Abstract
There are disparities in academic outcomes of Pasifika and New Zealand European (NZE) students in anatomy courses. Many factors may influence their academic performance, including socio-economic background. In New Zealand, the equity index (EQI) has been developed to distribute equity funding and resources to schools and kura. A school with a high EQI means that the school has a higher proportion of students who face socio-economic barriers. We aim to: (1) compare the academic performance and high school background of Pasifika and NZE anatomy students at the University of Otago, and (2) determine if high school EQI is associated with their performance in anatomy courses. 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. In all ten anatomy courses, Pasifika students received, on average, lower final marks than NZE students. The average high school EQI was higher for 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, higher school EQI was associated with lower marks in one second-year anatomy course. Our findings highlight that the association between high school EQI and academic performance in tertiary education is sustained beyond first-year undergraduate studies.