EQUALITY GUIdE - KU Leuven

80 Equality Guide
ulation of this survey) have already used Minerva to hand in homework, evaluations,
etc. Therefore, it can be assumed that they are familiar enough with the system
to answer the survey adequately.
2. Since developing and sending surveys through Minerva is still in its early stages, not
all potential types of questions are available in the existing model. While developing
the survey, a close cooperation with DICT was therefore imperative.
3. Because the survey is only accessible through a link from the Ghent University website,
it is not possible to increase the number of responses by sending a second reminder.
2.3.2. Target group
This study focuses on the extent to which the students’ expectations correspond with
the reality of an academic career. Because these questions could only be answered by
students who already had a certain knowledge of the working principles and structure
of Ghent University, it was decided to address only students in their second to last year
of study (from here referred to as ‘final-year students’). This choice can also be motivated
by the following arguments:
! A lot of students end their study prematurely after the first or (to a lesser degree
second) year of study.
! The final-year students have a certain familiarity with Ghent University and are thus
able to hold an opinion on its academic system. They make contacts with the academic
staff during the lectures or during office hours. A majority of this research
population has already had personal contacts with lecturers regarding their dissertation.
Therefore, they are able to give a balanced judgement on the academic staff’s
daily tasks.
! Many final-year students have already contemplated their various career opportunities.
Some of them might even have taken steps for or made thorough inquiry into
a potential (academic) career.
! The majority of the inflow into PhD’s or academic projects comes directly from
final-year students. Consequently, professors already may have approached certain
students from the research population about a future cooperation. Furthermore, the
Advisory Centre for Students organizes information sessions on various career opportunities
for this target group.
! It was decided to include students in their second to last year of study, because the
students have to determine the subject of their dissertation in the course of this
year. Most students approach lecturers in this phase, which means that this is the
best moment to alert them to their options on an academic level.
! Finally, final-year students are more acquainted with Minerva than students in the
first years, which is a decisive factor for the survey’s success.
Since the distribution of male and female academic staff strongly depends on the faculty
in question, the students of all eleven faculties of Ghent University were questioned.