Around a quarter of the first-year students never took an exam in the first semester of the so-called introductory and orientation phase (StEOP) at universities. This is the result of a StEOP evaluation by the Institute for Higher Studies (IHS). Most of the so-called “no-shows” were at the universities of Innsbruck, Klagenfurt and Salzburg with values of up to almost 40 percent. Only around half of the beginners complete the STEOP according to plan after one semester.
The STEOP was introduced in 2011/12 at those eleven universities at which there are no general access restrictions. The one-semester study section should provide an overview of the content and orientation of the respective study. Only those who pass all of the STEOP exams can continue their studies, although at some universities courses and examinations from later study phases can be brought forward. The StEOP is designed differently at each university: The amount of ECTS required for this ranged between a minimum of eight and a maximum of 20 ECTS points. In some cases, the students have options from a predetermined pool.
According to the evaluation, little is known about the motives behind the no-shows. “In the positive case it can be assumed that the StEOP has already contributed to an early decision for another course of study or another activity. The high percentage of no-shows can also be an indication of the lack of or ineffective information and advice before choosing a course of study , low level of commitment from first-year students with unclear expectations, among other things. “
Overall, around half of the StEOPs started in the study programs examined by the IHS will be completed as planned in the first semester. By the second semester it is 72 percent and in the fourth semester 86 percent.
There were hardly any gender-specific differences in the success rates at many universities – exceptions are the Montanuniversität Leoben and (in the first two semesters) also the Technical University (TU) Vienna, where women have worse StEOP successes than men.
In the evaluation, the IHS sees the pre-selection rules double-edged. Failure to do so can lead to study delays. Conversely, “generous preferential rules can make it more difficult to implement the original idea of a short introductory phase for quick decision-making at the beginning of the course”.
In general, the study authors recommend the active design of a StEOP that corresponds to the overarching goals of the legal framework (“overview of the essential content of the respective study and its further course” and “objective decision-making basis for the personal assessment of his or her choice of study”). To this end, “an accentuated technical discourse about the 'studyability' of curricula should be conducted, whereby different target groups (working students, students with supervisory duties, social dimension of higher education) and greater commitment in studies should be part of the discourse”.
