Psychological Strengths as Predictors of Postgraduate Students' Academic Achievement

Westhuizen, Sanet Der Van; Beer, Marie De; Bekwa, Nomvuyo Nomfusi

doi:10.1080/14330237.2011.10820485

Cited by 12 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…While the study sample was overall ethnically diverse, it was predominately female. While university populations in Canada overall have proportionally more females compared to males (Turcotte, 2011), the present study's 75% female sample is higher than the reported approximate 60% female reported by Statistics Canada. Therefore, results need to be considered with this in mind, especially given sex differences often observed in some personality traits or psychological characteristics.…”

Section: Limitationscontrasting

confidence: 76%

Sinking or Swimming in an Academic Pool: A Study of Resiliency and Student Success in First-Year Undergraduates

Wilson

Babcock

Saklofske

2019

Canadian Journal of Higher Education

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The transition from high school to post-secondary education presents challenges for students. Many variables have been identified as significant predictors of student achievement. Resiliency, defined as the ability to overcome challenges and adversity, may be particularly relevant during the adjustment to post-secondary education. This study assesses whether resiliency incrementally predicts student success after controlling for additional predictors. Participants were 277 undergraduate students who completed self-reports of academic skills, resiliency, personality variables, emotional intelligence (EI), and perfectionism. Students' year-end GPA was collected from the university registrar. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that resiliency, measured by sense of mastery, negatively predicted GPA after controlling for other predictors. The sense of mastery facet of self-efficacy positively predicted GPA; however, the adaptability facet was a significant negative predictor of GPA. Findings suggest that self-efficacy is a salient predictor of academic success, and that strong academic skills may serve as a protective factor for poor adaptability.

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Section: Limitationscontrasting

confidence: 76%

Sinking or Swimming in an Academic Pool: A Study of Resiliency and Student Success in First-Year Undergraduates

Wilson

Babcock

Saklofske

2019

Canadian Journal of Higher Education

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“…It is widely accepted that a strong SoC is a psychological resource that strengthens the individual's competence to deal with environmental strains and stressful situations (57). Evidence shows positive associations between a strong SoC and academic success and achievement (25,58,59), social support (25) and adaptive coping behavior (60). Hence, universities should invest in identifying students with low SoC, using a setting-specific measurement such as the S-SoC scale (28) to offer early and timely health promoting interventions.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pick the Freshmen Up for a “Healthy Study Start” Evaluation of a Health Promoting Onboarding Program for First Year Students at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria

Limarutti

Maier²,

Mir

et al. 2021

Front. Public Health

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Introduction: Universities are an essential setting for creating health promoting environments. Evidence shows that university life can pose various threats to the students' health. Especially first year students are vulnerable to mental health issues. To support well-being and prevent psychological distress from the first day of studying, onboarding programs are needed to promote the students' health and their self- and social competencies. The study demonstrates a tailored multi-component onboarding intervention program named “Healthy Study Start.” An evaluation of the effectiveness is presented focusing on outcomes regarding the students' sense of coherence (S-SoC), social support, sympathy, the work-related collective and the participative safety (a sub-scale of the team climate) among freshmen at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences (CUAS, Austria).Methods: For the analyses, a quantitative controlled study design was used and results were measured three times. The intervention group (n = 72) was composed of freshmen selected from the bachelor study programs Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Biomedical Science and Radiologic Technology. Freshmen from the bachelor study program Healthcare and Nursing formed the control group (n = 81). As the requirements for analyses of variance were not fulfilled, the data had to be analyzed using e.g., Mann-Whitney U-tests.Results: Significant changes (all p < 0.016) between the two groups were found between T0/T1, and between T0/T2. Furthermore, changes within the intervention group (all p < 0.016) emerged in nearly all outcomes between T0/T1, while within the control group no changes were identified. However, the intervention group had statistically significantly higher values in the majority of outcomes at T1 and T2 compared to the control group.Conclusion: The onboarding program “Healthy Study Start” shows how an initiative at the beginning of their studies can support students in entering a new phase of their lives. The results indicate a positive effect on the students' self- and social competencies. However, students' health promotion is not only an investment for a health conscious university or an enhanced employability. Especially in health-related fields of study, students are future multipliers and play an essential role in implementing health promotion concepts for clients, patients and employees.

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“…Delays in obtaining a doctorate are perplexing since students enrolling in PhD programs are a highly motivated population [ 14 , 15 ]. Our study of three PhD programs found that the students had similar characteristics at enrollment so the observed results in the TRIBE cohort were not a consequence of enrolling different types of student but other factors, contained in the reform.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving completion rates of students in biomedical PhD programs: an interventional study

et al. 2017

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BackgroundAnalysis of graduation success at the University of Split School of Medicine PhD programs conducted in 2011 revealed that only 11% of students who enrolled and completed their graduate coursework between 1999 and 2011 earned a doctoral degree. In this prospective cohort study we evaluated and compared three PhD programs within the same medical school, where the newest program, called Translational Research in Biomedicine (TRIBE), established in the academic year 2010/11, aimed to increase the graduation rate through an innovative approach.MethodsThe intervention in the new program was related to three domains: redefined recruitment strategy, strict study regulations, and changes to the curriculum. We compared performance of PhD students between the new and existing programs and analyzed their current status, time to obtain a degree (from enrolment to doctorate), age at doctorate, number of publications on which the thesis was based and the impact factor of journals in which these were published.ResultsThese improvement strategies were associated with higher thesis completion rate and reduced time to degree for students enrolled in the TRIBE program. There was no change in the impact factor or number of publications that were the basis for the doctoral theses.ConclusionOur study describes good practices which proved useful in the design or reform of the PhD training program.

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Psychological Strengths as Predictors of Postgraduate Students' Academic Achievement

Cited by 12 publications

References 21 publications

Sinking or Swimming in an Academic Pool: A Study of Resiliency and Student Success in First-Year Undergraduates

Sinking or Swimming in an Academic Pool: A Study of Resiliency and Student Success in First-Year Undergraduates

Pick the Freshmen Up for a “Healthy Study Start” Evaluation of a Health Promoting Onboarding Program for First Year Students at the Carinthia University of Applied Sciences, Austria

Improving completion rates of students in biomedical PhD programs: an interventional study

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