University Student Participation in Out-of-Class Activities: Consequences on Study Career and Academic Achievement

Student university experience is not limited to class attendance. In fact students may be involved in various out-of-class activities implying both horizontal interaction with peers and vertical interaction with faculty. The participation in these activities may influence students’ performance and career. The chapter aims at at exploring the relationship between students’ involvement in extra-curricular and out-of-class activities and two aspects of their academic performance: the regularity of their study career and their academic achievement. It also deals with the different participation in extra-curricular or out-of-class activities according to students’ characteristics. It is based on the study of a large random representative sample of students attending a comprehensive institution covering both undergraduate and graduate courses, and a wide range of study fields. Further, it investigates students’ university experience and its outcomes profiting from the opportunity to match individual survey data on students’ characteristics and behaviours with a vast array of administrative data on students’ career.