CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.3. Need for the study
20 To achieve this end, treating each academic year as a separate statistical entity, these hypotheses give rise to the following additional research questions:
1. Are total matric points and selected matric subject scores at school-leaving level predictors of university student success at undergraduate level in the FMS?
2. To what extent are total matric points and matric subject scores at school-leaving level keys, reliable and valid predictors of university student success at undergraduate level in the FMS?
This thesis therefore poses the following four research questions:
1. What are the determinants of student performance in the undergraduate modules that can be discovered via student records, specifically, in first-year accounting and economics modules in the FMS?
2. Amongst these determinants, which ones negatively affect (impede) or positively affect (contribute to) students’ academic performance in undergraduate modules in the FMS?
3. Are total matric points and selected matric subject scores predictors of university student success at undergraduate level in the FMS?
4. To what extent are total matric points and matric subject scores keys, reliable and valid predictors of university student success at undergraduate level in the FMS?
21 At the macro-economic level, higher education is viewed as a cure for severe economic, political and social problems such as poverty (World Bank, 2006) and the twin evils of the South African economy, namely, unemployment and inflation. High dropout and failure rates, the slow progression of students, and poor graduation rates over the years, not just at UKZN but also at other South African universities, are of concern to both government and education stakeholders. The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (SAICA) indicated that in 2008, there was already a shortage of 5 000 chartered accountants and a further 17 000 accountants of various technical grades (Enslin-Payne, 2011). This shortage is likely to have increased now that the country has recovered from the global economic recession and financial crisis.
If these dropout and failure rates, and slow progression remain static or get worse, the number of graduates and the public subsidy per student would continue to shrink – resulting in a lack of trained accountants and economists much needed for the national economy. With South Africa producing fewer graduates for an economy that is targeting sustained growth and international competitiveness with emerging professional career paths, such trends could have dire consequences for the achievement of the country’s macro- economic objectives (WENR, 2002). This makes the determinants of students’ academic performance in South African universities an important research issue.
From the DoHET’s perspective, education policy reform coupled with the funding formula are designed to transform the Higher Education system, improve throughput rates, meet the skills needs of the modern workplace, improve the performance and productivity of the labour force, and enhance the country’s economic growth and international competitiveness. Existing studies argue that there have been impressive gains in some areas in which the HEIs have been responsive to important societal needs, yet significant challenges remain. Of concern is that the overall participation rate has not increased in the last five years, doctoral enrolments have stagnated, and the proportion of academic staff with doctoral degrees is low (CHE, 2010; OECD, 2008). Student success at the undergraduate level is important as it feeds into postgraduate studies.
It is hoped that the findings of this study will provide better-informed educational choices for the possible revision of the national plan for higher education, thereby assisting in the optimization of South Africa’s education policies.
At the societal level, this thesis also holds a broader interest for education stakeholders and general readers having a concern for university education in South Africa and its multiplier effects across the full breadth of the South African economy. Knowledge about what influences academic performance and the attrition of
22 students may allow for strategic planning, institutional management, and policy development as well as the formulation of new strategies.
UKZN’s vision is to be ”The Premier University of African Scholarship”, and its mission is to be “a genuinely South African University, a World-Class University, with a new culture and form, designed to meet the challenges of serving the country and the region in innovative and effective ways”
(www.ukzn.ac.za). This study aims to incorporate available student records data, statistics and findings with existing studies, and to quantify various economic and educational variables that are of great importance to the FMS. An attempt is made to identify the variables that make students perform better. Knowledge of these enabling variables, their causes and reasons can enable the Exco, academics, administrators and support staff, students themselves, and other education stakeholders to understand students’ areas of strength or weakness and develop active steps to alleviate, or find a permanent solution to overcome past shortcomings and problems challenging students’ performance. It is expected that findings of this study might be used to implement interventions and strategic planning and aid in developing UKZN’s policies aimed at reducing impediment to students’ progression. UKZN would adopt and entrench the suggested policies and best practices that are consistent with its vision and mission.
The mission of the CLMS is to “play a constructive role in helping the two Faculties within the College achieve their undertaking to produce graduates able to play a leading role in meeting the challenges presented by the South African socio-economic environment and those of the continent and beyond.
Graduates of this College are highly marketable and sought after giving to UKZN influential alumni and strong professional links in South Africa (http://clm.ukzn.ac.za).
At present, there are contradictions between the mission statement and the high dropout and failure rates or slow progression of students that the CLMS is experiencing. Premised upon the argument that Exco, whose overarching purpose is to implement educational interventions aimed at reducing barriers to student success at UKZN, is concerned with the poor graduation rate being less than 23 percent of registered students from the academic year 2006 to 2009 (FMS, 2009); examining determinants that negatively affect (impede) or positively affect (contribute to) student performance in accounting and economics modules in the FMS, is an important research issue for the Exco in particular and for the Higher Education landscape in South Africa at large. Examining the determinant of student performance in the CLMS is, therefore, a significant research issue.
23 In a nutshell, this thesis is important, needed, and timely. The study is expected to provide not only a holistic examination of quantitative and qualitative variables which contribute towards improving the trends of student success, retention, graduation and throughput rates but also catalyzes a stream of education policy implications that can be pointers for the UTLO’s policies and strategic planning in enhancing the effective achievement of the CLMS’s mission statement and UKZN’s mission statement. Understanding the processes leading to dropout and failure rates, slow progression, student attrition, and poor graduation or low throughput will provide education stakeholders with multiple junctures in which to intervene.