Page 58 - Secondary school students’ university readiness and their transition to university Els van Rooij

interaction with the learning environment, such as learning strategies and behavioural engagement. Last, the output factors are the three student success outcomes: GPA, EC, and persistence. e conceptual framework that lists all categories of factors is presented in Figure 3.1.
Below we will brie y describe the ve student factors and the four factors
related to (students’ interaction with) the learning environment by de ning
the most important constructs within each factor, including their theoretical
background. 3
Figure 3.1 Conceptual model with nine categories of factors that are related to student success
3.2.1 Student factors
Ability, demographic characteristics, and prior education
Secondary school GPA is the most consistent universal predictor of achievement in higher education (e.g., Richardson et al., 2012). Since secondary school GPA is a measure that can be more easily obtained than an o cial measure of ability such as an intelligence test, many studies into higher education success use secondary school GPA as an indicator of ability. Demographic characteristics commonly included in studies into achievement in higher education are gender, age, socioeconomic status (SES), and ethnic background. Because in the Netherlands and Flanders the secondary education systems are differentiated, access to higher education is possible through different pathways, which means that students who enter postsecondary education differ regarding prior education. ese differences
Systematic review of first-year success
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