DOES PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OF MATHEMATICS CONTRIBUTE TO THE PERFORMANCE OF ECONOMICS STUDENTS AT GRADUATION? A STUDY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MAURITIUS

This study will seek to analyse the determinants of success of Economics students at university. Special attention is paid to the role of the student’s prior knowledge (in particular, of Mathematics). Few studies in this theoretical field have used an African empirical site. The data set used in this study includes students with and without Advanced (‘A’) level Mathematics at secondary school, allowing for greater variation in a key independent variable. Also, earlier focus has been on the performance in one module. In this study, the dependent variable is a summative measure of performance at graduation. The review of the literature highlights the contribution of academic factors and non-academic factors of the student as well as features of the sending high school and class size to determine success in Economics at tertiary level.

Admission and graduation records from the University of Mauritius provide the data for the empirical analysis. The analysis is performed using an educational production function, frequency tables, graphs, measures and tests of strength of association and finally, regression analysis (ordinary least squares). The importance of student’s prior Mathematical abilities in determining the probability of completing the degree, the number of semesters they take to complete on average, and finally, the degree classification at graduation results from the analysis. The regression analysis reveals the importance of prior Mathematical abilities in determining the degree classification at graduation.