Self Concept as a Correlate of Academic Achievement: A Review Analysis

Academic achievement is the central aim of all formal educational efforts is, on the part of the students. Even though, it is desirable to have all-round development as a goal of educational process, where academic achievement would be just one of the dimensions; but in most of the educational institutions, academic achievement continues to be the exclusive concern, narrowing down the very concept of educational process. Nevertheless, it is important to note that achievement in curricular subjects is not an independent phenomenon. Rather, it is directly influenced by a number of factors, some of which are personal to the individual while many others are located in the environment in which learning process takes place. Thus in order to fully understand the concept, as well as, the process of academic achievement, it is imperative to identify and explore various factors related to the academic achievement. This paper primarily laid emphasis on self concept, its development and how it relates to the academic achievement of adolescents. As a good self–concept enables a child to accept responsibility to achieve success in school and to grow into a productive member of society while a poor self concept leads to difficulty in accepting responsibility, fear, apathy, anxiety, defensiveness and lack of success in school.