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Senior Survey, 1998

Business majors highlights

Displays accompany each of the key findings presented below. Displays 3b-8b and 10b-11b show ratings for all Business majors combined (marked with an *). Ratings for other majors are shown only if their ratings differ from the overall Business rating.

Recommend UCB (Display 1b): Between 85-94% of majors would recommend UCB to a friend with "some" or "no" reservations. There is very little difference across Business majors in their propensity to recommend UCB to a friend.

Major characteristics (Display 2b)

• Overall, Accounting majors rate their courses as most difficult. Fifty-three percent of Accounting majors say their courses are "too difficult;" only 12% of Marketing seniors say their courses are "too difficult."
• While most seniors say the amount of structure in their major is "about right," slightly under one-third of Finance and Accounting majors say that their program is "too rigid."
• A majority of seniors in every Business major say their program is "about right" rather than "too theoretical" or "too practical."
• Nearly one-third of Information Systems seniors say their program’s emphasis is "too broad;" one-third of the Finance seniors say their program’s emphasis is "too specialized."

Importance after graduation and achievement now (Displays 3b-4b): Business seniors rate skill and knowledge areas very similarly across majors.

• All majors rate managing time/tasks, general computing, and interpersonal relations high in both importance and achievement; Information Systems seniors rate general computing slightly higher in importance and achievement than other majors.
• Information Systems seniors rate the importance of six areas lower than other Business majors, including working with people from different cultures, ethical/moral issues, world affairs, foreign language, world history, and fine arts. [Note that they do not rate their level of achievement in these areas lower than other majors.] Information Systems seniors rate general computing and applying theories higher than seniors in other majors.

Satisfaction (Display 5b):

• Across all majors, highest levels of satisfaction are reported for overall UCB, social, and recreational experiences, academic experience in the major, and upper-division course instruction.
• Accounting seniors are generally more satisfied than other seniors. Accounting seniors are more satisfied with availability of clubs/professional organizations, opportunities for faculty interaction, texts and instructional materials, course quality for employment or graduate school, availability of required and desired courses, and lower-division course instruction.

Activities (Display 6b): Seniors in all Business majors indicate that they used a computer to access the World Wide Web more often than any other activity listed during their last full term.

• As compared to other Business majors, Information Systems seniors are more likely to discuss something learned in class with others, integrate coursework with other knowledge, apply course material to practical problems, interact with faculty or their TA for course help and course feedback, give an oral presentation, have a serious talk with someone from a different background, read a scientific journal, and do suggested or extra course readings.
• As compared to other Business majors, Accounting majors are less likely to discuss something learned in class with others, give an oral presentation in class, apply course material to practical problems, and read a scientific journal article.

Starting Over (Display 7b):

• While seniors in all majors report that they would spend more time or put forth more effort toward interacting with faculty if they could start over at UCB, Marketing seniors are most likely to say so.
• Marketing seniors are more likely than seniors in other majors to say they would devote more effort to academic advising; Accounting majors are least likely to say they would devote more time to academic advising.
• Finance seniors are least likely among the Business majors to say they would devote more time or effort toward academics/studying.

Campus Services (Display 8b): Use of various campus services is quite similar across all majors. However,

• Information Systems seniors are most likely and Marketing seniors are least likely to say they used CU listings on the World Wide Web.
• Marketing and Finance seniors are most likely and Accounting seniors are least likely to say they participated in the CU Study Abroad program.

After Graduation Activities (Display 9b): Among those who expect to graduate by summer 1998, few Business seniors say it is "highly likely" they will pursue graduate study within a year of graduating from UCB.

• While Accounting seniors are the most likely to say it is "highly likely" they will pursue graduate work, only 17% indicate that they will do so. Eighty-one percent of Accounting seniors say it is "highly likely" they will be employed full time in the year following graduation.

One Best Thing About the Major Program (from Open-ended Comments) (Display 10b):

By far, the most frequently cited "best aspect of the major program" for Business seniors is faculty performance and interaction. This is especially true for Accounting, Marketing, and Finance seniors.
• Second to faculty performance is the general academic experience and reputation of the University; approximately 30% of Finance seniors mention it as the one best thing about their major program.
• Information Systems seniors are more likely than other Business seniors to mention career advising as the best aspect of their program.

One Thing You’d Like to See Changed About Major Program (Display 11b):

• Business seniors would like more hands-on experiences incorporated into their major program. This is particularly true for Information Systems seniors.
• Marketing seniors are more likely than seniors in other majors to mention courses (i.e., curriculum, core, or major requirements) as in need of change. Approximately one-third of Information Systems seniors also mention specific courses or specific types of courses as areas for change.

Last revision 07/30/03