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 – 2015
• 17 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)
Year
Freq.
Percent
1
2
Other
1,990
1,422
22
57.95
41.41
0.64
Total
3,434
100.00
1) What year/level of the programme
are you currently in?
Participants by Business Year groups
11%
1st year
25%
2nd year
64%
3rd year
2) How old are you?
Age
Freq.
Percent
21 and under
22 to 25
Over 26
2,992
418
50
86.47
12.08
1.45
Total
3,460
100.00
2) How old are you?(BSU)
Age distribution
3%
19%
under 21
22 - 25
over 25
78%
3) What is your gender?
Gender
Freq.
Percent
Male
Female
2,020
1,444
58.31
41.69
Total
3,464
100.00
3) What is your gender? (BSU)
Gender distribution
48%
52%
Male
Female
4&5) Which A-levels do you have?
Economics
Maths
No
No
Yes
559
687
Total
1,246
Yes
No
Frequency
Percent
Frequency
Percent
Total
Yes
454
1,740
2,194
Total
1,013
2,427
3,440
Maths
Economics
2,445
70.58
1,019
29.42
3,464
2,200
63.79
1,249
36.21
3,449
4&5) Which A-levels do you have? (BSU)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
no
yes
Economics
Maths
English as second language
29%
First language
Second language
71%
7) What is your permanent place of residence?
Residence
Freq.
Percent
England/NI
Scotland
Wales
EU (non UK)
Other international
1,803
273
44
393
945
52.14
7.89
1.27
11.36
27.33
Total
3,458
100.00
7) What is your permanent place of residence?
(BSU)
England/NI
13%
Scotland
8%
2%
0%
Wales
EU
77%
International non
EU
8) How many hours of paid employment do you
do during a week of term time?
Paid work (hours)
Freq.
Percent
0
1-5
6-10
11-20
Over 20
2,671
207
203
284
98
77.13
5.98
5.86
8.20
2.83
Total
3,463
100.00
8) How many hours of paid employment do you
do during a week of term time? (BSU)
4%
20%
0 hours
1to 5
6 to 10
10%
57%
11 to 20
over 20
9%
9) Is either of your parents a university graduate?
Parents
Freq.
Percent
No
1,244
36.49
Yes
2,165
63.51
Total
3,409
100.00
9) Is either of your parents a university graduate? (BSU)
45%
55%
No
Yes
Choosing the university
11&12) When you applied to university, was this
degree/institution your first choice?
Degree choice
Freq.
Percent
No
636
18.38
Yes
2,824
81.62
Total
3,460
100.00
Institution choice Freq. Percent
No
Yes
1,558
1,884
45.26
54.74
Total
3,442
100.00
11&12) When you applied to university, was this
degree/institution your first choice? (BSU)
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Yes
No
Degree
choice
Institution
choice
13) To what extent do you agree with the following statements
on why you are studying here?
Strongly agree Agree Neither agree nor disagree Disagree Strongly disagree
The reputation of the university is
important to me
Bus
17.5
55.8
21.2
5.5
0
Econ
48.45
44.39
5.79
1.07
0.32
I have a strong interest in the
subject
Bus
37.8
51.6
9.2
1.4
0
Econ
36.85
49.90
10.56
1.85
0.84
I like the structure/content of the
course
Bus
13.8
59.0
22.1
5.1
0
Econ
13.49
52.77
26.34
6.07
1.33
I wanted to increase my
employability
Bus
64.1
30
5.9
0
0
Econ
58.91
33.88
5.96
0.69
0.55
The quality of like in this
city/location is important to me
Bus
41.5
42.4
12.9
3.2
0
Econ
31.18
46.19
17.09
4.27
1.27
My friends went here
Bus
1.4
11.1
17.5
33.2
36.9
Econ
3.44
10.60
23.38
28.68
33.92
Bus
2.3
15.2
37.8
24.4
20.3
Econ
3.53
13.87
39.68
21.36
21.56
Bus
8.8
16.1
42.9
19.8
12.4
Econ
8.30
15.57
31.55
24.25
20.33
My family wanted me to come here
I’m studying now because I think
university costs are going to
increase further
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?
Attendance
0-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-90%
Over 90%
Bus
0.5
5.1
26.3
41.0
27.2
Econ
1.24
2.89
12.10
29.52
54.24
Required work
Bus
0.5
4.1
8.3
9.7
77.4
16) How much time do you spend each
week (on average) independently
studying for your course?
Independent work
Bus
Econ
< 10 hours
40.6
43.3
8.8
6.5
0.9
40.37
Econ
1.86
3.00
5.68
13.63
75.82
11-20 hours
21-30 hours
31-40 hours
> 40 hours
36.00
16.23
5.16
2.24
17) To what extent have the following reasons contributed to any
absences from your lectures or seminars?
