Accounting and Finance Degrees: Is the Academic Performance of Placement Students Better?

Abstract

The relationship between placement and academic performance on accounting and finance degrees is significantly under-researched. This paper examines the relationship between a number of factors, including placement, and academic performance as measured by average marks. Readily available data on placement status, gender, and prior achievement for the academic years ended 2004, 2005, and 2006 for students reading for an accounting and finance degree were used. Linear regression models were constructed using two versions of the data—one with all students in it and the second with graduates only. Placement students perform significantly better than full-time students do and, in the Graduates model, the female placement students perform significantly better than their male counterparts do. Most recent prior academic performance is significant in all models whereas gender had no separate significant effect on performance in the second and final years of the degree. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research into placement.

Keywords:

• Academic performance
• placement
• internship
• gender
• work-based learning

Acknowledgements

The author is grateful for the helpful comments received from two anonymous reviewers and Professor Ursula Lucas, Dr Phaik Leng Tan, Dr Peter Taylor and Dr Paul White, all of the University of the West of England.