Perceptions of campus climate, academic efficacy and academic success among community college students: an ethnic comparison

The present study examined whether there are ethnic differences in perceptions of campus climate, social support, and academic efficacy among community college students, and whether student perceptions were associated with academic success. A total of 475 community college students completed a questionnaire that measured students’ perceptions of cultural congruity, college environment, mentoring, peer social life and academic self efficacy. Ethnic differences were observed, as African American and Caucasian students reported higher levels of cultural congruity than Asian students and higher academic self efficacy than Asian and Latino students. There were also ethnic differences in the relationship between the students’ perceptions and GPA. Cultural congruity and efficacy correlated with GPA among Latino students, academic efficacy correlated with GPA among Asian students, peer social support and college environment correlated with GPA among Caucasians, however, none of the perceptions scales correlated with GPA among African American students. The lack of relationship between academic efficacy and GPA among African American and Caucasians students is discussed.     

The roles of ethnic identity,anti-white attitudes,and academic self-concept in African American student achievement

Conventional wisdom in much of the educational and psychological literatures states that the ethnic and racial identity of African American students is related to their academic achievement. The purpose of this study was to determine whether ethnic identity and anti-white attitudes predicted the academic achievement of African American students at a historically Black university. A hypothesized path model was proposed that included ethnic identity, attitudes toward other ethnic groups, anti-white attitudes, perceptions of caring faculty, academic self-concept, and devaluing academic success. The path analysis model explained 27% of the variance in grade point average and revealed three direct effects on grade point average: (a) academic self-concept (positive), (b) devaluing academic success (negative), and (c) anti-white attitudes (negative). Ethnic identity was indirectly linked with grade point average (GPA) through academic self-concept and devaluing academic success. Tests of two alternative nested models suggest that even in an indirect role, ethnic identity may be more important than anti-white attitudes in a model of African American academic achievement.

Parental Characteristics,Ecological Factors,and the Academic Achievement of African American Males

Parental characteristics, ecological factors, and the academic achievement of African American male high school students were examined. One hundred fifty‐three 11th and 12th grade African American males completed the Parenting Style Index ( Steinberg, Lamborn, Darling, Mounts, & Dornbusch, 1994 ) and a demographic questionnaire. Results indicated no significant relationship between parenting styles and enrollment in honors courses. However, the results indicated that fathers’ education level and two‐parent family structures are positive predictors of grade point average (GPA), and fathers’ expectations is a negative predictor of GPA. Implications for counselor practice and research are delineated.     

Irrational beliefs that can lead to academic failure for African American middle school students who are academically at-risk

This article describes how rational emotive behavior therapy and other cognitive-behavioral therapies can be used to improve the achievement of academically at-risk African American students at the middle-school level. Definitions of at-risk and a review of relevant literature are provided. This article offers an outline of several main irrational beliefs that can lead to academic failure for African American students at the middle-school level. This author suggested that escalating preferences for justice, acceptance within the African American community, and acceptance by European Americans are at the core for causing academic failure for many of these students. The author describes empirical data which show that once these students learn a realistic philosophy of life—to be more rational, tolerant, nonutopian, and nondemanding—the students improve in their academic self-concept and achievement.     

Culture-based perceptions of academic achievement among low-income elementary students

This study examined the influence of culture on students' perceptions of academic success. Students read scenarios depicting hypothetical classmates achieving success through the cultural themes of individualism, competition, communalism, or verve. Students reported their social endorsement for the hypothetical classmates. A 2x4 repeated measures analysis, examining the effects of cultural group and cultural theme on students' endorsement, revealed an interaction between the two variables. African American students were significantly more accepting of communal and vervistic high-achieving peers than European American students. European American students endorsed individualistic and competitive high achievers significantly more than African American students. These and other findings suggest that the value students attach to academic success should not be understood in the absence of cultural considerations.     

A reputation for success (or failure): the association of peer academic reputations with academic self-concept, effort, and performance across the upper elementary grades

The associations between children's academic reputations among peers and their academic self-concept, effort, and performance were examined in a longitudinal study of 427 students initially enrolled in Grades 3, 4, and 5. Assessments were completed in the fall and spring of 2 consecutive school years and in the fall of a 3rd school year. Peer academic reputation (PAR) correlated moderately strongly with teacher-rated skills and changed over time as a function of grades earned at the prior assessment. Path-analytic models indicated bidirectional associations between PAR and academic self-concept, teacher-rated academic effort, and grade point average. There was little evidence that changes in self-concept mediated the association between PAR and effort and GPA or that changes in effort mediated the association between PAR and GPA. Results suggest that peers may possess unique information about classmates' academic functioning, that children's PARs are psychologically meaningful, and that these reputations may serve as a useful marker of processes that forecast future academic engagement and performance.     

