Factors that Explain Undergraduate Business Students’ Performance in Their Chosen Field. Does Gender Matter?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to find out how undergraduate students perform in selected courses at a business school. Management and communication oriented courses require different skills to those of core business courses. There are many studies on students’ success in economics, accounting, and finance, but not in management and marketing. The data in this study are from a business school in Norway. Undergraduate business students can choose different pathways in their third year. We compare students’ performance in different selected majors. The methods chosen were the independent samples test and a linear regression model. It appears that the most notable indicator of success in the chosen major is performance in the introductory course within the same field. Mathematics is another important element, while grade point average (GPA) scores have a minor impact. There is obviously some gender effect. The males perform well in quantitative subjects, while women outperform men in marketing.