Advances in Management and Applied Economics

Academic Preparation, Gender, and Student Performance in Operations Management

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• Abstract

  This paper uses an ordered probit model on a sample of 427 students enrolled in operations management; a required course in the curriculum of many business colleges. Analysis on the estimated model and further study into the marginal impact of each explanatory variable displays the expected result that student grade point average and general choice of academic major are both good predictors of academic performance in operations management. Interestingly, when prior grade point average and academic major chosen are controlled, academic performance in prerequisite courses and gender were not found to be significant predictors of student performance in operations management. While lack of sensitivity to differences in gender represents a positive attribute for this course, the inability to link academic performance in prerequisite courses to the final grade in operations management raises some important questions on the business curriculum.