Academic Performance of Undergraduates of Three New Degree Programs as Affected by Gender and, A/L Study Stream and Subject Performance

Abstract

Academic perfromance of undergraduates is highly influencecd by the university entry level acadecmic performance. Acording to the proceedure adopted for the selection of undergraduates to State Univrsities in Sri Lanka, students who followed either Biological Science or Agriculture stream for the GCE Advanced Level (A/L) are elegible to apply for all three new degree programs introduceed by the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Ruhuna. Above situation along with district quota system of student selection has resulted in a huge variation in students’ university entry level academic background and performance. Objective of this study was to determine the academic performance of undergraduates of three new degree programs as affected by gender, A/L stream and performance in different subjects. Semester grade point averages (SGPA) over eight semesters and overall grade point averages (OGPA) of 239 undergraduates who followed BSc in Green Technology (GT), Agricultural Recourse Management and Technology (AT) and Agribusiness management (AB) were analyzed. 30%, 8% and 62% of the students who followed Agriculture stream during A/L had been selected to GT, AB and AT programs, respectively. The contributions of Physics, Chemistry and Biology to performance of the students who followed Biology stream at the final A/L examination were 30, 33 and 37%, respectively. Among those who have followed agriculture, the contribution from Chemistry (22%) to the final A/L achievement was significantly lower than that of Biology stream students, while the contribution from Agriculture was 44%. After sitting eor examinations conducted for one or up to three semesters, 9% of the students have dropped the programs, while another 20% have failed to complete the courses within the four year period. Among those followed Agriculture for A/L out of the numbers repeated the examinations, males were significantly higher. Among students having first or second (upper division) classes at the final examination 87 and 65% respectively were females. Clear increases in SGPA values were seen from 6th semester in GT program and from 4th semester in AB and AT programs. SGPA values in eighth semester were similar across three programs. There was a significant linear relationship between OGPA and fourth semester SGPA (r2=0.90, p=0.000). The study concludes that students who follow Agriculture stream for A/L have an advantage over those who follow Biology stream, during university admission for the degree programs offered. Academic performance of female and, of those who followed Biology stream at A/L were found to perform better than the males and those who have followed Agriculture. Low rate of competion of the four-year degree programme, high drop-out rate and gender inequality in academic performance are identified as the critical issues to be addressed.