Abstract:

Introduction:
A student’s transition to higher education requires the development of different personal, social, and study skills. It is not yet known whether the skills perceived to be most relevant for a successful transition are different between students from high school and higher education. 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 high school and higher education students.
Methods:
A cross-sectional study was conducted in 304 students from high school and higher education (92 high school and 212 higher education) in the Netherlands. 72% of students were female. The mean age and standard deviation of students from of high school and higher education were 15.9 ± 3.5 and 22.8 ± 7.4 years, respectively. All participants answered a survey in Qualtrics that contained 42 skills divided into 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 most relevant skills in each category according to high school and higher education students average score were identified. We tested if there was significant difference in the mean score for all the 42 skills taken together given by high school and higher education students using t-test for two independent samples. We fit linear regression models to analyze the association between being a higher education student (versus a high school student) and mean score per skill category controlled for age and gender.

Results:
The most relevant personal skill for both high school and higher education students was self-confidence, with a mean score ± standard deviation of 4.04 ± 0.61 and 4.44 ± 0.62 points, respectively. The most relevant social skill for high school students was reflecting on one’s own identity (3.82 ± 0.85 points) while for higher education students it was intercultural communication (4.22 ± 0.75 points). The most relevant study skill for high school students was repeating learning material (4.12 ± 0.67 points) while for higher education students it was problem-solving ability (4.43 ± 0.62 points). The mean score for all the 42 skills evaluated was significantly different between students from high school and higher education (3.70 ± 0.37 points versus 4.01 ± 0.36 points, p < .01). The regression model controlled for age and gender, showed that being a higher education student was significantly associated with a 0.34 point higher total score for all the skills evaluated, p < .01, 95% CI [0.23; 0.45]. The regression model by skills category showed that being a higher education student was significantly associated with a 0.35 point higher score in personal skills, p < .01, 95% CI [0.24; 0.46], with a 0.33 point higher score in social skills, p < .01, 95% CI [0.19; 0.48], and with a 0.31 point higher score in study skills, p < .01, 95% CI [0.18; 0.44].

Conclusions:
The perceived relevance of skills for a successful transition to higher education is different between high school and higher education students. Higher education students gave a higher relevance to all the skills categories evaluated. It is important to take these different perspectives into account when investigating the student transition to higher education.

Keywords:

Skills, transition, students, high school, higher education.