In 2022, Canada had the highest share of adults with a university degree, at over 60 percent of those between the ages of 25 and 64. India had the smallest share of people with a university degree, at 13 percent of the adult population. University around the world Deciding which university to attend can be a difficult decision for some and in today’s world, people are not left wanting for choice. There are thousands of universities around the world, with the highest number found in India and Indonesia. When picking which school to attend, some look to university rankings, where Harvard University in the United States consistently comes in on top. Moving on up One of the major perks of attending university is that it enables people to move up in the world. Getting a good education is generally seen as a giant step along the path to success and opens up doors for future employment. Future earnings potential can be determined by which university one attends, whether by the prestige of the university or the connections that have been made there. For instance, graduates from the Stanford Graduate School of Business can expect to earn around 250,000 U.S. dollars annually.

The purpose of this data set is to examine distinctions across different measurement instruments used to measure student self-perceptions and attitudes towards mathematics. 225 college undergraduate students took one randomized survey containing the following scales: 1) Mathematics self-efficacy and Anxiety Questionnaire (MSEAQ, May, 2009), 2) Self-Descriptive Questionnaire-III (SDQ-III, Marsh & O’Neill, 1984) [All 10 items for the math self-concept subset were included in this survey. The other SDQ items represent incomplete question sets], 3) Mathematical Self-efficacy Scale – Middle School (UPMSES, Usher & Pajares, 2009), 4) Mathematical Self-Concept Scale (GMSCS, Gourgey, 1982), 5) Nine items from the Fennema Sherman Mathematics Attitude Scales (FSMAS, Mulhern & Rae, 1998)[These items do not represent the entire scale as developed], and 6) Three original items measuring student beliefs related to seeking help in mathematics classes. The survey originally included two items that were specific to the undergraduate course the students were currently enrolled in, but they have been removed from the dataset. Additionally, for a subset of the students the dataset includes information on gender, race, major (STEM vs. nonSTEM), course grade, course exam average, and homework completion percentage. The separate scales were all compiled into one survey programmed in Qualtrics. Questions were randomized within scales and scales were randomized within the entire survey. The survey was available for a one-week time period during which participants could complete it at their leisure. Qualtrics allowed multiple entries so that the entire survey could be completed in multiple settings. The data reporting demographic and course information was obtained through school records.