Reducing dropouts from Higher Education Institutions through Lean Six Sigma: An exploratory study

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how Lean Six Sigma (LSS) can be used as a business improvement methodology for reducing dropouts in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). The approach taken to examine this followed the DMAIC cycle of the LSS methodology: the authors use secondary data from the literature to critically evaluate different understandings of the dropout phenomena, factors leading to a university dropout and the malleability of each factor. Based on this, the authors have carried out interviews with LSS experts to understand the fundamental challenges in the use of LSS as a dropout reduction methodology. The findings have clearly indicated that LSS can be a powerful business improvement methodology for reducing dropout rates in HEIs. It was observed that there is no common agreement on the factors leading to a dropout. Additionally, not all factors impacting a student's dropout probability are malleable by HE authorities. In the authors' knowledge, this research is one of the first studies looking into the use of LSS methodology for reducing dropout rates in HEIs. The paper provides a list of factors which leads to university dropouts. This list can be used by HE authorities to allocate their resources more effectively to tackle some of the issues around dropout rates in HEIs. The paper also highlights the limitation of the methodology to measure soft aspects why students decide to drop out.