Abstract:

Introduction:
During the last few decades, it has become more common for high school students to go to higher education. A student’s transition to higher education is a complex experience. Many social, personal and study skills are relevant during this period. It is not yet known which skills are perceived to be most relevant by students and teachers to ensure a successful transition. The objective of this study was to identify which skills are perceived to be most relevant for transition to higher education and analyze if the perceived relevance is different between student and teachers.

Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 309 participants from higher education (217 students and 92 teachers) in the Netherlands. 77% of students and 65% of teachers were female. The mean age and standard deviation of students and teachers were 22.7 ± 7.0 and 43.0 ± 11.2 years, respectively. All participants answered a survey in Qualtrics that contained 42 skills divided into three major categories (personal, social and study skills). Each skill was rated using a Likert scale from 1 to 5 points according to perceived relevance (from 1: not important at all to 5: very important). The mean score for each skill and grouped by category was reported. The most relevant skill in each category according to students and teachers was identified. We tested if there was significant difference in the mean score given by students and teachers using t-test for two independent samples. We fit linear regression models to analyze the association between being a higher education student or teacher and mean score per skill category.

Results:
The most relevant personal skill for both students and teachers was self-confidence, with a mean score ± standard deviation of 4.46 ± 0.60 and 4.43 ± 0.50 points, respectively. The most relevant social skill for students was intercultural communication (4.22 ± 0.76 points) while for teachers it was giving feedback (4.21 ± 0.68 points). The most relevant study skill for students was communication (4.51 ± 1.15 points) while for teachers was structuring learning material (4.66 ± 0.97 points). The mean score for all the 42 skills evaluated was significantly different between students and teachers (4.04 ± 0.37 points versus 4.16 ± 0.35 points, p= .012). The regression model controlled for age and gender, showed that being a student was significantly associated with a 0.45 point lower total score for all the skills evaluated, p = .034, 95% CI [-0.87, -0.03]. The regression model by skills category showed that being a student was significantly associated with a 0.24 point lower score in social skills, p = .011, 95% CI [-0.43, -0.06], and no significant differences were observed for personal skills: b = -0.11 points, p = .127, 95% CI [-0.25, 0.03], or study skills: b = -0.10 points, p = .256, 95% CI [-0.27, 0.07].

Conclusions:
The perceived relevance of skills for a successful transition to higher education is different for students and teachers. It is important to take these different perspectives into account when investigating the transition to higher education and how to support this transition for students and teachers.

Keywords:

Skills, transition, students, teachers, higher education.