1. Social Factors Influencing Academic Success
Christin Carpenter, Isa Eugenio, Kerris Gordon,
Dominique Pearson, Kirk Williamson

2. Introduction
2
How social factors influence the academic success of
university/college students
Research Topic
Methods and Measures Sample 37 question multiple
choice survey built via
Qualtrics
 Distributed via social
media sites and email
listservs
 Measure of academic
success: GPA
 Convenience sample
comprised of 106
college/university
students
 45 males and 61
females between the
ages of 18-24

3. The Impact of Cultural Stereotypes on
Academic Success
3
 Does an individuals race hinder or perpetuate their
success in the classroom?
 Sandra Romero, “Culture, Race, Ethnicity Factors in
Educational Interest, Student Success,” found that Latino’s
would demean other Latino’s who were excelling, saying
they have “lost their culture.”
 James D. Wolfe studied the fall to fall success of students
success in a developmental math course and found that
White and Older students were more likely to succeed than
their non-white and traditional age counterparts.
 Hypothesis: Minorities are less likely to excel in the
classroom than their White counterparts due to
their cultural stereotypes.

4. Results
4
 A greater percentage of Caucasian students had a GPA
>3.5
 The African American sample perceived themselves as
better students than the Hispanics and Caucasian
students.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
GPA < 3.0 GPA 3.0-3.5 GPA > 3.5
PercentageofEthnicGroup
Actual GPA
Hispanic/Latino African American Caucasian
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
A B C D
PercentageofEthnicGroup
Perceived Type of Student
Hispanic/Latino African American Caucasian

5. Conclusion
5
 Although not directly supported by the data,
cultural stereotypes have an impact on student
success, deriving from groupthink and other
outside forces.
 Further Research:
 Examine the impact of teachers cultural bias
 Consider the role of bicultural efficacy and peer
engagement
 Impact of family status upon arriving to the United
States or after immigrating

6. Economic Factors & Academic
Success6
 Research Question: How do financial and
economic factors influence academic success?
 Previous Literature:
 Students with debt (either individual debt or
family debt) have lower GPAs in college and are
less likely to graduate from college.
 Hypothesis: Students who have any type of loan-
based financial aid will consider their financial
status more impactful on their studies and will
perform more poorly in college (as indicated by
current GPA) due to financial-related stress.

7. Results:
7
Students with loans to pay for their education: Students who do not have loans:
 54% of students with loans in their name to pay for their education
considered their financial status as having a moderate (33%), large
(4%), or very large (17%) impact on their grades.
 28% of students without loans considered their financial status as
having a moderate (21%), large (6%), or very large (1%) impact on
their grades.

8. Results
8
 Of the students with loans to pay for their
education: 8% had below a 3.0 GPA, 67% had a
GPA of 3.0-3.5, and 25% had a GPA greater than
3.5.
 Of the students without loans, 11% had below a
3.0 GPA, 37% had a GPA of 3.0-3.5, and 52% had
Students who do not have loans:Students with loans to pay for their education:

9. Conclusion
9
 Students who did have loans in their name
considered their financial status more influential
on their grades than students who did not have
loans in their name to pay for their education.
 Students without loans had higher GPAs than
those who did have loans.
 However, these findings are overall inconclusive
because of the small sample size of students
with loans who took the survey (n=24) in
comparison to those who did not have loans
(n=81).

10. Parent/Alloparent Involvement
10
Research Question:
 Do parent and alloparent
involvement in a child’s
education impact academic
success?
Hypothesis:
 Increased parent and/or
alloparent involvement in a
child’s education will
positively affect academic
success
Chicago Longitudinal
Study:
 Child-Parent Center Program
 Children who participated in
the CPC Program, in
comparison to a similar group
of children who did not,
showed significantly greater
academic performance
Other Studies:
 Increased support, parental or
alloparental, has a positive
affect on academic
performance

11. Results
11
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
very
uninvolved
uninvolved moderately
involved
involved very
involved
Below 3.0 Between 3.0-3.5 Above 3.5
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Below 3.0 Between 3.0-3.5 Above 3.5
Those with GPAs >3.5 and parents in
the moderately involved or lesser
categories all reported having outside
academic support
Positive relationship between parent
academic involvement prior to college
and GPA
Parent involvement in their child’s
education prior to college and high school
GPA
Parent involvement in their child’s
education prior to college and college GPA

12. Results
12
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
1 (Not at
all)
2 3 4 5 (A lot)
Below 3.0 Between 3.0 - 3.5 Above 3.5
Positive relationship between alloparental
figures offering academic support and
college GPA
No clear relationship between
parental grade pressure and
college GPA
Possible Reverse
Causality :
High Parental Grade Pressure  Good Grades
Vs.
Bad Grades  High Parental Grade Pressure
Extent of pressure from parents to
make good grades and college GPA
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
Below 3.0 Between 3.0 -
3.5
Above 3.5
College GPA
Average number of alloparental figures
offering academic support

13. Conclusion
13
 Relationship between GPA and parental academic
involvement prior to college
 Alloparental figures seem to have a positive affect on
academic success
 Cant prove statistical significance due to small, homogenous
sample
 In-depth studies with larger, more diverse samples with
various measures of academic success have found
significant correlations

