Effect of high school specialty on mathematical performance at universityEffect of advanced high school major on mathematical performance at university: a comparative study in Business Administration degrees

Abstract

Previous studies suggest that the major taken in high school is a very relevant variable in predicting average grades during the first year of business administration degrees. However, the effect on particular subjects, and specifically on mathematics, is not fully solved, as there are very few studies on the subject and the evidence is contradictory. In this paper, a study is carried out with a significantly larger sample than in previous research and comparing the results in two different universities: 873 students of the business degree at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and 822 at the Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Methodologically, the use of regression models has been combined with interpretable neural networks to ensure the robustness of the results. The analysis shows that, in both universities and independently of the methodological approach, the results are virtually identical: students from the science baccalaureate overperform their peers from the humanities and social sciences specialty in business mathematics I and II. From the point of view of instructional practice, these results have two implications. Firstly, it would be necessary to reflect on the mathematical contents in the humanities and social sciences major. It does not seem reasonable that students coming from this major, which is generally recommended for business studies, achieve worse results than those who took a major recommended for other degrees. Secondly, regarding instructional practice in the first university year, it seems necessary to rethink teaching strategies in mathematics, considering the characteristics and learning styles of students coming from the humanities and social sciences baccalaureate.

Keywords: Mathematics, higher education, academic performance, business degree, advanced high school.