Understanding the drivers of student dropout from higher education has been a policy concern for several decades. However, the contributing role of certain factors—including student mental health—remains poorly understood. Furthermore, existing studies linking student mental health and university dropout are limited in both methodology and scope—for example, they often rely on small and/or non-representative samples or subjective measures, and focus almost exclusively on main effects. This paper overcomes many of these shortcomings by leveraging unique linked administrative data on the full population of domestic students commencing undergraduate studies at Australian universities between 2012 and 2015 (n = 652,139). Using these data, we document that approximately 15% of students drop out of university within their first academic year. Critically, students receiving treatment for mental health problems are 4.3 (adjusted) to 8.3 (unadjusted) percentage points more likely to drop out of higher education. This association remains in the presence of an encompassing set of potential confounds, and is remarkably uniform across segments of the student population determined by individual, family, and programme characteristics. Altogether, our findings call for increased policy efforts to improve student mental health and to buffer against its deleterious effects on retention.

Previous research has proposed a conceptual framework indicating the mediating role of student engagement on the relationship between effective teaching practices and student academic outcomes. This study is the first internationally to empirically test this conceptual framework for the key aspects of teaching practice—effective learning time and expectations for success—using robust, linked longitudinal survey–administrative data from 6825 public school students in Australia. Drawing on a system of structural equations, we demonstrate that effective learning time has a direct effect on students’ performance and an indirect effect via improved positive behavior, attendance and homework behavior. Expectations for success, in contrast, have a largely indirect effect, affecting students’ academic performance through improved positive behavior, attendance and homework behavior.

Driven by the focus on standardised assessment and performance-driven accountability, a considerable body of literature has documented differences in students’ academic achievement across school sectors, both internationally and in Australia. However, few studies have to date explored the potential mechanisms underlying such differences, particularly through the lens of school climate and student engagement. And despite extensive literature on school climate and student engagement, including their relationships with achievement, the differences in these patterns across school sectors remain under-studied. In this paper, we leverage nationally representative data from a large-scale longitudinal survey in Australia with linked administrative data on student achievement to reveal different patterns of school climate and student engagement across government, Catholic and independent sectors. Employing multivariable regression analyses, we identify unique school climate and student engagement facets that are associated with improved achievement in each of these sectors, offering important pointers for educational policies.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of timing of return to work, number of hours worked, and their interaction, on the likelihood of breastfeeding at 6 months and predominant breastfeeding at 16 weeks. METHODS: A nationally representative sample of Australian mothers in paid employment in the 13 months before giving birth (n = 2300) were surveyed by telephone. Four multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze the effects of timing of return to work and work hours, independently and in interaction, on any breastfeeding at 6 months and on predominant breastfeeding at 16 weeks, controlling for maternal sociodemographics, employment patterns, and health measures. RESULTS: Mothers who returned to work within 6 months and who worked for ≥20 hours per week were significantly less likely than mothers who had not returned to work to be breastfeeding at 6 months. However, returning to work for ≤19 hours per week had no significant impact on the likelihood of breastfeeding regardless of when mothers returned to work. Older maternal age, higher educational attainment, better physical or mental health, managerial or professional maternal occupation, and being self-employed all significantly contributed to the increased likelihood of any breastfeeding at 6 months. Similar patterns exist for predominant breastfeeding at 16 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The effects of timing of return to work are secondary to the hours of employment. Working ≤19 hours per week is associated with higher likelihood of maintaining breastfeeding, regardless of timing of return to work.

While flexible working-time arrangements are highly sought-after entitlements for the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities, they also risk workplace stigma and deterioration in users’ (typically mothers’) employment status and career prospects. Among potential influences on these outcomes is the formality of provisions. In this analysis we examine job satisfaction, work/family benefits and employment penalties among Australian mothers using flexible working arrangements, comparing the outcomes of those who accessed flexible working-time arrangements formally (through policy provisions available at their workplace) with the outcomes of those who used informally negotiated arrangements. Using data from a nationally representative cohort of working mothers, we show that the use of flexible working-time arrangements was positively associated with specific indicators of job satisfaction, and that this association was stronger among mothers who accessed formal arrangements. However, formality was positively associated not only with perceived benefits (such as more time with family) but also with problems (such as intensified workloads and lost opportunities for training). Overall, our findings suggest that while formality is important, it may also amplify the tension between benefits and penalties associated with flexible working-time arrangements.