced from the social environment also determine success at university (Remdisch 2012). In dropout research, the idea of academic and social integration as influencing factors according to Tinto (1975; 1993) is prominent. The occasions for interaction with teachers and fellow students are part of the intellectual development of students. According to Tinto, students who receive little academic feedback and have little involvement in social networks are more likely to drop out of university. This is also confirmed by empirical studies from Germany (Jonkmann 2005; Pohlenz and Tinsner 2004).

In terms of academic integration, the most important actors are the teachers, who promote academic performance through feedback, suggestions and support. Social integration is important for inclusion in the student group. If students see themselves as part of a community and are supported by it personally and in the learning process as well as through the exchange of information, the probability of dropping out is reduced. Learning and working events initiated by education staff in student groups can strengthen integration.

This model had a significant influence on US dropout research and still forms the basis for academic research into the phenomenon of dropout beyond the USA. The model has also been critically adapted and further developed in German-speaking countries (Hartwig 1986; Winteler 1984; McCubbin 2003). German dropout research shows that, in addition to integration, other individual or institutional aspects also play a role. Institutional aspects include, for example, the quality of advice and teaching (Heublein et al. 2010). Finally, Wielepp (2013) points out a number of other aspects that influence integration into studies and can be supported by the university:

1. Do students turn to the university's social and academic network?
2. Are they building a subject identity?
3. Are they aware of support and advice services?
4. Do they participate in learning groups?

Integration of different student groups
There are student groups at the university that require special attention due to their poorer social and academic integration on average. Students with disabilities, for example, feel less socially integrated and take longer to complete their studies (unpublished results, survey Open Study Model Ludwigshafen). The same applies to foreign students, although their academic integration is made more difficult by insufficient knowledge of the German higher education system (Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees, BAMF 2011). Their social integration is made more difficult by cultural and language barriers, which can result in group formation and exclusion in study groups. Wielepp (2013, p. 382) points out the relevance of student networks in this context:

"For foreign students and students from non-academic backgrounds, social integration at university is crucial for student satisfaction and success. Students from these groups tend to keep to themselves and therefore have no access to important (informal) student networks."

Finally, due to time restrictions, working students and those with caring responsibilities cannot attend lectures, office hours or social activities with the same flexibility as students without such responsibilities. Education can support social integration through formats and methods that require students to work together inside and outside the classroom. Academic integration can be supported through expert discussions and personal feedback.

Literature
Federal Ministry for Migration and Refugees, BAMF (2011): Universities as places of integration. Available online at www.bamf.de/SharedDocs/Anlagen/
DE/Publikationen/Broschueren/broschuere-hochschule-orte-integration.pdf?__blob
=publicationFile, last checked on 20.01.2016.

Hartwig, J. (1986): Dropout in university studies. Investigation of access methods in the analysis of dropout and development and verification of a causal-analytical model. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Verlag.

Heublein, U.; Hutzsch, C.; Schreibner, J.; Sommer, D.; Besuch, G. (2010): Causes of dropout in Bachelor's degree programs and in conventional degree programs. Results of a nationwide survey of students who exmatriculated in the academic year 2007/08. 2nd ed. Hanover: HIS Hochschul-Informations-System GmbH. Available online at www.dzhw.eu/pdf/pub_fh/fh-201002.pdf, last checked on 26.04.2016.

Jonkmann, K. (2005): Dropping out, duration of studies and student experience. Analysis of the student survey of the Institute of Computer Science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Berlin. Available online at www.informatik.hu-berlin.de/de/forschung/gebiete/wbi/teaching/fragebogen/Bericht_Informatik_final.pdf, last checked on 17.06.2020.

McCubbin, I. (2003): An Examination of Criticisms made of Tinto's 1975 Student Integration Model of Attrition. Available online at www.psy.gla.ac.uk/~steve/localed/icubb.pdf.

Pohlenz, P.; Tinsner, K. (2004): Determinants of dropping out of university. An empirical study on causes and responsibilities. Potsdam: Universitätsverlag Potsdam.

Remdisch, S. (2012): Das Runde muss ins Eckige - Strategien für die erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit zwischen Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft. In: Tomaschek, N.& Hammer, E. (ed.): University meets Industry. Perspectives on practiced knowledge transfer at open universities. Münster, New York, Munich, Berlin: Waxmann.

Tinto, V. (1975): Dropout from Higher Education: A Theoretical Synthesis of Recent Re-search. In: Review of Educational Research (45 (1)), pp. 89-125.

Tinto, V. (1993): Leaving College. Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wielepp, F. (2013): Heterogeneity. The challenge of higher education in demographic change. In: P. Pasternack (ed.): Beyond the metropolitan areas. Universities in demographically challenged regions. Leipzig: Akademische Verlagsanstalt, pp. 363-387.

Winteler, A. (1984): Conditions of dropout intention. Path analytical validation of a conceptual scheme for dropout. In: Higher education (2 (4)), pp. 193-214.

Citation
Buß, Imke; Rump, Jutta; Kaiser, Janina; Schiedhelm, Melanie; Schorat-Waly, Petra (2017): Dimension: Academic and social integration. In: Rump, Jutta; Buß, Imke; Kaiser, Janina; Schiedhelm, Melanie; Schorat-Waly, Petra: Toolbox for good education in a diverse student body. Working Papers of the Ludwigshafen University of Business and Society, No. 6. www. hwg-lu.de/arbeitspapiere

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