Understanding in school and post-school success of adolescents: An integrative perspective of multidimensional self-concepts in education and career development

A substantial body of research has tested the role of academic self-concept and found a positive link between academic self-concept and academic achievement through cross-sectional studies. Moreover, a growing body of studies have also found the reciprocal relationships between academic self-concept and academic achievement through longitudinal designs. While positive academic self-concept and academic achievement have been regarded as two important indicators of in-school success, little attention has been paid to students’ development of career-related self-concept. Furthermore, the interplay among career-related self-concept, academic self-concept, academic achievement and post-school success deserves thorough investigations. Based on these concerns, this review synthesizes advances in the two research lines to propose an extended multidimensional model of self-concept. It also suggests that an extension from the current Reciprocal Effects Model (REM) that examines the reciprocal relationships between academic self-concept and academic achievement to include a domain of career-related self-concept is needed.
This review is remarkable. It sheds light on guiding future studies to test both academic and career-related domains of self-concept in understanding adolescent students’ in-school and post-school success from the perspective of self-concept research. It is anticipated that future studies based on the two extended models will not only enrich self-concept research in education and career development, but also assist in developing enhancement interventions to cater for academic and career development needs of students with diverse abilities to help them make the most out of both in-school and post-school life. Copyright © 2017 All rights are reserved by Yang Lan.