Attainment-aspiration gap in students with a migration background: The role of self-efficacy

Publication date: July 2018Source: Learning and Individual Differences, Volume 65Author(s): Nele McElvany, Hanna D. Ferdinand, Miriam M. Gebauer, Wilfried Bos, Thorben Huelmann, Olaf Köller, Christian SchöberAbstractAcademic aspirations are important for academic success. Students with migration backgrounds tend to report high academic aspirations despite low success in school, a phenomenon known as the attainment-aspiration gap. This paper investigates whether the self-perception of ability (here, academic self-efficacy) can explain aspirations better than actual attainment in students with migration backgrounds. Data from 380 seventh-grade students enrolled in German schools showed background-specific patterns in multigroup structural equation analyses: In students without migration backgrounds, attainment and self-efficacy both predicted academic aspirations. In students with migration backgrounds, attainment in reading and mathematics did not predict aspirations, whereas academic self-efficacy did. Furthermore, a differential pattern of results for family background variables emerged across students depending on their familial countries of origin. As aspirations can influence behavior and facilitate academic and employment-related success, understanding factors that lead to their formation in students from diverse backgrounds is important for research and practice.
Source: Learning and Individual Differences - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research