Academic Success Factors: An IT Student Perspective

Numerous studies have identified causal factors for academic success. Factors vary from personal factors, such as cognitive style (McKenzie & Schweitzer, 2001), to social factors, such as culture differences (Aysan, Tanrıöğen, & Tanrıöğen, 1996). However, in these studies it is researchers who theorized the causal dimensions and hypothesized the causal factors. Students were passive objects used to test the theories or to validate the hypotheses. Each researcher may have developed his or her own scheme of causal structure. These structures are not necessarily identical among researchers nor are they the same as those of students. This study has two objectives. The first is to combine the factors that contribute to academic success that have been identified in the literature and to unify them under a single framework. This is achieved by reviewing the existing literature on academic success and on categorization of academic success factors in order to develop the framework.