Obtaining an university degree results in important outcomes for subsequent life course. However, choosing to start the path of university does not guarantee that the student will actually graduate: university withdrawal is one of the major problems. In fact, highly complex educational histories are observed in the learning process. This paper aims at examining the factors influencing the different outcomes of the university path (withdrawal, course changes, delay, and degree completion) in three-year degree courses in a big Italian University (Padova). Data from the university administrative archives allow to have information on about 32,000 students enrolled from 2002/03 to 2005/6 academic years in 84 undergraduates courses. The analyses are conducted considering the temporal dimension within the methodological approach of survival analysis using individual longitudinal data for cohorts of first-entering students. A discrete-time method for competing risks event history analysis is used to study the determinants of academic outcomes. Preliminary results confirm descriptive findings showing the important role of some background characteristics (such as gender, residence, and the nationality) and of some characteristics of secondary school career (the type of school, the grade, and the regularity) for successful university path.
The Determinants of Academic Success and Failure in a Competing Risks Approach
CLERICI, RENATA;GIRALDO, ANNA;MEGGIOLARO, SILVIA
2012
Abstract
Obtaining an university degree results in important outcomes for subsequent life course. However, choosing to start the path of university does not guarantee that the student will actually graduate: university withdrawal is one of the major problems. In fact, highly complex educational histories are observed in the learning process. This paper aims at examining the factors influencing the different outcomes of the university path (withdrawal, course changes, delay, and degree completion) in three-year degree courses in a big Italian University (Padova). Data from the university administrative archives allow to have information on about 32,000 students enrolled from 2002/03 to 2005/6 academic years in 84 undergraduates courses. The analyses are conducted considering the temporal dimension within the methodological approach of survival analysis using individual longitudinal data for cohorts of first-entering students. A discrete-time method for competing risks event history analysis is used to study the determinants of academic outcomes. Preliminary results confirm descriptive findings showing the important role of some background characteristics (such as gender, residence, and the nationality) and of some characteristics of secondary school career (the type of school, the grade, and the regularity) for successful university path.
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