A number of different background factors have been seen to affect Essay

A number of different background factors have been seen to affect successful performance in Higher Education (HE). Identify one - Essay Example Age of students is yet another factor which has been found to be highly correlated with students’ performance in undergrad programs (Barrow et al., 2009). In the context of institutions whose population is skewed towards mature adult students, there is a strong linkage between the percentage of mature students and their non-completion percentages (Barrow et al., 2009). The main reason for this the diversity of entry routes employed by these students when they enroll into an undergrad program (Barrow et al., 2009). Interestingly, mature strata of students are found to have achieved better grades than their non-mature counterparts. Similarly, the relationship of socio-economic class and ethnicity with entry route also presumes much importance in research literature (Barrow et al., 2009). This is attributed to lower standards of pre entry qualifications of ethnic minorities, particularly those from overseas. There is, however, a large section of this relationship that remains une xplained. Perhaps, one of the most significant factors affecting higher education is gender. Research demonstrates that a larger percentage of female undergraduate students successfully achieve ‘good’ degrees (either a first or a II: i) compared to their male counterparts (Barrow et al., 2009).