Abstract
Postgraduate business programs at an Australian university are available to students from business and non-business backgrounds with non-business students being required to complete a foundation program. The performance of students in the postgraduate programs was analysed to determine whether students from a non-business background and required to complete a foundation program achieved grades that were as good as those achieved by students with a tertiary business preparation. The outcome of this analysis is relevant for assessing the decision to open postgraduate business programs to non-business students and for assessing the effectiveness of the foundation program as a means of preparing non-business entrants for a postgraduate business degree. Furthermore, there is merit in profiling successful postgraduate students for the determination of marketing and recruitment policy based on the premise that a university prefers to enrol students with a high chance of academic success. Therefore other variables, besides academic background, that could be relevant to postgraduate success, were examined. These variables were English proficiency, gender, age and country/region of origin. A study of 544 graduates in 2004 found that students from a non-business background who completed a foundation program performed as well in the masters programs as students from a business background admitted directly to the masters program. Age, English proficiency and region/country of origin were found to be related to academic performance using both bivariate and multivariate statistics. Gender was found not to be related to academic performance.
Original language | English |
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Title of host publication | ANZMAC 2006 Abstracts and programme |
Subtitle of host publication | advancing theory, maintaining relevance |
Place of Publication | Brisbane, Qld |
Publisher | Queensland University of Technology |
Number of pages | 6 |
ISBN (Print) | 1741071593 |
Publication status | Published - 2006 |
Event | Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (2006) - Brisbane Duration: 4 Dec 2006 → 6 Dec 2006 |
Conference
Conference | Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (2006) |
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City | Brisbane |
Period | 4/12/06 → 6/12/06 |