Arkansas - Agricultural Communication Services - University of ...

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Demographics and Academic Success of Animal Science Graduate Students C. F. Rosenkrans, Jr., Z. B. Johnson, and W. K. Coblentz 1 Story in Brief The purpose of this study was to determine if there are quantifiable indicators of an undergraduate’s potential as a graduate student. We evaluated 54 state assistantship supported graduate students from 1990 to 1998. Overall those students had an undergraduate GPA of 3.17, graduate GPA of 3.47, and graduation rate of 72%. Effects of gender were noted on the GRE quantitative score and percentage of students in the Ph.D. program, both lower for women than men. Students receiving their undergraduate degree from the University of Arkansas had the lowest graduation rate (52%) compared with students from other institutions graduating at greater than 80%, although graduate GPA was not different. The best predictor of graduate GPA was a combination of undergraduate GPA and GRE quantitative score. We found that graduate student graduation rate was not successfully modeled by the quantitative information that we collected, indicating that graduate student success may depend more on collective intangible items and determination than past academic record. Introduction Land-grant universities fulfill their mission using three approaches, education, research, and extension/outreach. Educating graduate students is an integral component of that mission. Nationally, the number of graduate students peaked during the early 1990’s and has declined by as much as 2% per year in the last few years. That decline has been particularly true for the biological sciences, the general category in which agriculture and Animal Science programs exist. However, at the University of Arkansas our graduate student enrollment has been increasing during the last few years. Those students have gone on to impact the animal industries and scientific community; thereby, enhancing and building our national and international reputation. One of the more difficult decisions for a faculty member is whether or not to accept the responsibility of mentoring a graduate student. Once the decision is made that monetary commitments can be made for an incoming student, then the decision is: Which student How do we decide which student to accept as an advisee Once we have a match in personalities and research interests, are there quantitative factors that could indicate a student’s potential success in graduate school Our objective was to determine if an undergraduate’s academic record could be used as predictor of that person’s potential as a graduate student. Procedures Our data set contained information from 54 graduate students who were on state assistantship during 1990 to 1998. The information collected was gender, undergraduate institution and cumulative grade point average (GPA), graduate record examination (GRE) scores, graduate degree (M.S. or Ph.D.) they were seeking, graduate GPA, and graduate school graduation (yes or no). The data set excluded all currently enrolled students. Data were analyzed to determine gender, undergraduate institution, and GRE effects on graduate student GPA and graduation percentage. In addition, regression analyses were used to determine which factors most accurately predicted graduate GPA and graduation rate. Results and Discussion Overall demographic profile of our data set was as follows: gender was split with 22 women and 32 men. Forty students were seeking the master of science degree and 14 were pursuing the doctorate of philosophy. Their average undergraduate GPA was 3.17 and their graduate GPA was 3.47 on 32 hours. Graduate GPA was correlated with undergraduate GPA (r = 0.23; P = 0.1); GRE quantitative score (r = 0.47, P = 0.02); and number of graduate hours (r = 0.35, P = 0.01). Those simple correlations suggest that a graduate student’s academic performance was related to their undergraduate academic record as well as their math skills on a standardized test. Lastly, students completing a greater number of graduate hours, typically a Ph.D. student, have a higher GPA than those not taking as many hours. Table 1 presents the means separated by gender. The two significant (P < 0.05) effects of gender were on GRE quantitative score and percentage in the Ph.D. program, both of which were lower for women students. Those results are consistent with observations at other universities and disciplines in the biological sciences. However, neither graduate 1 Authors are associated with the Department of Animal Science, Fayetteville. 10
AAES Research Series 488 GPA or graduation rates were affected by gender. The school the graduate student attended as an undergraduate was coded into one of four categories: University of Arkansas, other land-grant schools, non-land grant schools, and international. Table 2 presents the means separated by undergraduate school. The most striking and significant finding in that analysis was the graduation percentages. Students attending the University of Arkansas as undergraduates had the lowest graduation rate (52%); whereas, international students had the highest graduation rate (100%). Those findings were quite troubling, but when undergraduate academics were evaluated, the University of Arkansas students ranked well in each category. Our interpretation is that students who move schools and even to other countries are probably more committed to completing their graduate education; whereas, those who stayed at home might move on to other employment opportunities as the rigor of graduate school increased. Twenty-five (46%) of our graduate students in this data set took the GRE. It is the general policy of the University of Arkansas’ Graduate School to require students who do not have an acceptable undergraduate GPA for unconditional admittance to take a standardized test (i.e. GRE). Therefore, it was not surprising to find that students who had taken the GRE had a lower (P < 0.05) undergraduate GPA (3.32 vs. 3.00) and a greater (P < 0.05) number of graduate hours (36 vs. 28). Graduate GPA (3.49 vs. 3.46) and graduation percentages (80 vs. 66, respectively, for yes and no GRE score) were not different when analyzed by GRE. The mean overall GRE score for our students was 1500 with subscores of 523, 573, and 404, respectively, for analytical, quantitative, and verbal. Mean GRE score for 159 graduate students taking the GRE at the University of Arkansas in 1998-99 was 1559 with mean subscores of 552, 535, and 472, respectively, for analytical, quantitative, and verbal. For that same year nationally, 700 animal science majors took the GRE with a total mean of 1582, and subscores of 577, 560, and 445, respectively, for analytical, quantitative, and verbal. When comparing our students with their norms, we find that our students were at least 10% below their colleagues on the analytical and verbal scores, but scored higher than their contemporaries on the quantitative subscore. That interpretation agrees with our faculty’s general consensus. That is: our graduate students need more development of their analytical/interpretive and communication skills as a part of their educational plan of study. Our overall graduation rate for these graduate students was 72%. Sixty-three percent of the master of science students graduated; whereas, 100% of the doctoral students completed their degrees and graduated. Those numbers add credence to the interpretation that commitment to their graduate program is a determining factor in whether or not students complete their graduate program. Generally speaking, a Ph.D. student is older, more mature, and more certain (committed) that graduate education is a part of their future than are most entering M.S. students. Regression analyses on the determinants of graduate GPA revealed that undergraduate GPA and GRE quantitative score were the best quantitative indicators of graduate GPA. We also used logistic regression to determine if the quantitative information that we collected could be used to predict graduation rates of our graduate students. Those results indicated that we could not use quantitative information to predict graduation rate. Our data set was limited due to the small number of students, but our results confirm what many have thought. Graduate student academic success may in fact be modeled by the undergraduate academic record; however, actual completion of their degree requirements and graduation may be more dependent on less tangible factors. Some of those factors include graduate advisement, personal commitment, family obligations, and job opportunities. In this era of shrinking enrollments in graduate schools, particularly in the biological sciences, we are fortunate to have maintained and in fact increased our graduate student enrollment in the Department of Animal Science. Our results suggest we need to survey our former students and determine why they left without completing their degrees so that we can continue to expand our program and its influence on the animal industries and scientific community. 11
Page 1 and 2: Arkansas Animal Science Department
Page 3: spine copy ARKANSAS ANIMAL SCIENCE
Page 6 and 7: INTRODUCTION The faculty and staff
Page 8 and 9: COMMON ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviation T
Page 10 and 11: The Effects of Nitrogen Fertilizati
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Arkansas Animal Science Department
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