Differences between African American and European American first-year college students in the relationship between self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and academic achievement

First-year African American and European American college students were surveyed to examine ethnic differences in how their social cognitive beliefs (self-efficacy and outcome expectations) influenced their academic achievement. It was hypothesized that outcome expectations may better explain academic achievement for African Americans due to the fact that they may perceive that external factors such as discrimination may influence their academic outcomes. Because European Americans are less likely to anticipate discrimination, they are more likely to believe that their outcomes would be the result of their own behavior. Higher levels of self-efficacy were related to better academic achievement for both ethnic groups. However, African Americans with negative outcome expectations (e.g. my education will not lead to a well paying job) had better achievement than those with more positive outcome expectations. This pattern was not found for European Americans. Potential explanations for the relationship between outcome expectations and academic achievement for African Americans such as racial socialization for preparation for bias are discussed and implications for interventions are addressed.     

Black adolescents: a descriptive study of their self-concepts and academic achievement

This study was designed to determine the relationships among global self-concept, self-concept of academic ability, and academic achievement of black American adolescents. The subjects were 211 tenth-grade students in five public high schools in the Pacific Northwest school district who volunteered to participate in the study. Global self-concept was measured by the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), self-concept of academic ability by the Brookover Self-Concept of Ability (General) Scale, and academic achievement by the California Achievement Test (CAT). The major statistical tools were the Pearson product-moment correlations and Fisher Z statistic. In all of the tests the decision was made to reject the null hypothesis at the .05 level of significance. No significant relationship was found between global self-concept and academic achievement, although the relationship between self-concept of academic ability and academic achievement reached significance. The relationship between self-concept of academic ability and academic achievement correlated more strongly than the relationship between global self-concept and academic achievement. These results suggest that the enhancement of global self-concept might not be a potent intervention for academic improvement for black adolescents.     

Hardiness commitment,gender, and age differentiate university academic performance

Background The increasing diversity of students, particularly in age, attending university has seen a concomitant interest in factors predicting academic success. Aims This 2‐year correlational study examined whether age, gender (demographic variables), and hardiness (cognitive/emotional variable) differentiate and predict university final degree grade point average (GPA) and final‐year dissertation mark. Sample Data are reported from a total of 134 university undergraduate students. Method Participants provided baseline data in questionnaires administered during the first week of their second year of undergraduate study and gave consent for their academic progress to be tracked. Final degree GPA and dissertation mark were the academic performance criteria. Results Mature‐age students achieved higher final degree GPA compared to young undergraduates. Female students significantly outperformed their male counterparts in each measured academic assessment criteria. Female students also reported a significantly higher mean score on hardiness commitment compared to male students. Commitment was the most significant positive correlate of academic achievement. Final degree GPA and dissertation mark were significantly predicted by commitment, and commitment and gender, respectively. Conclusions The findings have implications for universities targeting academic support services to maximize student scholastic potential. Future research should incorporate hardiness, gender, and age with other variables known to predict academic success.     

The relative importance of global self-concept and self-concept of academic ability in predicting academic achievement

The aim of this study was to establish whether the relationship between self-concept of academic ability and academic achievement correlated more strongly than the relationship between global self-concept and academic achievement among high school students. Data on these variables were collected from 229 tenth-grade students in the U.S. Pacific Northwest public school district. The results indicate that global self-concept and self-concept of academic ability correlate positively with academic achievement, but the relationship between self-concept of academic ability and academic achievement correlated more strongly than the relationship between global self-concept and academic achievement. The results suggest that educational intervention strategies geared to raising academic achievement would probably be more likely to succeed if they were to focus on enhancement of the self-concept of academic ability rather than global self-concept.     

