Decision-making process of university students returning after a leave of absence

From the perspective of the Trajectory Equifinality Model

Abstract

We investigated the process by which university students who took a leave of absence from their studies decide to resume their academic program. Semi-structured interviews were conducted twice on three university students who had taken leave and returned. The events and their emotional experiences during the leave of absence were analyzed through the Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM). The results indicated the following: (1) at the beginning of the leave, students experienced a sense of liberation, while feeling anxiety about losing their active student status; (2) during the leave, they gained work experience through part-time jobs, which made them realize the significance of university education in the working world; (3) their self-initiated activities during the leave allowed them to feel more self-efficacy, and this in turn influenced their decision to return.