Höhne Elisabeth, Zander Lysann
Division of Empirical Educational Research, Institute of Education, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hanover, Germany.
Front Psychol. 2019 Aug 13;10:1740. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01740. eCollection 2019.
Belonging uncertainty, defined as the general concern about the quality of one's social relationships in an academic setting, has been found to be an important determinant of academic achievement, and persistence. However, to date, only little research investigated the sources of belonging uncertainty. To address this research gap, we examined three potential sources of belonging uncertainty in a sample of undergraduate computer science students in Germany ( = 449) and focused on (a) perceived affective and academic exclusion by fellow students, (b) domain-specific academic self-efficacy beliefs, and (c) perception of one's individual performance potential compared to that of fellow students in the field. Perceived affective and academic exclusion by fellow students and domain-specific academic self-efficacy beliefs were significant predictors of female students' uncertainty about belonging in computer science. The perception of one's individual performance potential in comparison to that of fellow students, however, was a relevant predictor of both male and female students' belonging uncertainty in computer science. Our findings imply an expanded view of the theoretical concept of belonging uncertainty that goes beyond mere concerns of social connectedness.
归属感不确定被定义为在学术环境中对个人社会关系质量的普遍担忧，它已被发现是学业成绩和坚持性的一个重要决定因素。然而，迄今为止，只有很少的研究调查了归属感不确定的来源。为了填补这一研究空白，我们在德国的一个本科计算机科学专业学生样本（n = 449）中考察了归属感不确定的三个潜在来源，并重点关注：（a）被同学感知到的情感和学业排斥；（b）特定领域的学业自我效能信念；以及（c）与该领域同学相比对自己个人表现潜力的认知。被同学感知到的情感和学业排斥以及特定领域的学业自我效能信念是女学生对计算机科学归属感不确定的显著预测因素。然而，与同学相比对自己个人表现潜力的认知是男、女学生对计算机科学归属感不确定的一个相关预测因素。我们的研究结果意味着对归属感不确定这一理论概念的扩展观点，它超越了对社会联系的单纯担忧。