The validity of physical aggression in predicting adolescent academic performance

Background. Aggression has a long history in academic research as both a criterion and a predictor variable and it is well documented that aggression is related to a variety of poor academic outcomes such as: lowered academic performance, absenteeism and lower graduation rates. However, recent research has implicated physical aggression as being predictive of lower academic performance. Aims. The purpose of this study was to examine the role of the ‘Big Five’ personality traits of agreeableness, openness to experience, conscientiousness, neuroticism and extraversion and physical aggression in predicting the grade point averages (GPA) of adolescent students and to investigate whether or not there were differences in these relationships between male and female students. Sample. A sample of 992 students in grades 9 to 12 from a high school in south‐eastern USA as part of a larger study examining the students' preparation for entry into the workforce. Method. The study was correlational in nature: students completed a personality inventory developed by the second author with the GPA information supplied by the school. Results. Results indicated that physical aggression accounts for 16% of variance in GPA and it adds 7% to the prediction of GPA beyond the Big Five. The Big Five traits added only 1.5% to the prediction of GPA after controlling for physical aggression. Interestingly, a significantly larger amount of variance in GPA was predicted by physical aggression for females than for males. Conclusions. Aggression accounts for significantly more variance in the GPA of females than for males, even when controlling for the Big Five personality factors. Future research should examine the differences in the expression of aggression in males and females, as well as how this is affecting interactions between peers and between students and their teachers.     

A comparative study on undergraduate students' academic motivation and academic self-concept

The purpose of this study was to investigate Turkish and American undergraduate students' academic motivation and academic self-concept scores regarding the years that they spent in university. The analysis was based on 566 (284 Turkish, 282 American) undergraduate students where, Academic Motivation Scale and Academic Self-Concept Scale were used as measuring instruments. The results showed that there was a statistical significant effect of nationality and number of years spent in university on undergraduate students' intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and self-concept scores. Turkish students had higher intrinsic scores whereas American students had higher extrinsic scores and more positive academic-self concept compared to Turkish partners. Regarding grade level, senior students from both cultures had higher intrinsic motivation and academic self-concept scores compared to other grade levels. In terms of extrinsic motivation, there is steady decline in American students' scores as grade level increases. On the other hand, Turkish undergraduates' extrinsic scores decrease in the second year but increase in the third and fourth year of university education. Results were discussed by taking into consideration the social and cultural differences between two nations.     

初中生数学成绩、数学学业能力自我概念与数学学业情绪的关系

采用学业情绪问卷、数学学业自我概念问卷调查了370名初中学生,以探讨初中生数学学业情绪特点及其与数学成绩、数学学业能力自我概念间的关系。结果发现：（1）除积极高唤醒情绪外的其它数学学业情绪在性别上差异显著,除消极高唤醒外的其它情绪在年级上差异显著。（2）数学成绩通过数学学业能力自我概念间接预测四类数学学业情绪。结论是,初中男生数学积极情绪多于女生,女生数学消极情绪多于男生,积极情绪随年级下降,消极情绪随年级上升;初中生数学学业能力自我概念在数学成绩和数学学业情绪间起完全中介作用。     

Family conflict and academic performance of first-year Asian American undergraduates

This three-study investigation examined risk and protective factors for poor academic performance among Asian American first-year undergraduates. Students were surveyed prior to starting college and their GPA was collected after their first semester in college. Family conflict as a significant risk factor for poor academic performance was examined in all three studies. The results indicate that higher family conflict prior to college was related to lower first-semester college GPA, after controlling for standardized test scores and high school rank (Studies 1-3). Even though psychological distress was related to both family conflict and GPA, it did not mediate the relationship between family conflict and GPA (Studies 2 and 3). In terms of protective factors, the results indicate that life satisfaction buffered the negative effects of family conflict on first-semester college GPA (Study 3). Together, these findings support the need to take into account family variables and psychological well-being in the academic performance of Asian American students as they transition from high school to college.     

Associations between depression, distress tolerance, delay discounting, and alcohol-related problems in European American and African American college students

Although levels of heavy drinking and alcohol-related problems are high in college students, there is significant variability in the number and type of problems experienced, even among students who drink heavily. African American students drink less and experience fewer alcohol-related problems than European American students, but are still at risk, and little research has investigated the potentially unique patterns and predictors of problems among these students. Depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting have been implicated in adult substance abuse and may be important predictors of alcohol problem severity among college students. We examined the relationship between these variables and alcohol-related problems among African American and European American students (N = 206; 53% female; 68% European American; 28% African American) who reported recent heavy drinking. In regression models that controlled for drinking level, depression, distress tolerance, and delay discounting were associated with alcohol problems among African American students, but only depression was associated with alcohol problems among European American students. These results suggest that negative affect is a key risk factor for alcohol problems among college student drinkers. For African American students, the inability to tolerate negative emotions and to organize their behavior around future outcomes may also be especially relevant risk factors.     

