Determinants of students' performance at university: reflections from the caribbean

The study reported upon in this paper examines the performance of a sample of 900 students who graduated in 2004 from the Mona Campus of the University of the West Indies, the largest university in the Anglophone Caribbean region. This analysis of student performance is conducted against the background of considerable changes in the tertiary educational systems, around the world, in general, and in Jamaica and the Caribbean in particular. These changes are requiring universities to place much greater emphasis on self-study, and on ensuring that they are performing efficiently in all areas, including the area of student transformation, which is an area of performance linked, at least in part, to academic results. The study, relying on statistical analysis, identified five factors as important determinants of student performance: gender, which is the area of most intense study in the Caribbean in relation to student performance; enrolment status; faculty of study; on versus off campus residence; and whether students did or did not apply for financial assistance. The paper concludes with implications from the study’s findings.