Economics and business students: different, different but the same Dr Inna Pomorina Bath Spa University

Students expectations and behaviour study Project by EN in 2013 – Economics departments and 1 Business Observational study looking at the ways the new fee regime had influenced students’ behaviour and expectations Demographic factors: age, gender, year of study, English as second language, residence, A levels in Math and Economics

Survey Anonymised in class survey Virtually all Likert responses Behaviour: attendance, coursework submission, paid work, independent study Attitudes/expectations: mathematical content, assessment quantity/types, employability/skills content, student support, feedback, teaching

Same results For a wide range of questions business students like economics students (A.Birdi 2014) demonstrated considerable similarity between those who are paying different fees In questions about expectations and experience, the extent of the “gap” is lower for high fee students (higher price signal better quality) No change in behaviour patterns due to fees But big differences between those patterns of economics and business students

Demographic factors

1) What year/level of the programme are you currently in? ( EN) YearFreq.Percent 11, , Other Total3,

1) What year/level of the programme are you currently in?

2) How old are you? AgeFreq.Percent 21 and under2, to Over Total3,

2) How old are you?(BSU)

3) What is your gender? GenderFreq.Percent Male2, Female1, Total3,

3) What is your gender? (BSU)

4&5) Which A-levels do you have? Economics MathsNoYesTotal No ,013 Yes6871,7402,427 Total1,2462,1943,440 MathsEconomics YesFrequency2,4452,200 Percent NoFrequency1,0191,249 Percent Total3,4643,449

4&5) Which A-levels do you have? (BSU)

English as second language

7) What is your permanent place of residence? ResidenceFreq.Percent England/NI1, Scotland Wales EU (non UK) Other international Total3,

7) What is your permanent place of residence? (BSU)

8) How many hours of paid employment do you do during a week of term time? Paid work (hours)Freq.Percent 02, Over Total3,

8) How many hours of paid employment do you do during a week of term time? (BSU)

9) Is either of your parents a university graduate? ParentsFreq.Percent No1, Yes2, Total3,

9) Is either of your parents a university graduate? (BSU)

Choosing the university

11&12) When you applied to university, was this degree/institution your first choice? Degree choiceFreq.Percent No Yes2, Total3, Institution choiceFreq.Percent No1, Yes1, Total3,

11&12) When you applied to university, was this degree/institution your first choice? (BSU)

13) To what extent do you agree with the following statements on why you are studying here? Strongly agreeAgreeNeither agree nor disagreeDisagreeStrongly disagree The reputation of the university is important to me Bus Econ I have a strong interest in the subject Bus Econ I like the structure/content of the course Bus Econ I wanted to increase my employability Bus Econ The quality of like in this city/location is important to me Bus Econ My friends went here Bus Econ My family wanted me to come here Bus Econ I’m studying now because I think university costs are going to increase further Bus Econ

Students’Behaviour

14) What proportion of your scheduled classes do you attend? 15) What proportion of the work your course requires you to do have you submitted? 16) How much time do you spend each week (on average) independently studying for your course? Independent workBusEcon < 10 hours hours hours hours > 40 hours AttendanceRequired work Bus Econ Bus Econ 0-25% % % % Over 90%

17) To what extent have the following reasons contributed to any absences from your lectures or seminars? FrequentlyOccasionallyOnce or twiceNeverNot Applicable Bus Econ Bus EconBusEconBusEcon Bus Econ Illness Paid work Lectures are confusing Lectures cover ground I already know Other social commitments

18) How valuable did you find the induction events in 1 st year? InductionFreq.Percent Very valuable Quite valuable1, Neither valuable or not Not particularly valuable Not valuable at all Total3,

18) How valuable did you find the induction events in 1 st year? (BSU)

Students’ Expectations

19) Please show to what extent you agree with the following statements: Strongly agreeAgreeNeither agree or disagreeDisagreeStrongly disagree BusEconBusEconBusEconBusEconBusEcon I find my course less challenging than expected There is more maths on my course than I expected I expected to develop more practical skills I expected fewer module/unit options I expected more interaction with lecturers/tutors I expected my course to be more relevant to the current economic situation

20) How does the quantity of each one of the following aspects of studying on your course match your expectations? Significantly more than expected More than expected Matches my expectations Less than expected Significantly less than expected BusEconBusEconBusEconBusEconBusEcon Class contact Assessment Contact with lecturers E-learning and use of IT Workload

21) How does the quality of each one of the following aspects of studying on your course match your expectations? Significantly better than expected Better than expected Matches my expectations Worse than expected Significantly worse than expected Teaching Bus Econ FeedbackBus Econ Student support Bus Econ

22) How does each one of the following assessment types match your expectations? A larger proportion than expected Matches my expectations A smaller proportion than expected Not Applicable Exams/unseen tests Bus Econ Essays and assignments Bus Econ Group work (counts towards degree) Bus Econ Group work (does not count towards degree) Bus Econ

23) How does your course match your expectations in terms of developing the following skills? Significantly better than expected Better than expected Matches my expectations Worse than expected Significantly worse than expected PresentationBus Econ MathematicalBus Econ WritingBus Econ Problem solvingBus Econ Applying theory to the real world Bus Econ Team workingBus Econ Using ITBus Econ

24) Has studying this degree course met your expectations overall?

Summary Business students like economics students (A.Birdi 2014) demonstrated considerable similarity between those who are paying different fees Reputation of university is less important for BS 27% of BS attend more then 90% of classes compared to 54 % of ES 22% of BS miss classes due to paid work, compared to 1% of ES More BS find their courses less challenging, more confusing, but more interactive, practical, relevant and developing different skills Degree course better met expectations of BS

Any questions? I’ll be happy to answer any questions regarding this research. Please contact me at Thank you!