Academic Socialization Research Articles

Coached habitus: Mapping the role of shadow education in shaping students' educational trajectories

AbstractStudies have shown how family (typically parents) and formal institutions (specifically schools and universities) shape individuals' dispositions—or habitus. However, other sites of academic socialisation, such as tutoring centres and coaching institutions (collectively forming a shadow education system), are seldom scrutinised for their role in this process. To address this gap in scholarship, this paper draws on interviews with 30 Indian students who narrated their experiences of shadow education in its diversified form, from schooling and higher education to moving to the United Kingdom for advanced education. The discussion of the research findings unveils how shadow education experiences impact students' (academic) dispositions throughout their scholastic lifespan, thus aiding in nurturing academic selves (in early schooling years), cultivating competitive selves (during the transition to university), harnessing enterprising selves (when transitioning within and from university education) and developing transnational selves (as students prepare for international mobility). A synthesis of these empirical realities culminates in introducing a new concept of coached habitus that accounts for the role of shadow education in orchestrating the practices by which students may inculcate specific values, beliefs and habits aiming to prepare them to navigate increasingly competitive educational fields throughout their academic trajectories successfully. The paper argues that shadow education is a key site for habitus formation, particularly in contexts such as India and other Asian countries where non‐formal education is inextricably entwined with everyday schooling experiences.

In their narratives: academic socialization in the experience of sensory processing sensitivity among university students.

While much of the worldwide contemporary research on sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) and environmental sensitivity (ES) has relied on the participation of university students, there remains a significant gap in understanding the academic social experiences of those scoring high in SPS (i.e., highly sensitive individuals). To address this gap, this exploratory study aimed to investigate in detail students' academic socialization through their narratives. We conducted nine interviews with Italian university students who self-identified as highly sensitive. Through thematic reflexive analysis, we identified and analyzed 6 themes (with subthemes and versions of subthemes) concerning their self-definitions, their university experience (in classroom, before, during, and after exams), and socialization with peers and teachers. After 20 years of research on SPS, this study integrates the relevant literature into the field of social psychology and academic socialization, emphasizing the importance of understanding SPS within real-life educational contexts and considering highly sensitive students' perspectives on their resources and challenges in attending university. By contributing to the emerging qualitative literature on SPS and ES, this study provides practical implications for educators and policymakers seeking to foster inclusive learning environments for all students.

Multimodal Academic Discourse Socialization: Examining Geoscience Students’ Disciplinary Knowledge Construction and Socialization at a Canadian University

Abstract This ethnographic multiple-case study examines how undergraduate students are socialized into the disciplinary norms, values, and practices of a geoscience course at a Canadian university. Transcending logocentric assumptions about academic discourse, this article advances a broader domain of inquiry––multimodal academic discourse socialization––which foregrounds the polysemiotic nature of academic socialization. This approach examines not only linguistic but also a wider range of semiotic resources, including gestural, visual, material, and spatial ones, among others. To understand geoscientists’ disciplinary norms, values, and communicative practices, ethnographic data (classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, course-related artefacts) were thematically analysed. Focal students’ geoscience poster presentation performances were also analysed using multimodal interaction analysis to scrutinize micro-level instantiations of disciplinary practices. Findings highlight how students were socialized into geoscience ‘observations and interpretations’ through a recurrent multimodal classroom activity, which was also reflected in micro-level multimodal practices enacted in students’ geoscience poster presentations. This study emphasizes that multimodal enactments constitute a crucial dimension of disciplinary practices and values connected with learning to think, view, and represent knowledge as geoscientists.

Academic socialization: On a neglected effect of competition in science

AbstractCompetition is usually considered a mechanism for the allocation of scarce resources. This paper draws attention to a neglected effect of academic competition: competition provides participants with a normative orientation about field-specific values by informing them about which activities will be rewarded. We conceptualize this as a socializing effect. We study the socializing effects of competition for postdocs because this group is especially exposed to the dynamics of academic competition. Drawing on qualitative interviews with 60 postdocs in history and physics in Germany, the analysis reveals the orientations and values that competition conveys to postdocs. Since different forms of competition for publications, funding, and jobs are not neatly synchronized, they convey various expectations. Postdocs cope with this multiplicity, prioritizing a specific form of competition that is competition for funding. This comes at the expense of activities and tasks that are not organized competitively. The socializing effect of competition should be reflected more thoroughly not only by scholarship on academic competition but also by research policy that promotes competition.

