Factors related with the university degree selection in Spanish public university system. An structural equation model analysis

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11135-014-0008-9Students take into account different factors in their choice of university studies and college. Some are global, as the quality of the degree (ratio available places/firstchoice places in, cut-off grade, etc.), and others are subjective factors (e.g.: my friends are also taking this degree). In this work we present a partial multivariate model that takes into account the weight of the different variables shown by different works linked to this decision. We have studied three samples (n = 372 from the Universidad Pablo de Olavide; n = 2,244 from the Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, and n = 543 from the Universitat de Barcelona) from several degrees in the 2010 2011 and 2011 2012 academic years, all of them new students, coming from high school, and who had choosen these universities as first choice. The global effect shows that the structural model fits reasonably well in the three universities studied. Similarly, university and specialty models show different intensity effects, and we found that, in the case of Universitat Politécnica de Valencia (UPV) and Universitat de Barcelona (UB), they show higher intensity than in Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO). This makes us think that in most urban universities with a clear and regular offer of degrees (engineering in the case of UPV, and Health and Social Sciences in the case of UB), personal and social factors are more important than in the case of universities, as is the case of UPO, with an offer and dimension not yet completely defined.Guàrdia Olmos, J.; Peró Cebollero, M.; Hervás Jorge, A.; Capilla Lladró, R.; Soriano Jiménez, PP.; Porras Yañez, M. (2014). Factors related with the university degree selection in Spanish public university system. An structural equation model analysis. Quality and Quantity. 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Engaging Undergraduates in Science Research: Not Just About Faculty Willingness.

Despite the many benefits of involving undergraduates in research and the growing number of undergraduate research programs, few scholars have investigated the factors that affect faculty members' decisions to involve undergraduates in their research projects. We investigated the individual factors and institutional contexts that predict faculty members' likelihood of engaging undergraduates in their research project(s). Using data from the Higher Education Research Institute's 2007-2008 Faculty Survey, we employ hierarchical generalized linear modeling to analyze data from 4,832 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty across 194 institutions to examine how organizational citizenship behavior theory and social exchange theory relate to mentoring students in research. Key findings show that faculty who work in the life sciences and those who receive government funding for their research are more likely to involve undergraduates in their research project(s). In addition, faculty at liberal arts or historically Black colleges are significantly more likely to involve undergraduate students in research. Implications for advancing undergraduate research opportunities are discussed