ESPLAT 2025 conference: Scientific thinking in challenging times

Introduction and Research Aims
Being successful in university depends on students’ academic and social integration in their studies (Kegel et al., 2021; Tinto, 1975; Zander & Höhne, 2021). However, empirical studies (e.g., Bäulke et al., 2021) often focus on only academic or social integration. With the present study, we aimed to investigate how academic self-concept (Marsh, 1990) and sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997) as indicators for academic and social integration relate to dropout intention and study satisfaction in one model. We expected to find positive relations of both academic self-concept and sense of belonging with study satisfaction and negative relations with dropout intention.

Method
Participants (N = 139; 82.73% women) were freshmen in psychology at a German university. They filled in an online survey in the first (T1) and sixth week (T2) of their first semester in 2024. We assessed academic self-concept (Dickhäuser et al., 2002) and sense of belonging (Hurtado & Carter, 1997) at T1, and dropout intention (Bäulke et al., 2021) and study satisfaction (Kegel et al., under review) at T2. We applied structural equation modeling including gender and first-generation student status as covariates.

Results and Discussion
Analyses revealed that academic self-concept (β = -.32, p < .01) and sense of belonging (β = -.29, p < .01) negatively related to dropout intention. For study satisfaction, we found positive relations with academic self-concept (β = .38, p < .001) and sense of belonging (β = .23, p < .01). In line with our expectations, these findings underscore the relevance of both academic and social integration for university students’ academic success (e.g., Tinto, 1975). Based on the small intercorrelation of academic self-concept and sense of belonging (r = .20, p < .05), future studies could further investigate their interplay with regard to learning behavior and academic achievement.

Refrences
Bäulke, L., Grunschel, C., & Dresel, M. (2021). Student dropout at university: A phase-orientated view on quitting studies and changing majors. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 37, 853–876. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-021-00557-x
Dickhäuser, O., Schöne, C., Spinath, B., & Stiensmeier-Pelster, J. (2002). Die Skalen zum akademischen Selbstkonzept: Konstruktion und Überprüfung eines neuen Instrumentes [The academic self-concept scales: Construction and testing of a new instrument]. Zeitschrift für differentielle und diagnostische Psychologie, 23(4), 393–405. https://doi.org/10.1024//0170-1789.23.4.393
Hurtado, S., & Carter, D. F. (1997). Effects of college transition and perceptions of the campus racial climate on Latino college students' sense of belonging. Sociology of Education, 324-345. https://doi.org/10.2307/2673270
Kegel, L. S., Bohndick, C., Breetzke, J., Janke, S., Scheunemann, A., & Wenker, T. (2025). Scale for measuring study satisfaction in higher education [Manuscript submitted for publication].
Kegel, L. S., Schnettler, T., Scheunemann, A., Bäulke, L., Thies, D. O., Dresel, M., Fries, S., Leutner, D., Wirth, J., & Grunschel, C. (2021). Unterschiedlich motiviert für das Studium: Motivationale Profile von Studierenden und ihre Zusammenhänge mit demografischen Merkmalen, Lernverhalten und Befinden [Differently motivated to study: Motivational profiles of students and their correlations with demographic characteristics, learning behaviour and well-being]. Zeitschrift für Empirische Hochschulforschung (ZeHf), 4(1), 81–105. https://doi.org/10.3224/zehf.v4i1.06
Marsh, H. W. (1990). The structure of academic self-concept: The Marsh/Shavelson model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 82(4), 623–636. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022- 0663.82.4.623
Tinto, V. (1975). Dropout from higher education: A theoretical synthesis of recent research. Review of Educational Research, 45(1), 89–125. https://doi.org/b2kbj6
Zander, L., & Höhne, E. (2021). Too good to belong: Kompetenzbezogene und soziale Prädiktoren des Zugehörigkeitsgefühls im Lehramtsstudium Sonderpädagogik [Too good to belong: competency-related and social predictors of sense of belonging in teacher education for special education]. In G. Hagenauer & D. Raufelder (Eds.) Soziale Eingebundenheit. Sozialbeziehungen im Fokus von Schule und Lehrer innenbildung*, 237-252. https://doi.org/10.25656/01:21355