14. Personal Habits
14
Research Question: How does the amount of time spent on leisure activities
and procrastination affect academic success?
Previous Literature
 “The Role of Study Skills In Academic Achievement of Students” (Fazal, Shawana
2012)
 This journal found that students that used time-management had greater academic
achievements than students who used other types of skills
 “Torn Between Study and Leisure” (Grund, Brassler, and Fries 2014)
 The study in this journal found that students who had motivation strength were able to
self-regulate during both study and leisure activities
 “The Place Of Social Networks In Our Daily Life and Their Effect On Today’s
Youth” (Johnson and Johnson 2009)
 This practical review found that certain leisure activities, such as browsing on social
media, can have harmful effects on effectively managing leisure time, which could
inevitably cause affects on academic performance
Hypotheses
1. An increase in time spent doing leisure activities will have a negative effect on
academic success, represented by a decrease in GPA.
2. Students that procrastinate longer will have lower GPA than students who

15. Results
15
0
5
10
15
20
25
Never Less
than
Once a
Month
Once a
Month
2-3
Times a
Month
Once a
Week
2-3
Times a
Week
Daily
GPAs of participants who
procrasinate
Below 3.0 Between 3.0 - 3.5 Above 3.5
There is a wide-range of GPAs regardless of the amount of
time spent either engaging in leisure activities or
procrastination
0
5
10
15
20
25
Never Not Very
Often
Moderately
Often
Often Very Often
GPAs of participants engaging
in leisure time
Below 3.0 Between 3.0 - 3.5 Above 3.5

16. Findings/Conclusion
16
 Our data concluded that there was not a
significant relationship between GPA values and
the average amount of time students spent on
activities that did not involve academic work
 Therefore, both hypothesis could not be
supported

17. Health/Lifestyle
17
 Research Question: How do personal health habits
affect academic success?
 Previous Literature:
 Exercise and Educational Relationships in Adolescents
(Field, Diego, and Sanders 2001)
 Food Insecurities and Performance on Cognitive Tests
(Jyoti, Frongillo, and Jones 2005)
 Intersection of Sleep, Alcohol, and GPA amongst College
Students (Singleton and Wolfson 2009)
 Hypothesis: Engaging in lifestyle practices that are
deemed “healthy” by the CDC has a positive effect
on GPA.

18. Results
18
Less than 8 Hours of
Sleep
8 Hours of
Sleep
Less than 8 Hours of Sleep & Drink 2-
3 Times a Week
• Small positive relationship
between adequacy of sleep and
GPA
• Small positive relationship
between inadequate sleep,
frequent alcohol consumption,
and GPA
• Similar trends for exercise and

19. Conclusion
19
 There is a moderate positive relationship
between students who engage in healthy habits,
i.e. drinking in moderation, getting adequate
sleep, and eating nutritiously, and an increase in
GPA.

20. Overall Conclusion
20
 Found relationships between various social factors
and their affect on academic success; however,
were unable to find significant results due to
limitations
 Limitations
 Rather homogenous convenience sample: UNC
students, Caucasian, upper-middle class
 GPA as a uniform measure of academic success:
different majors, different schools, grade scales etc.
 Survey: possible false reporting, high-level
 Further research suggestions
 Larger and more diverse sample, detailed survey,
supplemental research—personal interviews, etc.

21. References
21
Coonrad, Lane. "The Effects of Financial Aid Amounts on Academic Performance." Illinois Wesleyan University, 2007. Web.
26 Oct. 2014.
Fazal, Shawana, et al. "The Role Of Study Skills In Academic Achievement Of Students: A Closer Focus On Gender."
Pakistan Journal Of Psychological Research 27.1 (2012): 37-51. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Grund, Axel, Nina K. Brassler, and Stefan Fries. "Torn Between Study And Leisure: How Motivational Conflicts Relate To
Students' Academic And Social Adaptation." Journal Of Educational Psychology 106.1 (2014): 242-257. Academic Search
Complete. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Johnson, David W., and Roger T. Johnson. “An Educational Psychology Success Story: Social Interdependence Theory
and Cooperative Learning.” Educational Researcher 38.5 (2009): 365-379. JSTOR. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Miedel, Wendy T., and Arthur J. Reynolds. "Parent Involvement in Early Intervention for Disadvantaged Children." Journal
of School Psychology 37.4 (1999): 379-402. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
Romero, Sandra. “Culture, Race, Ethnicity Factors in Educational Interest, Student Success.” The Ledger 16 Apr. 2008
Singleton, Royce A., and Amy R. Wolfson. “Alcohol Consumption, Sleep, and Academic Performance Among Colelge
Students.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs 70.3 (2009): 355-63.
Wolfle, James D. “Success and Persistence of Developmental Mathematics Students Based on Age and Ethnicity.”
Community College Enterprise 2012: 39. JSTOR. Web.
Zhan, Min, and Deirdre Lanesskog. "The Impact of Family Assets and Debt on College Graduation." George Warren Brown
School of Social Work. Washington University in St. Louis, 2013. Web. 26 Oct. 2014.