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Students' Academic Self Perception

Author

Listed:
  • Arnaud Chevalier

    (Dept. of Economics, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, TW20 OEX + Geary Institute, University College Dublin)

  • Steve Gibbons

    (Department of Geography, London School of Economics + Centre for Economics Performance, London School of Economics)

  • Andy Thorpe

    (Department of Economics, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth)

  • Sherria Hoskins

    (Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth)

Abstract

Participation rates in higher education differ persistently between some groups in society. Using two British datasets we investigate whether this gap is rooted in students’ misperception of their own and other’s ability, thereby increasing the expected costs to studying. Among high school pupils, we find that pupils with a more positive view of their academic abilities are more likely to expect to continue to higher education even after controlling for observable measures of ability and students’ characteristics. University students are also poor at estimating their own test-performance and over-estimate their predicted test score. However, females, white and working class students have less inflated view of themselves. Self-perception has limited impact on the expected probability of success and expected returns amongst these university students.

Suggested Citation

  • Arnaud Chevalier & Steve Gibbons & Andy Thorpe & Sherria Hoskins, 2007. "Students' Academic Self Perception," Working Papers 200729, Geary Institute, University College Dublin.
  • Handle: RePEc:ucd:wpaper:200729
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chevalier, Arnaud & Gibbons, Steve & Thorpe, Andy & Snell, Martin & Hoskins, Sherria, 2009. "Students' academic self-perception," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 716-727, December.
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    6. Christopher Cornwell & David B. Mustard & Deepa J. Sridhar, 2006. "The Enrollment Effects of Merit-Based Financial Aid: Evidence from Georgia's HOPE Program," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(4), pages 761-786, October.
    7. David A. Penn & Reuben Kyle, 2007. "The Tennessee Education Lottery Scholarship: A Reward for Past Achievement or Motivator for Future Performance?," Working Papers 200707, Middle Tennessee State University, Department of Economics and Finance.
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    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. The Causes of Wealth Inequality (24): Self-Confidence
      by Filip Spagnoli in P.A.P.-Blog on 2012-04-01 18:01:10
    2. Class and confidence
      by chris dillow in Stumbling and Mumbling on 2011-11-24 20:44:42

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Chevalier, Arnaud, 2011. "Subject choice and earnings of UK graduates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(6), pages 1187-1201.
    3. Chowa, Gina A.N. & Masa, Rainier D. & Ramos, Yalitza & Ansong, David, 2015. "How do student and school characteristics influence youth academic achievement in Ghana? A hierarchical linear modeling of Ghana YouthSave baseline data," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 129-140.
    4. Benjamin Elsner & Ingo E Isphording & Ulf Zölitz, 2021. "Achievement Rank Affects Performance and Major Choices in College [Gender, competitiveness, and socialization at a young age: evidence from a matrilineal and a patriarchal society]," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 131(640), pages 3182-3206.
    5. Jonathan F Schulz & Christian Thöni, 2016. "Overconfidence and Career Choice," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-8, January.
    6. Filippin, Antonio & Paccagnella, Marco, 2012. "Family background, self-confidence and economic outcomes," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 31(5), pages 824-834.
    7. Hanns de la Fuente-Mella & Ricardo Campos-Espinoza & Nelson Lay-Raby & Omar Lamelés-Corvalán & Mario Pino-Moya & Reynier Ramírez-Molina, 2022. "Multinomial Cross-Sectional Regression Models to Estimate and Predict the Determinants of Academic Performance: The Case of Auditor Accountant of the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaíso," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-15, July.
    8. Fouarge, Didier & Kriechel, Ben & Dohmen, Thomas, 2014. "Occupational sorting of school graduates: The role of economic preferences," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 335-351.
    9. Holford, Angus J., 2017. "Access to and Returns from Unpaid Graduate Internships," IZA Discussion Papers 10845, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    10. Hendrik van Broekhuizen & Dieter von Fintel, 2010. "Who Responds to Voluntary Cognitive Tests in Household Surveys? The Role of Labour Market Status, Respondent Confidence, Motivation and a Culture of Learning in South Africa," Working Papers 27/2010, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    11. Chevalier, Arnaud & Gibbons, Steve & Thorpe, Andy & Snell, Martin & Hoskins, Sherria, 2009. "Students' academic self-perception," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 716-727, December.
    12. Arnaud Chevalier, 2014. "Does Higher Education Quality Matter in the UK?," Research in Labor Economics, in: Factors Affecting Worker Well-being: The Impact of Change in the Labor Market, volume 40, pages 257-292, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    13. Collins, Matthew & Lundstedt, Jonas, 2024. "The effects of more informative grading on student outcomes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 218(C), pages 514-549.
    14. Kim, Youngmi & Sherraden, Michael & Clancy, Margaret, 2013. "Do mothers’ educational expectations differ by race and ethnicity, or socioeconomic status?," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 82-94.
    15. Bowden, Mark P. & Doughney, James, 2012. "The importance of cultural and economic influences behind the decision to attend higher education," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 95-103.
    16. Koch, Alexander & Nafziger, Julia & Nielsen, Helena Skyt, 2015. "Behavioral economics of education," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 3-17.
    17. Pfeifer, Gregor & Witte, Stefan, 2014. "Students' Wage Expectations in Germany - New Evidence considering Tax Adjusted Estimates," VfS Annual Conference 2014 (Hamburg): Evidence-based Economic Policy 100354, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    18. Sandner, Malte, 2015. "The effects of high-quality student mentoring," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 227-232.
    19. Orazio Attanasio & Sarah Cattan & Costas Meghir, 2021. "Early Childhood Development, Human Capital and Poverty," NBER Working Papers 29362, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Neil Harrison, 2018. "Using the Lens of ‘Possible Selves’ to Explore Access to Higher Education: A New Conceptual Model for Practice, Policy, and Research," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-21, October.
    21. Johansson Stenman, Olof & Nordblom, Katarina, 2010. "Are Men Really More Overconfident than Women? - A Natural Field Experiment on Exam Behavior," Working Papers in Economics 461, University of Gothenburg, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Test performance; self-assessment; higher education participation; academic selfperception;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I21 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Analysis of Education
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination
    • Y80 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Related Disciplines - - - Related Disciplines

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