Factors and experiences related to the academic success of students in the Faculty of the Humanities

[摘要] English: This research study builds on the current body of research regarding the predictors ofacademic success among students enrolled in higher education (HE), as well as students'perceptions of these factors. The aim of the study is to contribute to the understanding of thefactors and experiences related to academic success in HE and to expand on the model ofacademic success within the South African (SA) context. The study focussed specifically onfirst- to fifth-year students enrolled in the Faculty of the Humanities at the University of theFree State. The roles of several pre-enrolment and post-enrolment factors on students'academic success were explored by means of this mixed-methods study. Pre-enrolmentfactors that were examined during the study included students' age, gender, race, languageproficiency, Grade 12 performance, high school attended, and parental levels of education,while the post-enrolment factors that were scrutinised included students' initial educationalgoals, initial commitment to the HE institution, physical energy devoted to HE activities,psychological energy devoted to HE activities, academic self-concept, participation inacademic activities, academic contact with staff, academic contact with peers, participation inextracurricular activities, non-academic contact with staff, non-academic contact with peers,financial responsibilities, family responsibilities, and employment responsibilities. Thequantitative analysis was based on the data collected from 229 students, while the qualitativedata were collected from 26 students, all of whom were in their first to fifth years in theFaculty of the Humanities.Results of the quantitative section of the study showed that several differences existedin terms of students' age, race, gender, language proficiency, high school attended, as well asparental levels of education and the various post-enrolment factors that were explored.Moreover, the total set of pre- and post-enrolment factors, as well as the separate sets of preenrolmentfactors and post-enrolment factors explained a significant amount of the variance inacademic success for the entire sample, as well as for the different race groups (designatedgroup and the white group). Next, different individual variables explained a significantamount of the variance in academic success in the designated group and white group. In termsof the qualitative section of the study, students' perceptions of academic success includedhow they viewed academic success, how they would define an academically successfulstudent and the behaviours that successful students would exhibit. Lastly, the individuals whoplayed an important role in success and other aspects that they viewed as important inFactors and experiences related to academic successviacademic success were highlighted in the qualitative section. When results of the two sectionsof the study were integrated, it was clear that the prediction of academic success remains verycomplex and that several pre- and post-enrolment factors in combination, rather than factorsin isolation, are more successful in the prediction of students' academic success. This studycontributed significantly to the body of research regarding academic success within the SouthAfrican context, specifically with regards to the academic success of non-traditional students.

[发布机构] University of the Free State