Unravelling why students do or do not stay committed to a programme when making a higher education choice

Figures & data

Figure 1. Part of a translated timeline of one of the students

Table 1. Coding rules and examples of coded data

Concept	Rule for identification	Exemplary quote
Students’ interests	Any object marked by the student as an interest or, more implicitly, as something he or she likes, wants to pursue in the future or wants to spend more time on.	I really like Arts; I like to spend a lot of time on drawing and painting.
Considered programmes	Any programme a student mentions to consider and/or explore.	Then I started looking at Law, like searching for stuff about it online.
Commitment to programme	Any mention of an intention to pursue a programme.	And from then on, I had Biomedical Sciences in my mind, I thought I was going to study that.

Figure 2. Summary of Jolene’s higher education programme choice process

Figure 3. Summary of Marlon’s higher education programme choice process

Figure 4. Summary of Carla’s higher education programme choice process