The relationships among Black consciousness,self-esteem,and academic self-efficacy in African American men

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationships among Black consciousness, self-esteem, and academic self-efficacy in African American men. The participants were 120 African American male college students at a predominantly African American university. The authors administered 3 instruments--the Developmental Inventory of Black Consciousness (DIB-C; J. Milliones, 1980), the M. Rosenberg (1965) Self-Esteem Scale, and R. E. Wood and E. A. Locke's (1987) Academic Self-Efficacy Scale--to test the hypotheses. They used an independent-measures t test and a Pearson r correlation to analyze the data. The results of the study supported the hypotheses under investigation. Significant positive relationships were found between Black consciousness and self-esteem and Black consciousness and academic self-efficacy. The results of the study showed that Black consciousness appears to be an important construct to use in understanding self-esteem and academic self-efficacy in African American men.     

Mediational role of academic motivation in the association between school self-concept and school achievement among Indian adolescents in Canada and India

The present study examined the mediational role of academic motivation in the association between school self-concept and school achievement among 355 Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada and 363 Indian adolescents in India. Surveys were administered among Grades 9?C12 students in Canada and India to assess their academic self-concepts, academic motivation, and academic achievement. Bootstrapped tests of simultaneous multiple indirect effects were conducted to determine the unique ability of each putative mediator??intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation??to account for the effect of school self-concept on overall school GPA for Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada and Indian adolescents in India. Mediational analyses revealed the mediational roles of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in the association between school self-concept and school achievement for Indian immigrant adolescents in Canada, while intrinsic motivation solely mediated the relations between school self-concept and school achievement for Indian adolescents in India. Amotivation was not a significant mediator for both the Indian immigrant and Indian adolescents. Implications of the findings are discussed.     

A Case Illustrating the Concept of the Alpha Schizophrenic

The construct validity of the Academic Self-Concept Scale (Reynolds, in press) as a measure of an academic facet of general self-concept in college students was examined. Subjects were 589 undergraduate students from three colleges. Convergent validity was demonstrated in the form of correlations between the academic self-concept measure and subjects' grade point average (GPA), and scores on measures of general self-concept and locus of control. A multiple regression analysis of the Academic Self-Concept Scale produced a multiple correlation of .59 with GPA and general self-concept. Discriminant validity was shown via low correlations between academic self-concept and measures of mental ability and social desirability. As expected, differences in academic self-concept between year levels in college were also found. Factor analysis of the Academic Self-Concept Scale and subsequent oblique rotation resulted in seven interpretable factors. The results of this investigation lend support for the construct validity of the Academic Self-Concept Scale.     

“How'd You Do on That Test?”: The Effects of Gender on Self-Presentation of Achievement to Vulnerable Men

This study examined the effects of gender on how people present their academic achievements when interacting with vulnerable male peers. Participants were 86 college students (40 males, 46 females) drawn from a population that was 7% African American, 10% Asian American, 6% Latino/a, 6% non-U.S. citizens, and 71% Euro-Americans. They were induced to predict their grade point average (GPA) to a male confederate who presented himself as (a) having earned either a low GPA or an average GPA, and (b) concerned or unconcerned about his academic performance. Both men's and women's GPA predictions were higher when interacting with the concerned partner, and men's predictions were even higher when interacting with the concerned, low-GPA partner. For male participants, there were significant positive correlations between predicted GPA and perceived similarity to the partner and between predicted GPA and interest in establishing a relationship with the partner, especially when interacting with the worried partner. These and other findings are discussed in the context of previous findings and related theory.     

Gender matters, too: the influences of school racial discrimination and racial identity on academic engagement outcomes among African American adolescents

The authors examined relationships among racial identity, school-based racial discrimination experiences, and academic engagement outcomes for adolescent boys and girls in Grades 8 and 11 (n = 204 boys and n = 206 girls). The authors found gender differences in peer and classroom discrimination and in the impact of earlier and later discrimination experiences on academic outcomes. Racial centrality related positively to school performance and school importance attitudes for boys. Also, centrality moderated the relationship between discrimination and academic outcomes in ways that differed across gender. For boys, higher racial centrality related to diminished risk for lower school importance attitudes and grades from experiencing classroom discrimination relative to boys lower in centrality, and girls with higher centrality were protected against the negative impact of peer discrimination on school importance and academic self-concept. However, among lower race-central girls, peer discrimination related positively to academic self-concept. Finally, socioeconomic background moderated the relationship of discrimination with academic outcomes differently for girls and boys. The authors discuss the need to consider interactions of individual- and contextual-level factors in better understanding African American youths' academic and social development.