Factors influencing the academic progress of master’s students in higher education

• Published in: Tímarit um uppeldi og menntun
• Main Authors: Ólafsdóttir, Anna, Gunnþórsdóttir, Hermína
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: Icelandic
• Published: Menntavísindasvið Háskóla Íslands 2020
• Subjects: university studies; master’s studies; study progress; university students; organisation of study programmes and teaching; háskólanám; meistaranám; námsframvinda; háskólanemendur; skipulag náms og kennslu; Akureyri; Iceland; University of Akureyri
• Online Access: https://ojs.hi.is/tuuom/article/view/3033; https://doi.org/10.24270/tuuom.2019.28.2

Access to education supports social innovation and competitiveness and, just as importantly, societies should be able to offer attractive and diverse job options, or an environment and conditions which engender a variety of professional opportunities (Byggðastofnun, 2013). In the case of Iceland, course offerings at university level were restricted to the capital well into the 1980s. In 1987 the University of Akureyri (UNAK) was established, resulting in greater availability of university education. Today, those who decide to embark on programmes of academic study in Iceland have a choice of seven universities, four of which are outside the area of the capital (Anna Ólafsdóttir & Jón Torfi Jónasson, 2017). During the past few decades the main growth in student numbers has been at postgraduate level (Gauti Sigþórsson, 2011). In that context, one should note the wide-ranging age of students at Icelandic universities. This has drawn attention to how well students are prepared to embark on academic study with regard to family circumstances, work and financial situation (Anna Ólafsdóttir & Jón Torfi Jónasson, 2017). Thus, it is seen as a significant challenge for those who organise academic study programmes to create circumstances which enable the students to complete their studies and to ensure that the education they have invested in is relevant to their professional fields. The aim of the reported research was to identify factors which either help or hinder the academic progress of students at the University of Akureyri, which was chosen because the authors hold academic positions at this particular establishment and anticipate that the results of the research could constitute a useful contribution to quality improvement work at UNAK and other universities. The focus was on various aspects of master’s programmes such as organisation of study, geographical and establishment-related factors, as well as personal circumstances. The above factors of influence were, among other things, investigated with the ...