Frequently
Occasionally
Once or twice
Never
Not Applicable
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
5.5
22.6
12.4
4.69
14.21
54.24
11.5
46.1
53.5
8.05
18.92
46.1
14.3
17.5
25.98
12.23
27.2
13.4
15.7
47.07
3.75
9.7
3.7
0.9
Lectures cover
ground I
already know
7.4
4.00
6.5
15.01
24.4
30.23
28.6
41.92
33.2
8.84
Other social
commitments
10.6
3.26
1.8
12.07
18.9
33.46
35.9
40.66
32.7
10.55
Illness
Paid work
Lectures are
confusing
1.24
3.02
7.64
55.33
32.78
10.87
18) How valuable did you find the
induction events in 1st year?
Induction
Freq.
Percent
Very valuable
249
7.44
Quite valuable
1,359
40.59
Neither valuable or not 864
Not particularly
598
valuable
Not valuable at all
278
25.81
17.86
Total
100.00
3,348
8.30
18) How valuable did you find the
induction events in 1st year? (BSU)
Very valuable
5% 7%
17%
Quite valuable
Neither valuable
nor not valuable
17%
54%
Not particularly
valuable
Not valuable at all
Students’ Expectations
19) Please show to what extent you agree with
the following statements:
Strongly agree
Agree
Neither agree or disagree
Disagree
Strongly disagree
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
I find my course less
challenging than expected
6.5
4.22
27.2
16.66
41.5
30.76
24.0
37.78
0.9
10.57
There is more maths on my
course than I expected
3.7
14.25
0.5
26.92
33.2
23.34
57.6
28.82
5.1
6.67
I expected to develop more
practical skills
6.9
10.41
44.7
38.17
28.6
34.25
19.8
15.59
0
1.58
I expected fewer module/unit
options
3.2
3.29
14.7
15.13
42.4
40.37
34.1
34.74
5.5
6.47
I expected more interaction
with lecturers/tutors
6.9
17.59
37.3
39.82
30.4
26.87
23.5
14.18
1.8
1.55
I expected my course to be
more relevant to the current
economic situation
5.5
14.25
26.7
30.52
41.5
33.64
25.3
19.16
0.9
2.42
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
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
Class contact
5.1
3.40
21.7
14.12
55.3
50.59
17.5
26.92
0.5
4.98
Assessment
3.7
3.11
25.3
16.81
62.7
57.96
7.8
19.21
0.5
2.90
Contact with
lecturers
6.0
2.26
18.0
8.53
43.3
42.30
30.4
37.41
2.3
9.50
E-learning and
use of IT
6.0
5.57
26.3
23.17
44.7
44.20
20.7
22.23
2.3
4.83
Workload
3.2
6.16
19.4
24.35
61.8
53.27
15.2
14.03
0.5
2.18
21) How does the quality of each one of the following aspects of
studying on your course match your expectations?
Teaching
Feedback
Student
support
Significantly
better than
expected
Better than
expected
Matches my
expectations
Worse than
expected
Significantly
worse than
expected
Bus
4.1
26.3
53.9
14.7
0.9
Econ
4.42
16.67
51.45
22.36
5.10
Bus
5.5
35.5
45.6
12.4
0.9
Econ
2.86
12.36
39.84
37.01
7.93
Bus
9.7
26.3
51.6
9.7
2.8
Econ
4.90
21.19
49.82
20.72
3.36
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
9.2
12.4
55.8
22.6
Econ
15.92
70.20
12.37
1.51
Essays and
assignments
Bus
13.4
78.3
8.3
0
Econ
12.51
60.37
25.49
1.62
Group work
(counts towards
degree)
Group work
(does not count
towards degree)
Bus
0.9
39.2
52.5
7.4
Econ
13.63
40.83
31.25
14.28
Bus
4.1
25.3
53.0
17.5
Econ
8.25
43.22
31.72
16.80
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
Presentation
Bus
19.9
47.5
30.9
2.3
0
4.58
20.20
42.52
28.47
4.23
Mathematical
Econ
Bus
3.7
24.4
46.5
24.0
1.4
8.92
36.76
37.29
14.48
2.54
Writing
Econ
Bus
8.3
32.3
47.9
11.9
0
Econ
Bus
Econ
Bus
Econ
4.73
6.5
5.22
8.3
5.15
21.92
32.3
29.81
34.1
24.11
47.83
49.3
48.38
43.3
40.03
23.07
11.1
15.20
13.4
26.72
2.45
0.9
1.39
0.9
3.99
Bus.
Econ
Bus
Econ
14.7
3.20
9.2
4.61
40.1
16.17
28.1
19.75
42.4
43.44
49.3
46.32
2.3
30.98
12.4
24.27
0.5
6.20
0.9
5.05
Problem solving
Applying theory
to the real world
Team working
Using IT
24) Has studying this degree course
met your expectations overall?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
no
mostly no
in some parts yes,
in others no
mostly yes
yes
Business
Economics
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
i.pomorina@bathspa.ac.uk
Thank you!