What an interruption in study can reveal about learner motivation and resilience

As a professional working on strategies to help improve the retention of undergraduate students, the continued drop-out of some first degree entrants recorded by the Higher Education Statistics Agency can sometimes be regarded as the inevitable consequence of a burgeoning sector. While much research has been undertaken on why these students decided to withdraw from their programme of study, what seems less well understood are those undergraduates who interrupt their studies but then decide to return. This article considers the learner motivation and resilience of three mature undergraduate students who interrupted but then returned to complete their studies. What comes through clearly in their narratives is a strong, reflexive subjectivity with their learner dispositions heavily shaped both by a strong sense of determined individualisation and the crucial influence of others in supporting their motivation and resilience in keeping going. In conclusion, it is suggested that if interruption is not always viewed institutionally as withdrawal, this might enable universities to communicate with and encourage students to return to study.