This contribution is part of STAY-IN[1], an European cross-cultural project, in which three European universities and the Association of European students participate. The goal of this project is to design and propose a continuous orientation service, including an online Counselling & Guidance (hereinafter C&G) service for students in Higher Education, in order to contribute an improvement to their engagement and prevent the dropping out of those students belonging to groups at risk of exclusion.

Previously, a diagnosis is performed to detect the real C&G needs of European students and to know the C&G services offered by European universities, and to assess the level of usefulness of this offer. This paper shows the results from this preliminary diagnosis.

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

University dropping out is a phenomenon which has repercussions as much in the individual as in society (Colás et al., 2014). Thereby the rates of university dropping out would be one of the targets to be included in national and international educational policies.

It is advisable to make clear that in scientific bibliography two types of dropping out are identified: temporary and permanent dropping out. Temporary dropping out means that students, after two academic years, return to their studies, sign up for another degree or change their university. Permanent dropping out implies a definite cutting off from university education (Villar et al., 2012).

Research into university dropping out has favoured various lines of work. The facts are directed to, on the one hand, identify the causal theoretical models (Cabrera et al., 2006; Araque, Roldán & Salguero, 2009), and on the other, to explore the significant explanatory variables and factors of a very different kind about this phenomenon (Tejedor & García, 2007; Rodríguez, Feixas, Gairín & Muñoz, 2015). These contributions lead us to conclude that the university dropping out is a complex phenomenon. This is brought about by a great number of variables, multidimensional as well as changeable over time. Dropping out cannot be attributed to a single cause.

Consequently, we are able to assert that students who fail in their university studies do not have a general common cause, but multiple factors exist which play a role to give rise to this situation. Neither does dropping out show itself to be same in every degree course, nor the reasons for dropping out are applicable in all fields of study. Therefore we have a multiplicity of approaches and explanatory models: sociological (Spady, 1971), adaptive (Tinto, 2005), psychological (Bean, 1980), pedagogical (González, et al., 2007), economic, etc.

Although the university dropping out is a complex and personal phenomenon, a gap is detected in creating inter-university and cross cultural studies which seek alternatives to alleviate this problem. Furthermore, the university cannot remain indifferent to the main consequence of the dropping out: the exclusion (Gonzalez, Contreras & Conde-Jiménez, 2016). Therefore, searching for inclusive education, it is necessary to improve the C&G services provided by universities, because they must offer a real support to facilitate decision-making of students to the various problems that arise during their studies.

[1] This paper puts in place a first showing of the results of the European Research Project “Student Guidance at university for inclusion- Stay-In” (Ref.:526600-LLP-1-2012-IT-Ersamus-Esin). It is a two-year project co-financed by Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, in which three European universities (University of Macerata(Italy), University of Technology and Economy of Budapest (Hungary) and the University of Seville (Spain).) participate as associates along with other international enterprises of research and consultancy (ARCOLA Research (England), Melius (Italy) and LYNX (Italy)  and the international networks “European Union of Students” and the “European Network of Long Distance Learning and E-Learning”.

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