[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-205471-105":59,"doc-detail-205471-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","the-variables-that-predict-science-undergraduates-timely-degree-completion-a-conceptual-model","The Variables that Predict Science Undergraduates’ Timely Degree Completion - a Conceptual Model","","Science undergraduates’ timely degree completion (TDC) has become increasingly important for students, universities, and society due to cost, efficiency, and productivity considerations. This study examined how multiple variables relate to TDC for Bachelor of Science (BSc) students at an Australian research-intensive university. Results indicated that two time-dependent variables (gender and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) and two time-independent variables (major count and year-level academic achievement) significantly predicted TDC, and that timely students showed higher weighted average marks.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-variables-that-predict-science-undergraduates-timely-degree-completion-a-conceptual-model/205471/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-variables-that-predict-science-undergraduates-timely-degree-completion-a-conceptual-model/205471.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Liam","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-29","2026-09-05",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",11,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Which variables were found to predict timely degree completion (TDC)?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"The study found two time-dependent variables—gender and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)—and two time-independent variables—the number of discipline majors and specific year-level academic achievement—to predict TDC.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"How did students who completed on time differ academically from those who did not?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"Students who completed their degree on time had significantly higher mean weighted average marks (WAM) than non-TDC students for each year of study.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"What does the conceptual model contribute for understanding TDC?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"The conceptual model presents predictive interrelationships among the time-independent and time-dependent variables, helping stakeholders understand how these factors jointly shape TDC among science undergraduates.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},205471,1788580007,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":140,"language":141,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":142,"faqs":143,"seo_title":144,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":145,"preview_page_count":4},8796095461564,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","The Variables that Predict Science Undergraduates’ Timely Degree Completion: a Conceptual Model  \nGerry Rayner1 · Theo Papakonstantinou1  \nAccepted: 12 July 2022 © The Author(s) 2022  \nAbstract  \nScience undergraduates’ timely degree completion (TDC) has become increasingly important for students themselves, universities, and society, due to issues such as cost, efficiency, and productivity, respectively. This study investigated the potential effect of several variables on TDC of Bachelor of Science (BSc) students at an Australian research-intensive university. Results showed that two time-dependent variables (TDVs)—gender and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)—predicted TDC. Two time-independent variables (TIVs)—the number of discipline majors and specific year level academic achievement—also predicted TDC. Students who completed on time had a significantly higher mean weighted average mark (WAM) than non-TDC students, for each year of study, and more females than males completed their BSc in a timely manner. The primary determinants of TDC were gender, number of discipline majors, and WAM at each of years 2 and 3. Our conceptual model of TDC indicates the predictive interrelationships among these TIVs and TDVs. A more informed understanding of the study’s outcomes among university stakeholders has considerable potential to enhance the engagement, scaffolding, achievement, and TDC of science undergraduates.  \nKeywords Australian Tertiary Admission Rank · Academic achievement · Age at enrolment · Gender · Major number · Time to degree  \nIntroduction  \nOver the past two decades, governments, industry, and policy-makers have consistently called for higher enrolments in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in Australia (Australian Government, 2020a), the UK (Cm8980, 2014), European Union (EU Skills Panorama, 2012), and the USA (National Academy of Sciences, 2010) . Such calls underscore the current and potential future value of science graduates to national economies (Australian Academy of Science, 2015, 2016) . The timeliness of science undergraduates’ degree (e.g. Bachelor of Science or BSc) completion is crucial  \n* Gerry Rayner [gerry.rayner@monash.edu](gerry.rayner@monash.edu)  \n1 School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Melbourne, VIC 3800, Australia  \n1 3  \nfor graduates themselves in terms of paid employment (Baum et al. , 2013), remediation of tertiary debt (Williams, 2014), and further study opportunities that enhance their employability and likelihood of higher paid employment (Palmer et al. , 2018) . For universities, enhanced timely degree completion (TDC) is likely to generate greater productivity and efficiency. Finally, there is a monetary windfall associated with more rapid degree completion, which for Australia is estimated to be $A2.7 billion by 2030 (Ernst & Young, 2019) .  \nDespite the recognised importance of TDC, research over the past two decades has shown that in broad terms, tertiary students are taking considerably longer than the minimum specified time to complete their degree (Bound et al., 2012 ; Contini et al., 2018 ; Edwards & McMillan, 2015) . In comparing the timeliness of students’ completion of their degree across various disciplines, Tentsho et al. (2019) reported that science and technology students took significantly longer than both humanities and social science students and education students to complete their degree. This is consistent with the findings of Lassibille and Gómez (2011), among their cohorts of business, arts, engineering, and humanities students.  \nFactors shown to impact students’ degree completion time include their socio-economic status (SES) (Bound et al., 2007 ; Cabrera et al., 2005 ; Contini et al., 2018 ; Zarifa et al., 2018), age (Taniguchi & Kaufman, 2005), gender (Corbett et al., 2008 ; Lin et al., 2020 ; Tentsho et al., 2019), and measures of academic achievement (Allen & Robbins, 2010 ; DesJardins et al., 2003 ","cbCaijtNKykokAnt","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijtNKykokAnt","pdf",963870,14,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"Which variables were found to predict timely degree completion (TDC)?\",\"answer\":\"The study found two time-dependent variables—gender and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR)—and two time-independent variables—the number of discipline majors and specific year-level academic achievement—to predict TDC.\"},{\"question\":\"How did students who completed on time differ academically from those who did not?\",\"answer\":\"Students who completed their degree on time had significantly higher mean weighted average marks (WAM) than non-TDC students for each year of study.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the conceptual model contribute for understanding TDC?\",\"answer\":\"The conceptual model presents predictive interrelationships among the time-independent and time-dependent variables, helping stakeholders understand how these factors jointly shape TDC among science undergraduates.\"}]","The Variables that Predict Science Undergraduates’ Timely Degree Completion - a Conceptual Model | PDF",35]