ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The first section of the book illustrates the variety of research perspectives investigating students' transitions into first-year higher education. It takes place within first-year higher education, and explores by means of a cross-sectional research design the relationship between students' entry characteristics and motivational outcome variables. The book also focuses on differences in first-year experiences and study success among three groups of students: Dutch students, other European students and Asian students. It also examines the predictive value of secondary school grades and gender on study success in science bachelor programmes. The book also describes how first generation students experience the transition to higher education, by using a qualitative research design, and can be situated in the second research strand. It provides rich accounts of the emotional responses taking place during the transitional stages of becoming a first-year student at one particular institute.
