Adaptation and academic achievement of Portuguese Engineering students in the first year of Polytechnic Higher Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21814/rpe.32480Keywords:
Adaptation to Higher Education, Academic achievement, Engineering students, Polytechnic Higher Education, GenderAbstract
Several studies have warned of the difficulties of adaptation and the increasing dropout from Engineering programs, especially during the first year in Higher Education (HE). This situation poses a problem for students, educational institutions and the economy in general. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the differences in adaptation to HE according to gender and the academic achievement of Engineering students in order to contribute to the identification of vulnerable groups and the implementation of intervention strategies. This study involved 461 first-year Engineering students from a public polytechnic higher education institution in northern Portugal, with a mean age of 17.91 years, 33.8% female and 66.2% male. The Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire was used to assess adaptation to HE, and grades obtained in the first semester curricular units were used to assess academic achievement. The results of this study indicated that students who achieved better results also adapted better academically and personally to HE, and that, although academic achievement is similar for both sexes, men adapted better academically, personally and emotionally. Therefore, it was concluded that women are in a more vulnerable situation in this study context and could benefit from orientation programs to favor their adaptation.
Keywords: Adaptation to higher education; Academic achievement; Engineering students; Polytechnic higher education; Gender.
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