Assessing the parental SES gradient in young Britons' partnership expectations, attitudes and its potential mediators.

A well-documented trend in family demography is that young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds tend to enter their first partnership earlier and forego marriage more often than their advantaged counterparts. Yet, limited research has explored whether there is also an association between parental background and expectations for partnership formation, which are considered important precursors of behaviours. Further, few studies have explored the potential mechanisms mediating these differences. This paper uses data from the British Household Panel Survey and Understanding Society to analyse the relationships between parental socioeconomic status and young Britons' expectations for marriage, cohabitation, and attitudes towards ideal age at marriage. Using the KHB decomposition as a mediation method, we verify whether these relationships are explained by two mechanisms measured during the young adults' adolescence: family structure socialisation and academic socialisation. We find that marriage expectations are socially stratified in the UK. Those from the least advantaged backgrounds have significantly lower expectations for marriage than the most advantaged, but this difference does not hold for cohabitation. Those from the least advantaged backgrounds are also more uncertain about their ideal age at marriage. Academic socialisation mediates these relationships to a limited extent. Family structure socialisation mediates a greater percentage, especially living with a single parent, rather than married parents, during adolescence.

Successful School Principals in Socioeconomically Disadvantaged Schools: A Grounded Theory Research from Turkish Context

The purpose of this study was to delve into the characteristics, professional competencies, leadership attitudes, and behaviors of successful school principals (SSPs) in socioeconomically disadvantaged schools. Utilizing a systematic grounded theory method (SGTM), we conducted research in the provinces of Amasya, Çorum, Samsun, and Tokat in Türkiye. Purposeful and theoretical sampling methods were employed to recruit successful school principals, deputy principals, teachers, students, and parents from secondary schools affiliated with the Ministry of National Education (MoNE). The data draws on unstructured individual and focus group interviews, as well as documents and observations. All the data obtained were inductively analyzed through open, axis, and selective coding stages. Based on the codes, sub-categories, categories, themes, and dimensions from the analyses, we designed the Contextual Successful School Principalship Model (CSSPM), which falls into four dimensions as follows: individual, managerial, organizational, and instructional. SSPs in this study mostly tend to display paternalistic leadership attitudes and behaviors in terms of dedication and self-sacrifice, serving, intrinsic motivation, and influencing stakeholders. They exhibit almost all the attitudes and behaviors of servant leadership, act according to some national and moral values, and experience national attitudes such as patriotism and nationalism intensely. By giving importance to the academic socialization of students' mothers, successful school principals exhibit transformational and instructional leadership behaviors. They act strategically to directly involve mothers in enhancing student achievement, demonstrating their commitment to fostering an inclusive and supportive educational environment.

Graduate socialization and anxiety: insights via hierarchical regression analysis and beyond

ABSTRACT This study addressed the gap in understanding how demographic characteristics, academic factors, and emotional well-being interact to influence the socialization of graduate students. Data collection involved a total amount of 1054 newly enrolled postgraduate students gathering demographic information and utilizing validated scales to measure components of academic socialization and anxiety levels. Statistical analyses including correlation analysis, hierarchical regression, and non-parametric tests, were employed to explore the relationships and influences of the variables. Results of the study indicated that demographic factors exerted a significant influence on students’ perceptions of faculty support and the departmental environment. Further, academic factors seemed to be more influential in shaping anxiety levels than demographic factors. Also, the doctoral students reported higher levels of academic and social expectations and lower level of anxiety than did the master counterparts. The study explores the complexity of graduate student socialization and the importance of a multitude of factors in promoting the students’ well-being and academic achievement. The study further suggests that targeted interventions could enhance the graduate students’ overall experience and success through a supportive environment that addresses the multifaceted needs of graduate students.

