The first year in higher education: the role of individual factors and the learning environment for academic integration

The transition to higher education and the initial phase of studying play a crucial role in future educational decisions and academic development. To successfully manage this transition, a certain degree of integration into the new environment is required. For this reason, and drawing on the conceptual framework of Tinto’s model of student departure, the study examines academic integration as an important first-year experience. Going beyond Tinto’s approach and most of the previous research, both individual and contextual factors were analysed by estimating multilevel structural equation models. Data were taken from a panel study of new entrants to higher education institutions in Germany (N = 10,697), which is part of the National Educational Panel Study (NEPS). The results corroborate previous findings and confirm the importance of psychological attributes like self-esteem and conscientiousness. They also provide evidence that a cognitively activating learning environment enhances academic integration considerably. However, direct instruction was found to negatively affect academic integration. The study concludes with a discussion of limitations and implications for practice and future research.