| The purpose of this study was to explore self-concept differences of high school students in relation to ethnicity, level of achievement and gender. Academic achievement has been shown to be strongly related to academic self-concept and, to a lesser extent, global self-esteem. During adolescence, ethnicity may become a more salient influence on identity formation. In addition, ethnic identity may influence the academic achievement, as well as the self-concepts, of ethnic minority adolescents. One factor of special interest is racial self-concept. Specifically, racial self-concept may be a facet of ethnic minority adolescents' general self-concept that influences academic self-concept and academic achievement as well. This was an investigation of ethnic identity and racial self-concept and how these factors relate to the academic self-concepts and academic achievement of adolescents. The total sample included 202 high school students in Grade 9 through Grade 12. Global self-esteem, ethnic identity, racial self-concept, English self-concept, math self-concept, social studies self-concept and science self-concept was measured for each student. Cumulative grade point average and subject grades were also collected. A non-experimental, factorial MANOVA design was employed with three independent variables to include ethnicity (ethnic minority and White), achievement (high and low), and gender (female and male). This resulted in a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. Factorial multivariate analysis of variance was used to analyze the data. No significant interaction effects were found between the independent variables. There was a significant main effect for ethnicity (Wilks' lambda = .883; F8,187 = 3.099, p = .003). Ethnic minority students had higher levels of ethnic identity and more positive racial self-concepts. A significant main effect for achievement was found (Wilks' lambda = .457; F 8,187 = 27.788, p = .000). High achievers had more positive self-concepts in all four subject areas than did low achievers, however no differences were found on measures of global self-esteem, racial self-concept, or ethnic identity. No main effect for gender was shown (Wilks' lambda = .934; F 8,187 = 1.653, p = .113). |