Self-assessment criteria as projected realities: a social cognitive study on student experience in postgraduate thesis writing

While research on postgraduate thesis writing has investigated how students cope with institutional assessment criteria, this study explores how students form their own criteria for self-assessment through the writing process, aiming to account for the development of their independent thinking in academic socialisation. Based on in-depth interviews with 10 Chinese master’s students, the study found that their self-assessment criteria not only represented solutions to problems identified by their supervisors and examiners, but also embodied aims established by students themselves. Those criteria were not fixed textual properties of a ‘good’ thesis, but were dynamic representations of textual and social realities constituting students’ lifeworlds. Viewed from this perspective, self-assessment is a situated process whereby students re-experience and re-interpret multiple sets of realities juxtaposed against their writing. Pedagogically, the study implies that postgraduate thesis supervision could facilitate the expansion of students’ self-assessment criteria to develop their capacity for making independent judgements.

Unraveling the Attributes of Productive Scholars in Social Science Fields: A Study of Chinese Scholars Publishing in Top-Tier International Journals

Aspiring researchers worldwide strive to amass a prolific publication record to elevate their academic standing and advance their research careers. However, achieving research productivity is a multifaceted endeavour shaped by individual characteristics, institutional support, and societal factors. This study explores the experiences of ten high-performing Chinese scholars in social science fields. By examining their prolific publication records in top-tier international journals, the study unveils the distinct attributes that characterize productive researchers and the strategies they employ to facilitate their scholarly publishing. Through in-depth interviews and an exploration framed by academic identity and academic socialization, the study highlights the significance of cultivating a robust academic identity, fostering efficient scholarly practices, and promoting effective collaboration. These findings offer invaluable insights for emerging academics seeking to enhance their research productivity without compromising the quality of their work, especially concerning publications in esteemed international journals.

Bridging pre-professional identities: the contribution of trustworthiness and academic socialisation to undergraduates’ employability

PurposeThe evolving dynamics of the labour market make graduates’ future employability an important issue for higher education (HE) institutions, prompting universities to complement the conventional graduate skills approach with a wider focus on graduate forms of capital that may enhance their sense of employability. This study, adopting a capital perspective, explores whether and how teachers in HE, when acknowledged as knowledgeable trustworthy actors, may affect graduates’ employability. It investigates how they can mobilise undergraduate cultural capital through socialisation, and shape their pre-professional identity, paving the way for university-to-work transition.Design/methodology/approachTo test the hypothesised model, a self-report online questionnaire was administered to a sample of 616 undergraduates attending different Italian universities. Multiple mediating models were tested using the SEM framework.FindingsResults supported the tested model and showed that trust in knowledgeable HE teachers was associated with undergraduates’ perceived employability both directly and through both mediators (i.e. academic socialisation and identification with future professionality).Research limitations/implicationsThis research explores a capital conceptualisation of graduate employability, identifying possible processes for implementing graduates’ capital across their academic experience and providing initial evidence of their interplay and contribution to transition into the labour market.Originality/valueThese findings provide empirical support to possible forms of capital that HE institutions may fulfil to enhance their undergraduate employability throughout their academic career, which serves as a liminal space allowing undergraduates to begin building a tentative professional identity.

The role of reader-inclusive authorial voice in the process of academic socialization of Management and English Philology students

Our purpose in this paper is to throw light on the tension, or even internal conflict, tertiary-level students experience when they struggle to negotiate the rhetorical norms of disciplinary writing and the changes in their authorial voice that necessarily occur in this socialization process. With this goal in mind, we designed and conducted the study to gain insights into the perceptions Management and English Philology students have as to what constitutes a convincing authorial voice and the discourse-level features employed to realize this. Twenty-six study participants created a diverse group with regards to nationality, gender, study level, disciplinary affiliation and cultural and linguistic background. Their evaluations of voice were first analyzed from their responses to a questionnaire and then expanded through interviews. The findings reveal that a reader-inclusive voice, which requires the use of de-jargonized language, clear purpose and structure, and creates room for reader’s own interpretation, is crucial for a text to be convincing. We also argue that students’ preference for reader-sensitive academic writing should be supported and encouraged through the provision of strategic academic writing pedagogy.

Understanding Working Memory and Mathematics Development in Ethnically/Racially Minoritized Children through an Integrative Theory Lens.

Limited research on working memory has centered on ethnically/racially minoritized children, thereby limiting researchers' abilities to draw conclusions about working memory or to provide additional supports in cultivating working memory for these children. Using the Integrative Theory as a lens, the current study explored the predictive benefit of parent academic socialization strategies on the working memory and subsequent mathematics skills of a nationally representative sample of ethnically/racially minoritized children. Using structural equation modeling techniques, a path model including social position; family structure; leisure activities; parent academic socialization strategies; and their association with kindergarten Asian/Asian-American (N = 1211), Black (N = 1927), and Latine (N = 3671) children's working memory and first-grade mathematics skills were examined. Furthermore, multigroup moderation was used to test for differences between ethnic/racial groups. Connections to social capital theory, community cultural wealth, and culturally relevant interpretations of the study findings are discussed.

