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Economics and business students: different, different but the same
Dr Inna Pomorina Bath Spa University
Students expectations and behaviour study
• Project by EN in 2013 – 2015• 17 Economics departments and 1 Business• Observational study looking at the ways the
new fee regime had influenced students’ behaviour and expectations
• Demographic factors: age, gender, year of study, English as second language, residence, A levels in Math and Economics
Survey
• Anonymised in class survey• Virtually all Likert responses• Behaviour: attendance, coursework
submission, paid work, independent study• Attitudes/expectations: mathematical content,
assessment quantity/types, employability/skills content, student support, feedback, teaching
Same results
• For a wide range of questions business students like economics students (A.Birdi 2014) demonstrated considerable similarity between those who are paying different fees
• In questions about expectations and experience, the extent of the “gap” is lower for high fee students (higher price signal better quality)
• No change in behaviour patterns due to fees• But big differences between those patterns of
economics and business students
Demographic factors
1) What year/level of the programme are you currently in? ( EN)
Year Freq. Percent
1 1,990 57.95
2 1,422 41.41
Other 22 0.64
Total 3,434 100.00
1) What year/level of the programme are you currently in?
64%
25%
11%
Participants by Business Year groups
1st year2nd year3rd year
2) How old are you?
Age Freq. Percent
21 and under 2,992 86.4722 to 25 418 12.08Over 26 50 1.45
Total 3,460 100.00
2) How old are you?(BSU)
78%
19%
3%
Age distribution
under 2122 - 25over 25
3) What is your gender?
Gender Freq. Percent
Male 2,020 58.31Female 1,444 41.69
Total 3,464 100.00
3) What is your gender? (BSU)
48%52%
Gender distribution
MaleFemale
4&5) Which A-levels do you have?
EconomicsMaths No Yes Total
No 559 454 1,013 Yes 687 1,740 2,427
Total 1,246 2,194 3,440
Maths EconomicsYes Frequency 2,445 2,200
Percent 70.58 63.79No Frequency 1,019 1,249
Percent 29.42 36.21Total 3,464 3,449
4&5) Which A-levels do you have? (BSU)
Econom-ics
Maths0%
10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
Column1no
English as second language
71%
29%
First languageSecond language
7) What is your permanent place of residence?
Residence Freq. Percent
England/NI 1,803 52.14Scotland 273 7.89Wales 44 1.27EU (non UK) 393 11.36Other international 945 27.33
Total 3,458 100.00
7) What is your permanent place of residence? (BSU)
77%
2%
7%
13%
England/NIScotlandWalesEUInternational non EU
8) How many hours of paid employment do you do during a week of term time?
Paid work (hours) Freq. Percent
0 2,671 77.131-5 207 5.986-10 203 5.8611-20 284 8.20Over 20 98 2.83
Total 3,463 100.00
8) How many hours of paid employment do you do during a week of term time? (BSU)
57%
9%
10%
20%
5%
0 hours1to 56 to 1011 to 20 over 20
9) Is either of your parents a university graduate?
Parents Freq. Percent
No 1,244 36.49
Yes 2,165 63.51
Total 3,409 100.00
9) Is either of your parents a university graduate? (BSU)
45%
55%
NoYes
Choosing the university
11&12) When you applied to university, was this degree/institution your first choice?
Degree choice Freq. Percent
No 636 18.38
Yes 2,824 81.62
Total 3,460 100.00
Institution choice Freq. Percent
No 1,558 45.26Yes 1,884 54.74
Total 3,442 100.00
11&12) When you applied to university, was this degree/institution your first choice? (BSU)
Degree choice
Institution choice
0102030405060708090
100
YesNo
13) To what extent do you agree with the following statements on why you are studying here?
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
The reputation of the university is important to me
Bus 17.5 55.8 21.2 5.5 0Econ 48.45 44.39 5.79 1.07 0.32
I have a strong interest in the subject
Bus 37.8 51.6 9.2 1.4 0Econ 36.85 49.90 10.56 1.85 0.84
I like the structure/content of the course
Bus 13.8 59.0 22.1 5.1 0Econ 13.49 52.77 26.34 6.07 1.33
I wanted to increase my employability
Bus 64.1 30 5.9 0 0Econ 58.91 33.88 5.96 0.69 0.55
The quality of like in this city/location is important to me
Bus 41.5 42.4 12.9 3.2 0Econ 31.18 46.19 17.09 4.27 1.27
My friends went here Bus 1.4 11.1 17.5 33.2 36.9Econ 3.44 10.60 23.38 28.68 33.92
My family wanted me to come here Bus 2.3 15.2 37.8 24.4 20.3Econ 3.53 13.87 39.68 21.36 21.56
I’m studying now because I think university costs are going to increase further
Bus 8.8 16.1 42.9 19.8 12.4Econ 8.30 15.57 31.55 24.25 20.33
Students’Behaviour
14) What proportion of your scheduled classes do you attend?
15) What proportion of the work your course requires you to do have you submitted?
16) How much time do you spend each week (on average) independently
studying for your course?
Independent work Bus Econ
< 10 hours 40.6 40.37
11-20 hours 43.3 36.00
21-30 hours 8.8 16.23
31-40 hours 6.5 5.16
> 40 hours 0.9 2.24
Attendance Required work
Bus Econ Bus Econ
0-25% 0.5 1.24 0.5 1.86
26-50% 5.1 2.89 4.1 3.00
51-75% 26.3 12.10 8.3 5.68
76-90% 41.0 29.52 9.7 13.63
Over 90% 27.2 54.24 77.4 75.82
17) To what extent have the following reasons contributed to any absences from your lectures or seminars?
