The impact of sociocultural background and parental education on academic performance and time management in mathematics and introductory courses

This study investigates the impact of various demographic factors-nationality, migration status, and parental education-on students' academic performance and timing of attempts in both mathematics and introduction courses at an Austrian university. Using a sample of 4445 students, mixed ANOVAs were applied. We examined the time to first and successful attempts, as well as average grades, with respect to these factors. The results revealed that students generally made earlier first and successful attempts, and achieved better grades, in introduction courses compared to mathematics courses. Nationality influenced performance in mathematics courses, with EU students achieving earlier first and successful attempts than Austrian and non-EU students. However, no significant differences were observed in introduction courses based on nationality. Migration status also had a limited effect. In mathematics courses, first-generation migrants performed better than second-generation migrants, but no significant differences were found in the timing of attempts or grades in introduction courses across migration groups. Parental education showed no significant main effects on students' performance or timing of attempts. Overall, the findings suggest that demographic factors such as nationality and migration status affect performance primarily in mathematics courses, while introduction courses show less variation based on these factors. In all cases, students performed better and completed tasks more quickly in introduction courses than in mathematics courses. These results point out to the necessity to consider the high mobility and globalization demands in the organization of higher education system to promote better academic adjustment and better outcomes in STEM fields.