Academic skills least valued when assessing the ‘ideal student’ by academics and peers

Summary: Higher education staff and students value the ideal university student as a hard-working and punctual person, but not necessarily a genius.

Source: Taylor & Francis group.

The ‘ideal student’ according to both students and university staff is a punctual, organized, hard worker and enthusiastic learner, rather than someone with excellent academic results, high intelligence and good employability skills.

The journal, Education Review has published this study, which involved a survey of over 1,000 students and staff at British universities, and focus groups with 132 members of both these groups.

Participants were asked to note down their top five most and least important characteristics they consider of an ideal student. The researchers then asked the university students and academic staff across the UK to rate each of the characteristics on a scale of one to five of importance.

The study results indicated that there are eight dimensions to being the ‘ideal student’, in order, as:

1. diligence and engagement
2. organisation and discipline
3. reflection and innovation
4. positive and confident outlook
5. Supportive of others
6. academic skills
7. employability skills
8. Intelligence and a strategic approach.

The choices indicate that academic staff as well as the majority of students consider punctuality, rule abiding, dedicated and an enthusiastic student as ideal. Being intelligent and strategic do not appear to be much importance for staff and only moderately more important for students.

This is surprising, given the extent to which graduates are time and again judged on their degree results. Universities are also ranked and advertised by the employment statistics of their graduates, so it is quite interesting to see that employment skills feature towards the bottom of the ideal list of attributes.

However, there was a slight difference of opinion between students and staff in their idea of the ‘ideal student’. For example, staff rated employability skills lower than students. Having a ‘positive and confident outlook’ was ranked third by students whereas it was ranked sixth by staff, reflecting the greater importance of mental health and happiness to students.

The study highlights a difference between staff and students in their approach and priorities around student welfare. The study might be beneficial for staff professional development to include training on the role that staff can take part in supporting the welfare of students.