The main purpose of this paper is to shed light on some of the main determinants of students’ attitudes towards Statistics in Higher Education (HE). The originality of our approach consists in taking into consideration “subjective” (cognitive, behavioral) and “objective” (individual, socio-economic, previous school trajectory) variables together and investigate the interplay among them.

We collected data from a new wave of the Pedagogical Observatory (PO) Survey[1] applied to ISEG students at the beginning of the 1^st semester 2014/2015. We also have information, from the ISEG-PO data base , on individual characteristics (gender, age), background variables (fathers’ and mothers’ school levels, own civil status and situation towards employment) and some leading indicators of the individuals’ school trajectory: field of study (social sciences, science & technology, other) during Upper Secondary Education (USec), number of years between USec conclusion and insertion into HE, success/failure in Mathematics (grades & number of retentions) in USec and in HE and grades obtained in Statistics in HE.

This broader approach goes in line with research referred and developed by Mata, Monteiro & Peixoto (2012), among other[2], and emphasize the interaction between motivation-related variables and the learning environment, support and expectations at home, as well as, characteristics of previous school trajectory.

Townsend et al (1998), Borin da Silva et al (2002), Nasser (2004), Vanhoof et al (2006), Bui & Alfaro (2011) and Koh & Zawi (2014) point to the existence of some kind of transfer of attitudes and perception between Mathematics and Statistics and consequent impact of  students’ past and present attitudes and preparedness towards Mathematics on the preparedness and motivation towards Statistics.  Concerning the influence of field of study during Upper Secondary (USec), authors as Borin da Silva et al and Koh and Zawi opum cit find that students from arts and humanities tend to express higher demotivation and discomfort towards Statistics, eventually but not necessarily in lign with equivalent attitudes and or preparedness towards Mathematics while students from social sciences and especially from science and technology tend to express themselves much more favorably towards the discipline. Being out of study for several years and especially between the completion of USec and the attendance of HE, may have important consequences not only in level of confidence but also in skills and knowledge depreciation.

In the context of the interaction between motivational and cognitive variables, Bui & Alfaro, op. cit. didn´t found confirmation of their hypothesis that “non-traditional students” would bear worse attitudes and expectations towards Statistics than regular students but Koh & Zawi, op. cit, which considered as well students´ marital status and situation towards employment found large corroboration for the same hypothesis.

[1]“Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics” (SATS) available from http://www.unm.edu/~cschau/satshomepage.htm

[2] Townsend et al (1998), Borin da Silva et al (2002), Nasser (2004), Vanhoof et al (2006), Bui & Alfaro (2011) and Koh & Zawi (2014)

• Borin da Silva, C., Brito, M.R.F., Cazorla, I.M. & Vendramini, C. M.M. (2002). Attitudes towards Statistics and towards Mathematics. Psico USF , vol 7, n2, http://pepsic.bvsalud.org/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-82712002000200011 • Bui, Ngoc, H. & Alfaro, Michelle (2011). Statistics Anxiety and Sciences Attitudes: Age, Gender and Ethnicity Factors. Read Periodicals Online, http://www.readperiodicals.com/201109/2493376571.html#ixzz3P7a8hMDM • Dauphinee, T.l., Schau,C. & Stevens, J.J. (1997),” Survey of Attitudes Towards Statistics: Factor structure and factorial invariance for females and males”, Structural Equation Modeling, 4, 129-141. • Leão Fernandes, Graça, Chagas Lopes, Margarida (2012),” Understanding students'attitudes towards statistics: evidence from ISEG”, ECER2012, Cádiz, Spain. • Leão Fernandes, Graça (2013), “Understanding students' attitudes towards Mathematics: evidence from ISEG” WERA 2013, Sydney, Australia • Koh, D. & Mohd, K. Zawi (2014). Statistics Anxiety among Postgraduate Students. International Education Studies, vol. 7, nº13, http://www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/ies/article/view/43612/23808 • Mata, M.L., Monteiro, V. & Peixoto, F. (2012). Attitudes towards Mathematics: Effects of Individual, Motivational and Social Support Factors. Child Development Research, Vol. 2012, http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdr/2012/876028/. • •Miller, A. & Schau,C. (2010), “Assessing students’attitudes: the good, the bad and the ugly”, Joint Statistical Meetings, Vancouver, available at http://www.evaluationandstatistics.com\JSM2010.pdf. • Nasser, F. (2004). Structural Modelo f the Effects of Cognitive and Affective Factors on the Achievement of Arabic-Speaking Pre-Service Teachers in Introductory Statistics. Journal of Statistics Education, vol. 12, nº 1, www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v12n1/nasser.html • Schau,C. (2003), “Students’Attitudes: The “other” important Outcomes in statistical Education”, Joint Statistical Meetings, San Francisco, available at http://www.evaluationandstatistics.com\JSM2003.pdf. • Schau,C. (2008), “Common Issues in SATS Research”, Joint Statistical Meetings, available at http://www.evaluationandstatistics.com\JSM2008.pdf • Townsend, Michael A. R., Moore, Dennis W., Tuck, Brian F., & Wilton, Keri M. (1998). Self-concept and Anxiety in University Students Studying Social Science Statistics Within a Co-operative Learning Structure. Educational Psychology: An International Journal of Experimental Educational Psychology. Vol 18, Issue 1, 41-54, http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/0144341980180103#.VMVQBP6sWSp • Vanhoof, S., Sotos, A.E.C., Onghena, P., Verschaffel, L., Van Dooren, W. & den Noortgate W. V. (2006). Attitudes Toward Statistics and their Relationship with Short- and Long-Term Exam Results. Journal of Statistics Education vol. 14, nº 3, www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v14n3/vanhoof.html