Chapter 12 Determinants of Academic Performance in Bachelor Theses: Evidence from the Faculty of Military Sciences at the Netherlands Defence Academy Robert Beeres and Myriame Bollen Contents 12.1 Introduction...................................................................................................................... 196 12.2 NLDA-FMS Bachelor’s Degree Program Military Management Studies (MMS) ............................................................................................................................. 198 12.3 Hypotheses....................................................................................................................... 200 12.3.1 Gender and Academic Performance................................................................... 200 12.3.2 Age and Academic Performance........................................................................ 201 12.3.3 Services and Academic Performance ................................................................. 202 12.4 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 203 12.5 Results.............................................................................................................................. 203 12.6 Conclusion and Discussion ............................................................................................. 205 References .................................................................................................................................. 206 Abstract Using the grades obtained for Bachelor ’s theses as a yardstick, this chapter examines factors influencing the academic performance of undergraduate students in military management studies at the Faculty of Military Sciences at the Netherlands Defence Academy. To this end, over the last six years surveys have been conducted amongst 184 cadets and midshipmen, representing all services (i.e., Navy, Army, Air Force and Military Police) in the Netherlands Armed Forces. Academic performance is measured by comparing the grades obtained for Bachelor ’s theses from 2013 until 2018. We apply various statistical tests to R. Beeres (&) Á M. Bollen Faculty of Military Sciences, Netherlands Defence Academy, PO Box 90002, 4800 PA Breda, The Netherlands e-mail: RJM.Beeres@mindef.nl M. Bollen e-mail: MTIB.Bollen.01@mindef.nl © T.M.C. ASSER PRESS and the authors 2019 W. Klinkert et al. (eds.), NL ARMS Netherlands Annual Review of Military Studies 2019, NL ARMS, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-315-3_12 195