Measuring social determinants influencing Australian university students’ completion: confirmatory factor analysis

Introduction: This study compares the 5-factor and 4-factor models of the Higher Education Success Factor (HESF) framework. Through this research, we aimed to identify the social determinants influencing Australian university students’ completion rates. We analysed responses from 2,248 participants. The social determinants we examined included the social environment, physical environment, economic conditions, health and wellbeing, and individual characteristics.

Methods: Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate both models. While both models demonstrated strong and consistent goodness-of-fit measures, the findings reveal that the 4-factor model outperforms the 5-factor model.

Results: Our findings suggest that the 4-factor model provides a good fit to the modified model and reduces the risk of redundancy and overfitting in evaluating the factors that impact student success.

Discussion: Based on our findings, we advocate for academic institutions to adopt the HESF model to identify better where students need support, ultimately improving university completion rates in Australia.