How do university students of different ethnic backgrounds perceive factors that hinder learning in STEM and non-STEM majors?

This study explores university students’ perceptions of factors that hinder student learning with particular attention to students’ discipline (STEM vs non-STEM) and ethnicity. A sample of 1684 university students in New Zealand participated in this study. Students’ responses to an open-ended question were first inductively coded and then quantitatively analyzed using Chi-square independence test and logistic regression. The findings identified several situational, dispositional, and institutional factors that hinder student learning, among them financial difficulties and work commitments, health, and family issues were more dominant. These factors are perceived differently by students of different disciplines and ethnicities. For instance, Asian students were less likely to refer to financial difficulties and work commitments compared to the other ethnicities, whereas Pasifika and then Māori students perceived family issues more than other ethnic groups. STEM major students were more likely to believe the teaching quality restricts their learning than their non-STEM counterparts. The study findings have several educational and well-being implications for diverse bodies of students in tertiary education.