Frequently Occasionally Once or twice Never Not Applicable
Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ
Illness 5.5 4.69 9.7 14.21 27.2 47.07 46.1 25.98 11.5 8.05
Paid work 22.6 1.24 3.7 3.02 13.4 7.64 14.3 55.33 46.1 32.78
Lectures are confusing
12.4 3.75 0.9 12.23 15.7 18.92 17.5 54.24 53.5 10.87
Lectures cover ground I already know
7.4 4.00 6.5 15.01 24.4 30.23 28.6 41.92 33.2 8.84
Other social commitments
10.6 3.26 1.8 12.07 18.9 33.46 35.9 40.66 32.7 10.55
18) How valuable did you find the induction events in 1st year?
Induction Freq. Percent
Very valuable 249 7.44
Quite valuable 1,359 40.59
Neither valuable or not 864 25.81Not particularly valuable
598 17.86
Not valuable at all 278 8.30
Total 3,348 100.00
18) How valuable did you find the induction events in 1st year? (BSU)
7%
54%
17%
17%
5%
Very valuableQuite valuableNeither valuable nor not valuableNot particularly valuableNot valuable at all
Students’ Expectations
19) Please show to what extent you agree with the following statements:
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree or disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ
I find my course less challenging than expected
6.5 4.22 27.2 16.66 41.5 30.76 24.0 37.78 0.9 10.57
There is more maths on my course than I expected
3.7 14.25 0.5 26.92 33.2 23.34 57.6 28.82 5.1 6.67
I expected to develop more practical skills
6.9 10.41 44.7 38.17 28.6 34.25 19.8 15.59 0 1.58
I expected fewer module/unit options
3.2 3.29 14.7 15.13 42.4 40.37 34.1 34.74 5.5 6.47
I expected more interaction with lecturers/tutors
6.9 17.59 37.3 39.82 30.4 26.87 23.5 14.18 1.8 1.55
I expected my course to be more relevant to the current economic situation
5.5 14.25 26.7 30.52 41.5 33.64 25.3 19.16 0.9 2.42
20) How does the quantity of each one of the following aspects of studying on your course match your expectations?
Significantly more than expected
More than expected
Matches my expectations
Less than expected
Significantly less than expected
Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ Bus Econ
Class contact 5.1 3.40 21.7 14.12 55.3 50.59 17.5 26.92 0.5 4.98
Assessment 3.7 3.11 25.3 16.81 62.7 57.96 7.8 19.21 0.5 2.90
Contact with lecturers
6.0 2.26 18.0 8.53 43.3 42.30 30.4 37.41 2.3 9.50
E-learning and use of IT
6.0 5.57 26.3 23.17 44.7 44.20 20.7 22.23 2.3 4.83
Workload 3.2 6.16 19.4 24.35 61.8 53.27 15.2 14.03 0.5 2.18
21) How does the quality of each one of the following aspects of studying on your course match your expectations?
Significantly better than expected
Better than expected
Matches my expectations
Worse than expected
Significantly worse than expected
Teaching Bus 4.1 26.3 53.9 14.7 0.9Econ 4.42 16.67 51.45 22.36 5.10
Feedback Bus 5.5 35.5 45.6 12.4 0.9Econ 2.86 12.36 39.84 37.01 7.93
Student support
Bus 9.7 26.3 51.6 9.7 2.8Econ 4.90 21.19 49.82 20.72 3.36
22) How does each one of the following assessment types match your expectations?
A larger proportion than expected
Matches my expectations
A smaller proportion than expected
Not Applicable
Exams/unseen tests
Bus 9.2 12.4 55.8 22.6Econ 15.92 70.20 12.37 1.51
Essays and assignments
Bus 13.4 78.3 8.3 0Econ 12.51 60.37 25.49 1.62
Group work (counts towards degree)
Bus 0.9 39.2 52.5 7.4Econ 13.63 40.83 31.25 14.28
Group work (does not count towards degree)
Bus 4.1 25.3 53.0 17.5
Econ 8.25 43.22 31.72 16.80
23) How does your course match your expectations in terms of developing the following skills?
Significantly better than expected
Better than expected
Matches my expectations
Worse than expected
Significantly worse than expected
Presentation Bus 19.9 47.5 30.9 2.3 0Econ 4.58 20.20 42.52 28.47 4.23
Mathematical Bus 3.7 24.4 46.5 24.0 1.4Econ 8.92 36.76 37.29 14.48 2.54
Writing Bus 8.3 32.3 47.9 11.9 0Econ 4.73 21.92 47.83 23.07 2.45
Problem solving Bus 6.5 32.3 49.3 11.1 0.9Econ 5.22 29.81 48.38 15.20 1.39
Applying theory to the real world
Bus 8.3 34.1 43.3 13.4 0.9Econ 5.15 24.11 40.03 26.72 3.99
Team working Bus. 14.7 40.1 42.4 2.3 0.5Econ 3.20 16.17 43.44 30.98 6.20
Using IT Bus 9.2 28.1 49.3 12.4 0.9Econ 4.61 19.75 46.32 24.27 5.05
24) Has studying this degree course met your expectations overall?
Business
Economics
0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%
100%
nomostly noin some parts yes, in others nomostly yesyes
Summary
• Business students like economics students (A.Birdi 2014) demonstrated considerable similarity between those who are paying different fees
• Reputation of university is less important for BS• 27% of BS attend more then 90% of classes compared to 54 %
of ES• 22% of BS miss classes due to paid work , compared to 1% of ES• More BS find their courses less challenging, more confusing,
but more interactive, practical, relevant and developing different skills
• Degree course better met expectations of BS
Any questions?
I’ll be happy to answer any questions regarding this research. Please contact me at
Thank you!
