Skip to main content

The Determinants of Business Students’ Faculty Performance: Evidence from a Private University in Syria

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Modernizing Academic Teaching and Research in Business and Economics

Abstract

This study investigates factors that affect students’ performance at the Faculty of Business Administration at a private university in the Syrian Arab republic. The impact of four variables; high school GPA, motivation, source of high school certificate, and gender, on student’s faculty GPA have been examined using large sample of students for the period from 2005 to 2015. Applying Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) estimates, we find that high school GPA is the main determinants of student’s faculty performance. Moreover, the difference in average faculty GPA between males and females is significant with males underperforming females. Furthermore, motivation seems an important determinant of faculty GPA though it is less reliable than high school GPA. Hence, Awareness sessions should be conducted for high school students to raise their awareness of their future careers. Moreover, admission policies need to be reviewed and developed to include motivation element in the admission process.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 129.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 169.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Schwab, K. (2010). The global competitiveness report 2010–2011. Geneva: World Economic Forum.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Tessema, M., Ready, K., & Malone, C. (2012). Effect of gender on college students’ satisfaction and achievement: The case of a midsized midwestern public university. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 3(10), 1–11.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Tross, S. A., Harper, J. P., Osher, L. W., & Kneidinger, L. M. (2000). Not just the usual cast of characteristics: Using personality to predict college performance and retention. Journal of College Student Development, 41(3), 323–334.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Educational Testing Service, USA, & Zwick, R. (2012). El rol de los exámenes de admisión, de las notas de educación secundaria y de la situación socioeconómica en la predicción del desempeño universitario. Pensamiento Educativo. Revista de Investigación Educacional Latinoamericana, 49(2), 23–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Stewart, S., Lim, D. H., & Kim, J. (2015). Factors influencing college persistence for first-time students. Journal of Developmental Education, 38(3), 12–16.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Intrinsic and extrinsic motivations: Classic definitions and new directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Abeysekera, L., & Dawson, P. (2015). Motivation and cognitive load in the flipped classroom: Definition, rationale and a call for research. Higher Education Research and Development, 34(1), 1–14.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Amrai, K., Motlagh, S. E., Zalani, H. A., & Parhon, H. (2011). The relationship between academic motivation and academic achievement students. Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 15, 399–402.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Patall, E. A., Cooper, H., & Robinson, J. C. (2008). The effects of choice on intrinsic motivation and related outcomes: A meta-analysis of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 134(2), 270–300.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Ibrahim, I. R. A., & AL-Ali, W. A. (2016). The academic intrinsic motivation and its relationship with the emotional intelligence level with a sample of the academic overachievers and underachievers of Najran university. Journal of Studies in Education, 6(2), 119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Allen, D. (1999). Desire to finish college: An empirical link between motivation and persistence. Research in Higher Education, 40(4), 461–485.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Geiser, S., & Santelices, M. V. (2007). Validity of high-school grades in predicting student success beyond the freshman year: High-school record vs. standardized tests as indicators of four-year college outcomes. Berkeley, CA: Centre for Studies in Higher Education.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Anderson, G., Benjamin, D., & Fuss, M. A. (1994). The determinants of success in university introductory economics courses. The Journal of Economic Education, 25(2), 99–119.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Belfield, C. R., & Crosta, P. M. (2012). Predicting success in college: The importance of placement tests and high school transcripts (CCRC Working Paper No. 42). New York: Community College Research Center, Columbia University.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Camara, W., Kimmel, E., Scheuneman, J., & Sawtell, E. (2003). Whose grades are inflated? (College Board Research Report No. 2003–2004). New York: College Entrance Examination Board.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Katz, I., Kaplan, A., & Buzukashvily, T. (2011). The role of parents’ motivation in students’ autonomous motivation for doing homework. Learning and Individual Differences, 21(4), 376–386.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Saeed, S., & Zyngier, D. (2012). How motivation influences student engagement: A qualitative case study. Journal of Education and Learning, 1(2), 252–267.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Breen, R., & Lindsay, R. (2002). Different disciplines require different motivations for student success. Research in Higher Education, 43(6), 693–725.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Eymur, G., & Geban, Ö. (2011). An investigation of the relationship between motivation and academic achievement of pre-service chemistry teachers. Education and Science/Egitim ve Bilim, 36(161), 246–255.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Kusurkar, R. A., Ten Cate, T. J., Vos, C. M. P., Westers, P., & Croiset, G. (2013). How motivation affects academic performance: A structural equation modelling analysis. Advances in Health Sciences Education, 18(1), 57–69. Accessed April 11, 2016, from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10459-012-9354-3/fulltext.html

  21. Woodfield, R., & Earl-Novell, S. (2006). An assessment of the extent to which subject variation between the arts and sciences in relation to the award of a first class degree can explain the ‘gender gap’ in UK universities. British Journal of Sociology of Education, 27(3), 355–372.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Atinaf, W., & Petros, P. (2016). Socio economic factors affecting female students academic performance at higher education. Health Care: Current Reviews, 4(1), 163.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sulaiman Mouselli .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG

About this paper

Cite this paper

Mouselli, S., Al Aytouni, K., Naddeh, K. (2017). The Determinants of Business Students’ Faculty Performance: Evidence from a Private University in Syria. In: Marx Gómez, J., Aboujaoude, M., Feghali, K., Mahmoud, T. (eds) Modernizing Academic Teaching and Research in Business and Economics. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-54419-9_7

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics