Exploring Academic Self-Concepts Depending on Acculturation Profile. Investigation of a Possible Factor for Immigrant Students’ School Success

Nanine Lilla,Sebastian Thürer,Wim Nieuwenboom,Marianne Schüpbach

doi:10.3390/educsci11080432

Abstract

Academic achievement and academic self-concepts are reciprocally related; hence, investigating academic self-concepts should offer a potential approach for gaining a better understanding of immigrant students’ (lack of) school success. Proposing that immigrant students’ acculturation orientations need to be taken into account, in this study, we empirically investigate whether immigrant students’ general and domain-specific academic self-concept facets differ from those of non-immigrant students depending on their acculturation profile. Based on data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS), we find initial indications that immigrant students’ academic self-concept facets are subject to their acculturation profile. The idea that acculturation may influence the known comparisons relevant for self-concept development will be discussed.

Highlights

Addressing academic self-concepts, i.e., the individuals’ self-perception of his or her academic abilities in general and in different domains [1] can help gain insight into educational inequalities as academic self-concepts have been shown to be reciprocally related to a variety of academic outcomes [2,3]
In one of the first studies to investigate the academic self-concept of immigrant students in Germany over 20 years ago, Roebers, Mecheril, and Schneider [6] hypothesized that immigrant students would show lower academic self-concepts than non-immigrant students due to the “acculturative stress” they face during adaptation to the new cultural context
This article examines the following research questions: (1) What is the nature of general and domain-specific academic self-concepts of immigrant students depending on their acculturation profile in comparison to non-immigrant students?

Summary

Introduction

Addressing academic self-concepts, i.e., the individuals’ self-perception of his or her academic abilities in general and in different domains [1] can help gain insight into educational inequalities as academic self-concepts have been shown to be reciprocally related to a variety of academic outcomes [2,3] While this has been done with regard to gender and socio-economic differences [4], the study of academic self-concepts has not received much attention in examining immigrant students’ academic outcomes [5]. In one of the first studies to investigate the academic self-concept of immigrant students in Germany over 20 years ago, Roebers, Mecheril, and Schneider [6] hypothesized that immigrant students would show lower academic self-concepts than non-immigrant students due to the “acculturative stress” they face during adaptation to the new cultural context This notion referred to Berry [7] and his understanding of migration as a critical life event, which may result in a lack of confidence in one’s own skills. This reasoning has been taken up by others addressing immigrant students’ academic self-concept in relation to their academic achievement [8], studies so far have widely failed to consider that Berry’s acculturation model proposes four different patterns of acculturation, which are associated with different degrees of acculturative stress and adaptation outcomes

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