The impact of large language models on university students’ literacy development: a dialogue with Lea and Street’s academic literacies framework

ABSTRACT Large Language Models have already begun to affect the higher education landscape. However, there is currently a lack of work investigating how these models interface – and possibly interfere – with literacy development. Considering literacy is critical because student learning is only made possible through language. This paper considers implications for university students’ literacy development by drawing on Lea and Street’s academic literacies framework. I argue that LLMs pose different levels of risk for students’ development of each aspect of literacy contained within the framework: study skills are least at risk, academic socialisation is most at risk, and academic literacies represent an intermediate risk. Implications for instructors include dedicated instructional time and support for students to engage with reading and writing practices without LLM support before they begin to incorporate them into their literacies repertoire. If students rely too heavily on LLMs initially, there is a danger they will not undergo the enculturation and cognitive development necessary for success at university.

Selection of a Topic of a Research Proposal of Emerging Academic Writers in a Blended Linked EAP Course: An Interactional Ethnographic Perspective

AbstractRecent years have witnessed the ethnographic turn in academic writing research and the multimodal turn in classroom discourse studies. Most research proposal genre studies have only provided generic guidelines, and most EAP intervention studies have only provided pre‐ and post‐intervention learning outcomes but have not examined actual in‐depth classroom teaching and after‐class consultative processes of proposal development. This paper fills these gaps by following the view of genre as contextualized social practices and adopting interactional ethnography (IE) logic‐of‐inquiry to analyze video‐recorded linked EAP classroom interactions and WeChat‐mediated individual consultations focusing on postgraduate students' topic selection. IE‐guided reasoning and analysis may make the invisible research topic developmental processes transparent by utilizing IE analytic tools to visualize these dynamic and complex processes, identify cultural patterns of academic literacy practices, and (re)theorize educational phenomena. The IE approach may complement the well‐established three approaches to student writing (i.e., study skills, academic socialization, academic literacies) as the fourth approach for its deep theorizing, micro‐ethnographic discourse‐based analysis, and video‐enabled IE‐guided analytic tools. This study may make a methodological contribution to the EAP field through the IE as an epistemology with analytical tools and propose a tri‐level four‐step IE analytic model for teacher‐researchers' self‐reflexive professional development.

Navigating challenges in social science research: the impact of halo effect and inadequate academic socialization on Chinese young researchers

ABSTRACT While there exists an extensive body of literature on Early Career Researchers (ECRs), there has been a notable lack of focus on the hurdles encountered by ECRs in social sciences at local universities when it comes to academic publishing. This study addresses this gap by conducting in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 15 Chinese university academics to explore the hindering factors affecting ECRs’ scholarly publishing in CSSCI-indexed journals. The research is grounded in the conceptual frameworks of the halo effect and academic socialization. The findings reveal a myriad of hindering factors operating at different levels, including macro-level factors such as the dilemma of growing demand and shrinking supply in CSSCI-listed journals, the halo effect’s impact on journal gatekeeping, and the insufficiency of constructive review feedback. Meso-level factors encompass the lack of academic mentorship and support, and the burden of teaching and administrative responsibilities. Micro-level factors involve inadequate speculative research skills, unfamiliarity with journal norms, diminishing confidence in research endeavors, and a shift in academic identity. To address these problems, academia, institutions, policymakers as well as academics need to take collective efforts to foster an environment that supports the growth and success of young social science researchers at local Chinese universities.

Engaging in classroom discussions: Academic socialisation of Chinese international students in the UK

This study reports on a qualitative multiple-case study that investigates Chinese international students’ academic socialisation through classroom discussion. It explores how these students navigate their classroom participation and socialisation process. The participants included six Chinese international postgraduate students, studying in the UK for the first time. Data were collected over eleven months through multiple means, including formal interviews, classroom observations, and reflective interviews. The findings reveal that the students underwent academic self-socialisation mainly through negotiating prior and present academic experiences, negotiating competence and identity, and making efforts towards improvement. In the process of academic self-socialisation, they exerted different types of agency to drive the process, such as strategic, defensive, and reflective agency as well as agency for improvement. The study has important implications for academic staff and international students in a study-abroad context.

