Ruth Woodfield

Individual differences and undergraduate academic success: the roles of personality, intelligence, and application

Abstract The roles of intelligence and motivation in predicting academic success are well established. Evidence is, however, mixed concerning the role of personality traits in predicting such success. The current study attempted to overcome various methodological limitations associated with many previous studies to examine the potency of the traits of the ‘five factor model of personality’ in predicting academic success up to 3 years later, both directly and when controlling for intelligence and ‘application’ (used as a proxy for motivation). Only two traits yielded significant zero-order correlations with eventual undergraduate success, with both Openness to experience and Agreeableness being positively associated with Final Grades. Openness to experience explained unique variance in Final Grades even when predicting in the company of intellect and application measures. The impact of Agreeableness on Final Grades was wholly mediated by the main application measure; namely, not missing seminars. Less than one fifth of Final Grade variance was explained by all the individual difference variables in combination. Several practical, theoretical, and future research implications are explored.

Gender differences in undergraduate attendance rates

Research on students’ attendance rates has focused mainly on the effects of personality variables and cognitive ability, rather than on the impact on degree outcomes. More specifically, there is scant information relating to the question of whether male and female undergraduate students have differential practices in relation to attendance, whether any such differences are significant or not in terms of eventual outcomes for undergraduates, and on why such differences might occur. The results of two studies conducted at the University of Sussex are presented and discussed in this article. The importance of attendance in determining final degree outcome is confirmed in these studies; indeed the rate at which a student attends emerges as the strongest predictor of degree outcome amongst a number of variables examined. The existence of differential attendance rates between male and female students is also confirmed. The results provide a context within which a range of possible underlying reasons for gender differences in this regard can be explored.

Woman and information systems development: not just a pretty (inter)face?

The paper reviews literature that claims that for the first two decades of its existence, the computer industry was insular, esoteric and disproportionately populated by men. It cites feminist and industry commentary that claims that these sub‐cultural features have had a negative impact on information systems (IS∥ development, and that because they possess more rounded profiles ‐‐ typically possessing both social as well as technical skills ‐‐ the advent of more women into the sector would lead to improvements in design and golden opportunities for female developers. The paper discusses qualitative interview data elicited from developers designed to assess the likelihood of these predictions holding true. Specifically, it discusses the common‐sense discourses deployed to represent male and female workers’ social and technical skills. It concludes that the processes whereby both types of skills are recognised are highly complex and that such processes often privilege male workers and their competencies, so that we should remain sceptical of any over‐optimistic predictions that a shift in the quantities of women undertaking IS work will automatically lead to a shift in the qualitative nature of such systems and the contexts within which they are produced.

Gender and mode of assessment at university: should we assume female students are better suited to coursework and males to unseen examinations?

This paper reports on research conducted at the University of Sussex and examines whether female students have a particular preference for coursework, and whether such a preference is a key factor in their current undergraduate success. The performances of 638 students on courses whose assessment modes comprised both coursework and examinations were analysed to determine what, if any, gender differences were evident in relation to performances on each elements. In order to supplement the quantitative findings, qualitative data elicited via two online surveys, and focusing on student perceptions of coursework and examinations and attitudes to undergraduate study, are also discussed. Our findings contribute to the debate about gender differences across modes of assessment, and in particular take issue with the claim that female students, by contrast with males, both favour and are favoured by the use of coursework as opposed to unseen examinations in mode of assessment arrays.

The determinants of undergraduate degree performance: how important is gender?

This study uses data drawn from three recent cohorts of undergraduates at the University of Sussex to investigate the key determinants of degree performance. The primary theme of the study is an examination of the gender dimension to degree performance. The average ‘good’ degree rate for female students was found to be superior to the male rate. The modest raw gender differential in first class degree rates favoured women but was found to be attributable to their better endowments, particularly pre-entry qualifications. The largest differential favouring women was in the II:i classification, where almost all of the difference was attributable to differentials in coefficient treatment rather than endowments (or characteristics). The analysis undertaken also allowed the investigation of a number of sub-themes relating to the effects on degree performance of, inter alia, pre-entry qualifications, ethnicity, socio-economic background and health disability. The largest effects were reserved for the role of pre-entry qualifications with more modest effects detected for ethnicity and socio-economic background.

Age and first destination employment from UK universities: are mature students disadvantaged?

This article analyses a recent cohort (2006) of UK graduates, and explores the previously neglected relationship between age and post‐degree employment. Much work on mature students assumes their overall experience to be one of disadvantage relative to traditional‐age graduates, and this includes employability research. Here, mature students are demonstrated to be advantaged in the graduate labour market through analysis of a wide range of variables and employment success measures, utilised to produce a detailed set of findings that augment previous understanding. Mature graduates, regardless of whether they studied part‐ or full‐time, secured paid work, graduate‐level work, and a higher salary more frequently. Key mediating factors in their success include being a woman science student and having a history of previous employment with their post‐degree employer. The relative employment success of mature students could not, however, be explained simply as a result of them already being in pre‐degree graduate‐level jobs.

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

There is a widely recognised national trend for girls to outperform boys at all levels of compulsory schooling. With few exceptions, however, most recent research has reported that, in relation to academic performance at university, men are proportionately over‐represented at the First Class level. A number of general hypotheses have been put forward to explain this phenomenon, including those that assume gender‐linked differences in cognitive and/or personality traits. A smaller proportion of research has given explanatory primacy to the broad subject area studied. More specifically, it has been alleged that the over‐representation of men within the First bracket is largely a function of a ‘compositional effect’ whereby men achieve proportionately more Firsts as there are more of them within the First‐rich Sciences. Based upon analysis of 1,707,408 students graduating between 1995 and 2002, this paper seeks to provide the most comprehensive exploration, to date, of this effect. It confirms that a substantial proportion of the ‘gender gap’ can be explained with reference to the male propensity to take degrees in first‐rich disciplines.

Gender and the achievement of skilled status in the workplace: the case of women leaders in the UK Fire and Rescue Service

This article focuses on a hitherto un-researched group: women leaders within the UK Fire and Rescue Service. The process of modernizing the Fire and Rescue Service has increased expectations of workforce diversification and of women more easily entering and progressing within the organization. However, participants’ commentary testified to the difficulties faced when seeking recognition as a skilled woman in this context given the persistence of firefighter men as the occupational ideal type. Achieving recognition for both physical and non-physical skills remained an embodied, gendered and contested process and one that was not eased by promotion. Participants identified the heightened visibility that accompanied leadership as especially problematic. The findings suggest that some new elements of the modernized UK Fire and Rescue Service culture are less successful than they might be at supporting women in leadership roles.

Mature Women Students, Study Motivation and Employability

The move to mass higher education (HE) prompted increased debate about the relationship between earning a degree and employability. Some commentators have claimed that the UK economy cannot supply enough jobs for the graduate ‘glut’ (Brown and Hesketh, 2004), whilst others have claimed that the link between graduation and enhanced employment prospects remains strong (Brennan et al., 2001; Purcell and Elias, 2004). What is relatively uncontested, however, is that, in the context of increasing competition for graduate jobs, some students ‘are better placed than others’ (see also Elias et al., 1999; Redmond, 2006: 120; Purcell et al., 2007).

Gender and Occupational Segregation — Setting the Scene

This chapter begins with a review of literature focusing on gendered occupational segregation in order to delineate the extent and nature of this employment feature within the UK and elsewhere. It will then consider the various accounts of what causes segregation patterns, and the issues and debates that emerge from the different explanatory modes adopted.