The Prediction of Success of Three Ethnic Groups in the Academic Components of a Nursing-Training Program At a Large Metropolitan Hospital

Abstract

Concerned with the prediction of success in the academic components of a nursing-training program conducted in a large metropolitan hospital, this study involved the determination of the relationship between each of 15 predictor variables (primarily reflecting cognitive abilities and studies skills) and each of 13 criterion measures representing course grades and scores on the National League for Nursing Achievement Tests. For each of 3 samples of 223 Caucasians, 73 Mexican-Americans, and 67 Negroes, validity coefficients of individual predictor variables and of composites of predictor variables were obtained along with an identification of rotated factors common to predictor variables and criterion measures. In general, higher validity coefficients both of individual predictor variables and of optimally weighted composites of these variables were obtained for the sample of Caucasians than for either one of the other two ethnic groups. A measure of reading vocabulary was the single most valid predictor variable for all three samples. For all three ethnic groups, similar factorial dimensions emerged to describe the interrelationships obtained among the predictor and criterion variables.