Effect of Information Literacy on Academic Performance of Business Students in Pakistan

Abstract The present research investigated the effect of information literacy on the academic performance of business students enrolled at the top seven business education institutions from urban Sindh, Pakistan. A quantitative research approach using a cross-sectional survey was used to conduct this investigation. The data were collected from 385 business students enrolled in different degree programs using a questionnaire. The recruitment of the participants was done through proportionate stratified simple random and systematic sampling techniques, with the results indicating that business students are information literate. In addition, the information literacy of business students appeared as a positive predictor of their academic performance. These results may inform policy and practice to improve business education and might be useful for business educators, policymakers, librarians, and business accrediting bodies (e.g., National Business Education Accreditation Council and Higher Education Commission) in designing a needs-based information literacy instruction program and curriculum for business students of all levels for better human-information interaction. This study contributed to the existing literature on the effectiveness of information literacy in academia, particularly on business students’ academic performance, as no such research was available in the existing literature at the time of writing this article, specifically from the South-Asian region.