The role of identity development, future time perspective and career maturity in first-year students' academic success
| dc.contributor.advisor | Grobler, A. A. | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Esterhuyse, K. G. F. | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Lacante, M. M. | |
| dc.contributor.author | Seane, Edna Refiloe | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2017-07-19T09:06:19Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2017-07-19T09:06:19Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2017-01 | |
| dc.description.abstract | English: The retention of first-year students and poor throughput rates are problems plaguing higher education globally and South Africa in particular. A significant number of students drop out of university in their first year of study and those who ultimately graduate take longer periods to complete their undergraduate degree. Many first-year students who gain access to higher education are reported to be under-prepared and ill equipped to meet the expectation and the assumption that they should be academically and developmentally prepared to handle the responsibilities associated with higher learning and its unique challenges. First-year students are developmentally at the emerging adulthood stage, where they are generally engaged in a process directed towards their future roles and career aspirations. It was therefore necessary to consider theoretical underpinnings of identity and career development as significant factors at play in students' intrapsychic preparedness and psychological resilience for the task at hand. These two developmental trajectories are significantly influenced by one’s time orientation, specifically one’s future time perspective. The main aim of this study was to investigate the role of career maturity and future time perspective in the relationship between identity development and the academic success of first-year students at university. Thus, the study firstly aimed to determine whether identity development could significantly predict the academic success of first-year students at university and secondly, it investigated the mediating and moderating roles of both career maturity and future time perspective. This investigation was extended to include gender and race/ethnicity as factors influencing the outcome. From the moderated hierarchical multiple regression analyses conducted to investigate the possible effect of gender and race/ethnicity on the relationship between identity development and academic success, it became clear that gender did not moderate this relationship whereas race/ethnicity succeeded in moderating the relationship. Calculated correlation coefficients between the relevant variables indicated that only the commitment scale correlated significantly (at the 5% level) with academic success for the total group and the white students. None of the identity styles reflected a significant relationship with academic success for the black learners. An increased number of career maturity variables appeared to be significantly related to academic success for the total group and for the black and white students. Future time perspective appeared to be significantly related to academic success for the total group as well as for the black and white students. None of the identity styles succeeded in predicting a significant percentage of variance in both the black and white students’ academic success. Therefore, the role of identity development in predicting academic success remains inconclusive and calls for further exploration. The following career maturity scales moderated the relationship between the normative identity and academic success: decision making moderated this relationship for the black students; career information moderated this relationship for both the black and the white students; and, lastly, integration of self- and career information moderated this relationship for the white students. Career information, integration of self- and career information as well as career planning moderated the relationship between diffuse-avoidant style and academic success for the white students. Lastly, future time perspective moderated the relationship between identity commitment and academic success for the black first-year students and not for the white students. This appears to be a strange finding as white students are expected to be more future-oriented and goal directed in that these are the associated effects of identity exploration and the development of identity commitments over time; processes that are often associated with Western cultural values. | en_ZA |
