Exploring factors influencing progression from taught study to postgraduate research at the OU

In the conventional HE sector, there is often an established pathway for the progression of undergraduate and taught postgraduate students to postgraduate research within the same institution. However, generally, within the OU STEM faculty, the proportion of PhD students who have previously completed a taught qualification with the OU is low. We are investigating the current progression of OU STEM students from taught courses to postgraduate research (including any variation across the faculty and/or by mode of study) and the reasons for pursuing or not pursuing this pathway. To date, we have gathered data on the number of postgraduate research students in the STEM faculty who have previously completed taught courses with the OU. These data have enabled an analysis of the current progression rates for the STEM faculty and within each School. We have also surveyed graduates of OU taught courses to obtain information about whether they considered postgraduate research, the reasons for their decisions and any barriers they faced. This session will begin by outlining the context of the project and summarising the progress of our investigation. We will share some preliminary results via an interactive comparison of data on the proportion of PhD students who have previously completed taught courses with the university. This will include comparisons between the different Schools and modes of study (part-time or full-time). We will consider the factors that may influence this pipeline and how we plan to discover more about this in relation to student experiences. This session will also include a discussion about the possible barriers for progression from taught courses to postgraduate research at the OU, considering potential ways of mitigating these barriers and further areas of investigation.