Study on Self-Concept, Academic Achievement and Achievement Motivation of the Students

Abstract

Multiple variables leading to socio-economic discrimination include gender, caste, levels of father's education; father's occupation etc. may contribute to self-concept, academic achievement and achievement motivation. The present study attempts to explore whether various social categories of school going adolescents differ with respect to self-concept, academic achievement and achievement motivation. 846 students from 28 schools of West Bengal, India, constituted the sample chosen by SRSWOR by the sampling scheme of Rao, Hartley and Cochran (1962). To test hypothesis of simultaneous equality of a set of variables such as selfconcept, academic achievement and achievement motivation across the social categories, ANOVA was undertaken. The results revealed that gender difference was significant for four dimensions of self-concept out of six dimensions considered. However, for academic achievement and achievement motivation, gender difference was not found to be significant. Caste wise students differed significantly in academic achievement. When father’s education and occupation were considered, highly significant differences were observed for academic achievement and achievement motivation but insignificant difference with respect to dimensions of self-concept.