Research on the Effect of High School Major Selection on Academic Performance in College
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A study using individual data of FEB UGM students by Putu Arya Wigita, SE, Academic Assistant of the Department of Economics, along with a team consisting of Putu Sanjika Wibisana and Muhammad Fawdy Renardi Wahyu. The research is entitled "Research Report: High School Major Selection and Academic Performance" which aims to examine whether or not there is a relationship between majors in high school and student academic performance.
This research is motivated by the rapid advances in information technology in the current era of the industrial revolution 4.0 which creates a high demand for human resources with excellent analytical and quantitative skills. Universities are required to be able to provide qualified graduates who meet these standards. The quality of university graduates depends on two factors, namely the teaching and learning process and the quality of input (in the form of enrolled students). If it is assumed that the same teaching and learning factors are experienced by all students, then the variance in the quality of graduates is most likely influenced by student input.
Putu Arya explained that the variance influenced by student input came from the high school curricular background, especially in the choice between the social studies and science curriculum. Based on previous studies, students with a social studies background tend to be more afraid of facing quantitative subjects. Fear of certain subjects is thought to have a negative impact on students' academic performance, especially on quantitative abilities.
This research was conducted to answer the question of what variables can be used to predict the academic performance of undergraduate students at FEB UGM and whether or not there is a relationship between the choice of major in high school and academic performance in college. "In the future, it is hoped that this research can be used for decision making for universities, especially FEB UGM in accepting prospective new students," added Putu Arya.
The data from this study were taken from undergraduate students of FEB UGM (majoring in accounting, management, and economics) consisting of the 2009-2018 class. There are two independent variables used, namely the GPA value and the duration of completing the study. The results of descriptive statistics on the processed data state that more students with social studies background are enrolled in FEB UGM, but it can be seen that students with science backgrounds have higher aggregate, quantitative, and qualitative GPAs.
The data is then processed through a series of empirical strategies, namely the decision tree classifier, tobit regression, and the cox proportional-hazard model. From these strategies, it can be concluded that the biggest factor influencing students to get cum laude predicate is the choice of majors in high school. In addition, there is a 62.5% probability of not graduating for students with a science background while the students with a social studies background are 75%. Statistically, the differential using the log-rank test method states the same thing with consistent results in each model used.
In conclusion, this study provides evidence that students with social studies backgrounds tend to have relatively poorer academic performance than students with science backgrounds. This is measured from several performance metrics such as the average aggregate GPA, quantitative GPA, the possibility of getting a cum laude predicate, and the duration of completing the study. At the end of the presentation, Putu Arya hopes that the results of this research can be used as a consideration for the composition of students with social and natural science backgrounds for FEB UGM or other universities when accepting new students.
Reportage: Kirana Lalita Pristy/Sony Budiarso.
