Factors influencing university students' educational achievement: Quality of life and social psychological variables

At present, universities are increasingly being required to be accountable to the citizens. Accountability, in this respect, means that most students who are admitted to universities are successfully completing degrees. Many students are not successful, and the reason for this is that there are numerous psychological, institutional, and social and university background variables that influence their educational achievement. The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between students' perceived quality of life within their faculties and their social psychological disposition when social and university background variables are controlled, on their educational achievement. If these variables can be changed, more students would graduate.;The study was conducted in the Faculties of Arts and Science at the University of Manitoba. A survey entitled Quality of Life in the Faculties of Arts and Science was sent, in March of 1997, to a random sample of students in the Faculties of Arts and Science. The survey was designed to measure the students' social and university background, their quality of life within their faculty, their social psychological disposition, and their educational achievement. A theoretical model outlining proposed linkages between these variables was developed. This model guided the structural equation modeling procedures used to analyze the interrelationships among the variables. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).