Do demographic factors affect academic outcomes? A master engineering course analysis

The main objective of this study is to address the demographic characteristics of the engineering students enrolled in a master course to explore their effect in the academic outcomes. Variables such as gender, age, nationality and type of previous academic graduation were studied to predict their potential impact upon academic outcomes. The total number of enrolled students in the first four years of the recent master course was retrospectivelly examined. Descriptive statistics were used to summarize the collected data. The chi-square test was applied to evaluate the statistical significance of the demographic variables on response variables related to academic outputs such as average grades of the completed curricular units in the master course, number of ECTS achieved and grade of the master final work. The results of the study are meaningful as they contribute to understanding the impact of demographic diversity in the academic outcomes of a study program for an engineering master's degree course and can assist the coordination team to outline actions to develop in the future taking into account the analysis carried out.