Academic failure: individual, organizational, and social factors

The high percentage of university dropouts in Europe underlines the relevance of understanding which factors lead students to leave university and to be dissatisfied with this experience. Previous studies have focused on only some predictors of academic failure. The present study tested a structural equation model with latent variables to determine the impact of psychological, organizational, and relational variables on the intention to drop out of university and dissatisfaction with the university experience. An online survey was completed by 431 university students (M = 23.06, SD = 5.5, 362 females) recruited from different courses at several Italian universities. Results showed that the intention to drop out of university was negatively related to self-efficacy, institutional commitment, and academic integration, and positively related to an external locus of control. Dissatisfaction with the university experience was negatively associated with self-efficacy, institutional commitment, and academic integration. Implications for preventive programs and interventions are presented.