Personal correlates of dropout of undergraduate female students from the College of Education and External Studies, Makerere University

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the contribution of personal factors to the dropout of undergraduate female students from the College of Education and External Studies (CEES), Makerere University. The specific objectives of the study were to: investigate the relationship between peer support, esteem, and individual attitudes on dropout of female students. The study was guided by three hypotheses; peer support has a negative relationship with dropout of female students from the CEES; esteem has a negative relationship with dropout of female students from the CEES and individual attitude towards higher education has a negative relationship with dropout of female students from the CEES. The study followed a cross-sectional survey design. It reached 60 students including successful completers and dropouts. Data was collected using a structured questionnaire whose validity and reliability were tested using the content validity index and Cronbach’s alpha method respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. The hypotheses were tested using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The findings were that there is a significant positive relationship between peer support, esteem, attitude towards higher education, and dropout of female students. Therefore, it was recommended that, to have female students retained on their study programs until they complete, the managers of the University should ensure that female students are supported to interact with and to share with each other (both in academic and non-academic spaces), so as to be able to support each other. It is also recommended that the office of the dean of students increases the reach of student counselling services so as to increase the reach of counselling to female students and realign their esteem and attitudes towards higher education.