Abstract
Objective: Pasifika students in New Zealand are overrepresented in poor academic outcomes including in anatomy courses. Many factors may influence their academic performance, including socio-economic background. Schools in New Zealand has equity index (EQI) to distribute equity funding and resources. A school with a high EQI means that the school has a high proportion of students who face socio-economic barriers. We aimed to: 1) compare the academic performance and high school background of Pasifika and New Zealand European (NZE) anatomy students at the University of Otago, and 2) determine if high school EQI is associated with performance in anatomy courses.
Methods: Demographic and student academic performance data in ten anatomy courses (four second-year and six third-year undergraduate courses) were collected from the University of Otago internal database. Students’ high school names were matched with their EQI from the Ministry of Education website.
Results: In all ten anatomy courses, Pasifika students received on average lower final marks than NZE students. The average high school EQI was higher in Pasifika students than in NZE students in five anatomy courses. Univariate regression analyses indicated that higher school EQI was associated with lower academic performance in all four second-year anatomy courses, and one third-year biological anthropology course. After controlling for age, gender, ethnicity, and anatomy major, high school EQI was associated with lower marks in one second-year anatomy course.
Conclusion: Our findings highlight the importance to support Pasifika students during their education journey in universities in New Zealand, especially those who face greater socio-economic barrier.