Predictors of academic engagement of high school students: academic socialization and motivational beliefs.

The potential of academic engagement to enhance academic outcomes and well-being has been empirically supported, yet studies addressing its predictors are too limited. Hence, the current study collected self-report cross-sectional data from randomly selected 614 (male = 323) high school students in Ethiopia and examined the relations of academic socialization (parental and peer), self-efficacy, and outcome expectations in explaining variance in academic engagement, guided by an integrative model of engagement. Structural equation modeling with the maximum likelihood method indicated that (a) the hypothesized model fit the data well, (b) direct paths from parental and peer academic socialization to self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and academic engagement were positive and significant, (c) the relationships of the constructs in the model explained a significant portion of the variance in academic engagement, and (d) self-efficacy and outcome expectations significantly and positively but partially mediated the pathway from academic socialization to academic engagement. The findings' implications for boosting student academic engagement were forwarded.

The Positive Impact of Parental Autonomy Support, Academic Socialization, Parental Responses, and Psychological Control on Muslim Students' Motivation

The encouragement of autonomy in academics is one strategy to encourage students to continue their education. Academic autonomous motivation can be generated through support relationships from the school environment and parents. This study aimed to determine the extent of prediction of autonomy, control, academic socialization, and parental response on academic scores to the academic autonomous motivation of 569 State MTs students in Sleman Regency. Data analysis was performed using Multiple Linear Regression Analysis techniques. The test results showed that three of the six tested relationships were significant, and the other three variables were insignificant. The variables parental autonomy support, behavior control, and response without punishment had a substantial relationship with students' academic autonomous motivation. Insignificant relationships were the relationship of psychological control with academic autonomous motivation, the academic socialization of students with academic autonomous motivation, and the relationship of non-punitive response with academic autonomous motivation. Research related to academic autonomous motivation with parental care is still limited, so further research is needed.

Family-school cooperation in the context of traumatic transitions in Serbian society

The main topic of this paper is to clarify from a point of a researcher and practitioner a complex issue of parent-school cooperation under the pressures of long lasting and traumatic transitions in Serbian society. The paper consists of two parts. The first part includes «vertical» research based analysis focused on the parallel processes of change in a broader society and family’s functioning with reflections upon new meanings and potentials for parent involvement in academic socialization of their children. In the discourse of leading sociological and socio-psychological researches conducted during the last ten years, parental position and their potentials are described with the following words: confusion, stress, material deprivation, collapse and demoralization of family life, short-term adaptation strategies in rapidly changing environment, time and energy draining and lack of physical and psychological presence in the life of their children. The second part of the paper deals with «horizontal» research based analysis focused on actual and concrete manifestations of parent-school cooperation, parent’s needs and resources connected to elementary and secondary level of their children’s schooling. Leading psycho-pedagogical quantitative, qualitative and action-based researches conducted during 2006 are presented, with the aim of analyzing the actual state of functioning and identifying systemic knots that support, hamper or block family-school cooperation. Words like disengagement, passivesation, tension and dissatisfaction, pseudo-cooperation, decreasing of parental and school authorities, are emphasized in the discourse of this group of research. Finally, the author integrates two levels of analysis and suggests ways of improving the quality of parent engagement in school/education.

Insights into teachers’ perceptions of parental involvement as a predictor of educational inequity

ABSTRACT For many decades, parental involvement (PI) has been discussed as an important variable in students’ development. However, those concerned with educational policy, practice, and research have traditionally helped perpetuate the well-known and undisputed narrative of the ‘parents who care’ who are actively involved in all aspects of student learning. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data from a total of 485 teachers working at Austrian schools, the current study aims to contribute to a recently growing research paradigm that challenges traditional understandings of PI that are biased toward families who adhere to expected behaviours of home and school involvement and academic socialisation. The results suggest that primary and secondary teachers’ ratings of PI differ between diverse students and at different school levels. Moreover, participants’ explanations for disparities in PI between students align with a deficit-oriented, narrow understanding of PI, aimed at middle-class families that cling to traditional activities of PI.