Do persistence and passion matter: Evidence from the educational testing service major field test in business

ABSTRACT

The authors examined the determinants of success on the Educational Testing Service Major Field Test in Business. The authors find that gender, SAT performance, and concentration are significant predictors of performance. Additionally, they derive proxies for student passion and persistence, and find that the greater the student's passion for business is, the higher the score is. The authors discover that students who demonstrate persistence, as measured by the extent to which they outperform their grade point average expectations, also score higher on the exam.

KEYWORDS:

• Assessment
• business
• ETS Major Field Test in Business
• passion
• persistence
• student demographics