Casualties of Schooling? 18 to 22 Year Old Students in a Tertiary Bridging Program

A sample of 81 students between the ages of 18 and 22 years in a tertiary bridging program at a regional university completed a questionnaire examining how demographics, social context, academic engagement and the ability to cope with the curriculum complexity influenced academic success in high school and adversely affected their preparedness for tertiary study. The demographics of the study participants, including socio-economic status, private/public school attendance and first in family to attend university were such that the study participants could not be considered to be members of a disadvantaged group. The study supports the hypothesis that a number of the study participants are casualties of their schooling and their poor long term academic performance at high school occurred due to poor student-teacher relationships with associated poor academic engagement. The implications for educational pedagogy for educators in tertiary bridging programs are discussed.