The relationship between academic self-concept and professional interests of final grade primary school students

Abstract

In the eighth grade of primary school, students make their first decisions on further education and profession. These decisions are influenced by interests, as well as the assessments of one?s own competence in different domains of activity. The aim of this research is to determine the structure of the relationship between academic self-concept and professional interests. The sample of respondents is convenient and includes 286 eight-grade primary school students. For the purposes of the research, we constructed the instruments for the assessment of academic self-concept on the level of school subjects and professional interests, devised in accordance with the Holland?s RIASEC model. All scales had satisfactory psychometric properties. Using linear correlations and canonical correlation analysis, we attempted to determine whether the relationship between professional interests and academic self-concept suits the classification of school subjects according to Holland?s RIASEC themes. Linear correlations have partially confirmed the assumed relationships between the two constructs. Four pairs were extracted by the canonical correlation analysis, reflecting: 1) the global relationship between the two constructs; 2) the relationship of self-concept in foreign language, Serbian language and literature, art and music mostly with the artistic interest type, but also the social and conventional type; 3) the relationship of self-concept in biology, chemistry, but also history, with the investigative interest type; 4) for the most part, the relationship of self-concept in physical education and physics with the social and enterprising interest type. Although it has been confirmed that there is a positive relationship between the two constructs within Holland?s RIASEC themes, the assumed classification of school subjects depicts the relationships between the two sets of variables only in the simplified form. The contribution of this research is in enhancing the understanding of the relationship between the factors of educational and professional development.