| dc.description.abstract | Afrikaans: Die retensie van eerstejaarstudente en swak deurvloeikoerse is probleme wat hoër onderwys wêreldwyd en veral in Suid-Afrika teister. ’n Beduidende aantal studente staak hulle studies in hulle eerste jaar en dié wat uiteindelik gradueer, neem langer om hulle voorgraadse studies te voltooi. Volgens berig is baie eerstejaarstudente wat toegang tot hoër onderwys verkry swak voorbereid en nie opgewasse daarvoor om te voldoen aan die verwagting en veronderstelling dat hulle akademies en ontwikkelingsgewys gereed moet wees om die verantwoordelikhede verbonde aan hoër onderwys en die unieke uitdagings wat daarmee gepaard gaan, te behartig nie. In terme van ontwikkeling is eerstejaarstudente by die fase van ontluikende volwassenheid, waar hulle gewoonlik besig is met ’n proses wat op hul toekomstige rolle en loopbaanaspirasies gerig is. Dit was daarom nodig om die teoretiese onderbou van identiteit en loopbaanontwikkeling in aanmerking te neem as beduidende faktore wat op studente se intrapsigiese weerbaarheid en sielkundige veerkragtigheid vir die taak op hande inwerk. Hierdie twee ontwikkelingstrajekte word aansienlik deur die individu se tydsoriëntasie, spesifiek sy/haar toekomstydsperspektief, beïnvloed. Die hoofdoel van hierdie studie was om die rol van loopbaanvolwassenheid en toekomstydsperspektief in die verband tussen identiteitsontwikkeling en die akademiese sukses van eerstejaarstudente op universiteit te ondersoek. Die studie was dus eerstens daarop gerig om vas te stel of identiteitsontwikkeling die akademiese sukses van eerstejaarstudente op universiteit in beduidende mate kan voorspel en het tweedens die bemiddelende en modererende rolle van loopbaanvolwassenheid sowel as toekomstydsperspektief ondersoek. Hierdie ondersoek is uitgebrei om geslag en ras/etnisiteit as faktore wat die uitkoms beïnvloed, in te sluit. Uit die gemodereerde hiërargiese meervoudige regressie-ontledings wat gedoen is om die moontlike invloed van geslag en ras/etnisiteit op die verband tussen identiteitsontwikkeling en akademiese sukses te ondersoek, het dit geblyk dat geslag nie hierdie verband modereer nie, maar ras/etnisiteit het daarin geslaag om die verband te modereer. Berekende korrelasiekoëffisiënte tussen die relevante veranderlikes het daarop gedui dat slegs die verbintenisskaal vir die hele groep en die wit studente beduidend (op die 5%-vlak) met akademiese sukses gekorreleer het. Geen van die identiteitstyle het vir die swart leerders ’n beduidende verband met akademiese sukses getoon nie. Dit kom voor asof ’n groter aantal loopbaanvolwassenheidsveranderlikes beduidend met akademiese sukses verband hou vir die hele groep en vir die swart en wit studente. Toekomstydsperspektief hou skynbaar beduidend verband met akademiese sukses vir die hele groep sowel as vir die swart en wit studente. Geen van die identiteitstyle het daarin geslaag om ’n beduidende persentasie variansie in sowel die swart as die wit studente se akademiese sukses te voorspel nie. Die rol van identiteitsontwikkeling in die voorspelling van akademiese sukses is dus steeds onbeslis en vereis verdere ondersoek. Die volgende loopbaanvolwassenheidskale het die verband tussen die normatiewe identiteit en akademiese sukses gemodereer: besluitneming het hierdie verband vir die swart studente gemodereer; loopbaaninligting het hierdie verband vir die swart sowel as die wit studente gemodereer; en integrasie van self- en loopbaaninligting het hierdie verband vir die wit studente gemodereer. Loopbaaninligting, integrasie van self- en loopbaaninligting, sowel as loopbaanbeplanning het die verband tussen diffuusvermydende styl en akademiese sukses vir die wit studente gemodereer. Laastens het toekomstydsperspektief die verband tussen identiteitsverbintenis en akademiese sukses vir die swart eerstejaarstudente, maar nie vir die wit studente nie, gemodereer. Dit skyn ’n vreemde bevinding te wees, omdat daar verwag word dat wit studente meer toekomsgeoriënteerd en doelgerig sal wees deurdat dit mettertyd die geassosieerde uitwerking is van identiteitsverkenning en die ontwikkeling van identiteitsverbintenisse, wat dikwels met westerse kulturele waardes verbind word. | af |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11660/6496 | |
| dc.language.iso | en | en_ZA |
| dc.publisher | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.rights.holder | University of the Free State | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Identity development | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Career development | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Career maturity | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Future time perspective | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Emerging adulthood | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Academic success | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Race/ethnicity | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Academic achievement | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | College freshmen | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Education, Higher | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Identity (Psychology) | en_ZA |
| dc.subject | Thesis (Ph.D. (Psychology))--University of the Free State, 2017 | en_ZA |
| dc.title | The role of identity development, future time perspective and career maturity in first-year students' academic success | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis | en_ZA |