A STUDY OF THE FACTORS RELATING TO ADMISSION AND ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT OF FEMALE STUDENTS IN THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION, MECCA, SAUDI ARABIA

Purpose of the Study. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship of science scores and math scores on the Public Secondary Examination, as well as age groups and place of residency, to academic achievement in science and math in the College of Education, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for female students.;Results and Conclusions. (1) With the exception of female freshmen biology majors, all the null hypotheses, including those relating to age and place of residence, were rejected at the freshman, sophomore, and junior/senior levels for math majors and science majors. (2) Significant positive relationships existed between the following in all college levels: (a) math scores and math grades; (b) chemistry scores and chemistry grades; (c) physics scores and physics grades; and (d) biology scores and biology grades (except for freshmen biology). (3) No relationship was found between biology scores and (a) college biology grades and (b) college science-math GPA's for freshmen biology majors. (4) Science scores and math scores were found to be good predictors for college academic achievement in math and science with one exception, for freshmen biology majors. (5) Twelfth grade science-math GPA's were found to be a better predictor of college achievement than individual math scores or science scores earned on the Public Secondary Examination.;Based on these conclusions, a recommendation was made to enhance the quality of the admissions system and to support qualified students' opportunities, as well.;Procedures. The population for this study was a random sample of 354 female college students from the Mathematics Department and Science Department, Umm-Al-Kura University. The data were examined to determine if correlations existed between age and place of residence; scores in math, biology, chemistry, and physics on the Public Secondary Examination; and college grades achieved in math, biology, chemistry, and physics and college science-math GPA's for each student. Frequency distribution, simple correlation coefficient, and Multiple Linear Regression were applied to analyze the data.