Comparison of Year of Study, Cumulative Grade Point Average on Self-Sufficiency Development of Marketing Students in Bangkok Metropolis

Abstract

The study compared academic factors – specifically, year of study and cumulative grade point average (GPA) – with the self-sufficiency development of marketing students in Bangkok Metropolis and proposed policies for curriculum enhancement and teaching approaches within marketing programs. The sample consisted of marketing students from universities in the Bangkok, selected through networking and snowball sampling techniques. Data analysis incorporated 409 fully completed online questionnaires and employed descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, along with inferential statistics such as One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Post Hoc Tests. The findings revealed that students who were studying in different academic years demonstrated overall self-development potential, particularly in specific areas such as competency building, transitioning from individuality to interdependence, and goal development, with statistical significance level of 0.05. Students with varying GPAs showed differences in overall self-development potential and in areas such as competency development, transitioning from individuality to interdependence, maturation of relationship development, identity formation, and moral integrity development, also at the significant level of 0.05.  While, the findings supported traditional educational curricula, they may not align with the current educational system which has changed. This leads to policy recommendations for educational institutions in Thailand, particularly in marketing, emphasizing practical implementation and requiring consideration for development. Recommendations include: 1) adopting appropriate teaching and learning approaches to promote and support learning outside the classroom and lifelong learning, 2) establishing a credit accumulation system, and 3) designing a curriculum that can enhance both academic and professional experiences to prepare Thai marketing students as modern marketers.