Pre-enrolment factors influencing the academic performance of entrepreneurship students in higher education

Abstract

In South Africa, most students who complete secondary education are underprepared for higher education. Most of those who make it into higher education do not complete their programme on time. Thus, it is essential to study each cohort and understand what would influence their academic performance. The objective of this study is to determine the pre-enrolment factors influencing the academic performance of entrepreneurship students at a tertiary institution in the Western Cape, South Africa. A quantitative approach is followed in this study using a questionnaire to understand the students’ profiles as well the pre-enrolment factors that influence their academic performance. Data was captured and analysed using the latest version of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 26. The top three factors with the highest means relate to lack of career guidance, study material and financial resources. The chi square tests of association confirmed the statistical significance of frequencies. This study has significant implications for both policy development and implementation in basic school education. It also has significant implication for universities in the sense that sufficient support must be in place for the students who come from a not-so-good basic education. Suggestions for further studies are flagged.