Differentiating factors in ARA Groups(groups of high academic achievement) and its effects on the definition of university strategies

Abstract

This PhD thesis, which is presented in the mode of published articles, explores the differentiating factors of a High Academic Achievement Program at a public technological university in Spain and how they can affect the definition of the university strategies. The Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (UPV), launched in the 2010-11 academic year the High Academic Achievement Groups (Grupos de Alto Rendimiento Academico, from now on ARA Groups), characterized by a good number of courses taught using English as a medium of instruction, a small number of students in the class, and highly qualified teachers. English taught courses are a global phenomenon, associated to improved English language and internationalization skills, but it raises concerns about learning outcomes and equity (Dearden, 2014). The purpose of this study was to assess the first promotion (2010-2014) of this program at the five university bachelor degrees of the UPV that offered it. We wanted to analyze if this action has had any impact on a set of variables related to academic outcomes, international exchange programs, and business of the participating students in comparison with the rest of students of these degrees and hence, on their employability upon graduation. The sample consisted in the total of 3,543 students of the five degrees offering this innovation, of which 560 belonged to the ARA Groups. The first article Effects of business on students, employers, and higher education institutions: a systematic (Sanahuja Velez, G., and Ribes Giner, G., 2015) was published by the Journal of Employment Counselling on September 2015. The second publication consists of a Book Chapter published by Springer International Publishing on January 2017: Intrapreneuring within a higher education institution: virtual business internships (Sanahuja Velez, G., Ribes Giner, G., Moya Clemente, I., 2017) in Entrepreneurial Universities (Peris-Ortiz, M., Alonso Gomez, J., Merigo Lindahl, J. M., and Rueda-Armengot, C., Eds.). The third publication is a Systematic review of English Medium of Instruction (EMI) in higher education institutions. The case of a Business School, presented as a conference at the 2nd Seminar on Learning Internationalization: English Medium of Instruction (EMI) of the Centro de Lenguas of the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia (March 30 and 31st, 2017) and which is currently being reviewed for its publication in its international journal. The fourth research work is the article Enhancing student internationalization and employability in a Business School, which is presently been given full consideration for publication at the Journal of Business Management and Business Economics. The fifth article presents the core results of the empirical part of this research work and it is entitled: Introducing a High Academic Achievement Program in a Technological University as a Social Innovation Mechanism to Enhance Graduates' Employability. This paper is currently given full consideration for publication at the journal Technovation. The overall conclusions of our research allow us to conclude that, from the academic point of view, the objectives of the High Academic Achievement Groups of the UPV were met, as results show that academic performance was enhanced. Our results also show that participation into exchange programs, at the School of Business Administration and Management and in the UPV as a whole, was almost four times higher in the ARA groups. Having in mind that better grades and international experience are directly linked to future employability and mobility of graduates, it is expected that these graduates will have a superior reception in the labor market.