Studying business administration in Vienna: The perception of alternative educational institutions by freshman now and then

Abstract

The goal of this study was to investigate how students at the Center for Business Studies at the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Economics and Business differ with respect to their personality traits and their expectations of their respective universities. To this aim, 816 students at the University of Vienna and the Vienna University of Economics and Business were surveyed using face-to-face interviews. Results indicate that students at the two institutions differ in a variety of ways. Students at the University of Vienna evaluate broad course offerings, support services by lecturers, and a good climate between students as being more important than do students at Vienna University of Economics and Business. Respondents in the two samples also differ with respect to their self-assessed verbal and quantitative skills. The implications of these results are discussed and findings are compared with those of an earlier study investigating students at the two universities.