Success and Failure Among Social Scientists and Health Scientists at a Technological University

Smithers, Alan; Batcock, Angela

doi:10.1111/j.2044-8279.1970.tb02114.x

Cited by 11 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In the engineering and science schools no significant relationship was evident, but in modem languages a strong positive relationship was found. The findings of Smithers and Batcock (1970) with social and health scientists provided some support for the notion of an inverse relationship between performance and ease of access (Dale, 1963). But among the linguists of the present study a very different pattern was found.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

“…IN a previous paper (Smithers and Batcock, 1970) the bearing of a number of factors on the degree performance of health-science and social-science students at the University of Bradford was examined. In both fields of study working class students tended to be the more successful, and since both admitted about twice as many middle as working class students, this was taken as some support for Dale's (1963) hypothesis that, where it is difficult for a working class student to gain entry to a course, performance will be related inversely to social class.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The social scientists and health scientists of Smithers and Batcock's (1970) study were taking three-year full-time courses. The other students-of modern languages, physical sciences and engineering-were on sandwich courses, and graduated one year later.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Success and Failure Among Engineers, Physical Scientists and Linguists at a Technological University

Smithers

Dann

1974

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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Summary. Academic performance in three fields of study, engineering, physical sciences and languages, has been analysed by comparing the characteristics of successful students with those of the less successful and those who failed to graduate. The students obtaining the better degrees generally had the better entry qualifications, and in engineering and the sciences, had reacted less against the industrial training element of sandwich courses. No strong relationship between social class and academic performance was found in engineering and the sciences, but, in languages, the successful students tended to come from non‐manual backgrounds, and it is speculated that their acknowledged greater flexibility in their native language may have generalised to foreign languages. In a study of student worries it was found that those who were to go on to do less well or not graduate at all, were apparently aware of their difficulties at an early stage, and able to articulate them.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 55%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Success and Failure Among Engineers, Physical Scientists and Linguists at a Technological University

Smithers

Dann

1974

Brit J of Edu Psychol

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“…Commitment to teaching is closely related to subsequent employment; for instance, Cook (1987) reported that high commitment was strongly predictive of job status among PGCE students nine months after the end of their course. Similarly, 'strength of occupational motivation' is a significant predictor of success in a professionally oriented undergraduate course (Smithers & Batcock, 1970). More generally, commitment has been found to be an important determinant of job-related decisions, including intention to quit, and actual turnover (Clegg, 1983;Williams & Hazer, 1986).…”

Section: Academic Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Performance and Subsequent Employment Status of PGCE Students: academic and attitudinal predictors

Parkes

1989

British Educational Res J

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Although much research has been carried out into factors which predict the academic performance of undergraduates, less attention has been given to predictors of success in postgraduate training. In the present study, the extent to which demographic, academic and attitudinal factors predicted the teaching practice and coursework performance of Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) students was examined. Factual information was obtained from student records, and self‐report data were collected during the first week of the course. The number of students participating was 126 (a 93% response rate). Regression analyses demonstrated that the predictor variables jointly accounted for substantial proportions of the variance in PGCE performance. Degree class, previous teaching experience, professional commitment, high motivation toward teaching, and the interaction between subject area and A level scores were significant predictors of overall performance, but the detailed pattern of results was different for the teaching practice and coursework components. In particular, for teaching practice ratings, the significant predictors included gender (female students received higher ratings than males), marital status (single students received higher ratings than those who were married) and subject area (languages students received lower ratings than students in other areas). Six months after completing the course, 72% of the students had accepted teaching posts and, in a further analysis, factors which predicted employment status were examined. High motivation and good teaching practice marks most clearly discriminated those who entered the teaching profession from those who did not.

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“…Finally Smithers and Batcock also found the stable introvert to be better at social science (but not at health science!) [17], but Kline and Gale found social scientists spread right across the personality spectrum [18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Personality and academic attainment in Management Studies

Cox

1978

The Vocational Aspect of Education

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The Eysenck Personality Inventory was administered to 148 post-graduate Diploma in Management Studies students. Initially raw examination scores in the nine diploma subjects were used as a measure of attainment. Substantial variation between the raw scores of the 'numerate' group of subjects and those of the 'literate' group (p < 0.0001) inferred the desirability of a conversion to standard scores. The relative attainment of four personality quadrants indicated that extraversion and stability were both helpful in predicting success. In particular the stable extravert was likely to be the most successful, whereas the neurotic introvert was likely to be the least successful. Standard scoring emphasized differences between the personality quadrants.

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Success and Failure Among Social Scientists and Health Scientists at a Technological University

Cited by 11 publications

References 20 publications

Success and Failure Among Engineers, Physical Scientists and Linguists at a Technological University

Success and Failure Among Engineers, Physical Scientists and Linguists at a Technological University

The Performance and Subsequent Employment Status of PGCE Students: academic and attitudinal predictors

Personality and academic attainment in Management Studies

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