Effect of Gender on College Students' Satisfaction and Achievement: The Case of a Midsized Midwestern Public University

Abstract

One way through which quality and overall effectiveness of higher educational institutions are measured is by student outcomes, such as student retention, attrition, and graduation rates. One such factor that affects student retention, attrition, and graduation rate is college students’ satisfaction with the college experience. Although a number of studies have been conducted to examine the effect of student satisfaction on GPA, there are only few studies that have examined the effect of gender on college students’ satisfaction and GPA, whose findings were inconsistent. This study replicates and extends the research on the effect of gender on different college outcomes such as students’ satisfaction, ACT scores, and GPA at a midsized Midwestern public university. Selected demographic and attitudinal data were collected between 2001 and 2009 from a sample of 5223 senior students representing five colleges at the university. We find that gender has a significant effect on student’s satisfaction, ACT scores, and GPA. However, the effect size of gender on satisfaction and ACT scores was minimal. Implications of these findings and future research directions are discussed.