Postgraduate Competence and Academic Research Performance: The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital

Abstract

In this study, we developed and validated an instrument for measuring postgraduate competence and examined the relationships between postgraduate competence and academic research performance, along with the mediating role of psychological capital. Based on two independent samples, the results provided robust evidence of postgraduate competence composed of six dimensions. Adopting a two-wave survey at two different time periods, we conducted a questionnaire survey on 364 postgraduates from three top universities in China by random sampling. The results indicated that postgraduate competence was positively associated with academic research performance. Among the competences composed of six dimensions, research ability was the most predictive dimension of academic research performance. Additionally, psychological capital partially mediated the relationship between postgraduate competence and academic research performance. These findings contributed to the ongoing discussion about improving postgraduates’ academic research performance under the circumstance of competence-based education.

Supervisory styles and graduate student innovation performance: The mediating role of psychological capital and the moderating role of harmonious academic passion

“…Empirically, studies have found that PsyCap mediates some types of the effect of leadership on employees' work outcomes (Rego et al, 2012;Bouckenooghe et al, 2014;Gupta and Singh, 2014). Limited evidence has also suggested that research performance and postgraduate competence are partially mediated by PsyCap (Guo et al, 2021). Thus, the following hypothesis is proposed: H4: PsyCap mediates the positive relationship between SSS and GSIP.…”

“…Performance represents the output that is made visible and known to others ( Zhao et al, 2021b ). When examining the process holistically, innovation performance is defined as a construct comprising an innovation process that is similar to innovative research behavior ( Janssen, 2000 ) and an innovation outcome that is similar to academic research output ( Guo et al, 2021 ). Previous research has examined a variety of individual and contextual factors as potential predictors of innovative work behavior and performance ( Afsar et al, 2014 ; Etikariena, 2016 ).…”

“…First, by offering academic support, such as by providing task-related help, supervisors can help students obtain the knowledge and skills that they need to conduct scientific research more quickly and directly, thus making them more competent. Guo et al (2021) discovered that the more competitive a student is, the greater their PsyCap. Second, supervisors, by providing autonomy, support and developmental feedback create an environment of self-determination, security and trust that enables students to concentrate their efforts on goal-related tasks and on the task of finding alternative pathways to solve problems and benefit from opportunities ( Rego et al, 2012 ).…”

“…Further, the mediating role played by PsyCap especially in the relationship between organizational environments and employee outcomes has been examined ( Newman et al, 2014 ). Despite the fact that PsyCap has also been studied in educational contexts ( Guo et al, 2021 ), little is known regarding graduate students’ PsyCap and its role as a mediator in the relationship between supervisor leadership and graduate student innovation performance (GSIP). The development of innovation among graduate students does not occur in a psychological vacuum ( Liu et al, 2020 ).…”

How to Use Research Activity Tools in Bachelor Students Research Competence Formation

“…Philosophical, psychological and pedagogical literature analysis showed that skills that can be developed by research competence are the ability to practice, as a good example of systematic implementation practice and research that is based on a scientific framework (Schultes et al, 2021: p. 20), ability based on knowledge, experience and values acquired in the learning process, academic achievements and related learning outcomes reflecting their learning motivation as well as active engagement in academic research (Guo et al, 2021: p. 1), the whole structure of personality, general (universal) abilities and skills, readiness of a person to work. The research competence of a bachelor is the ability and willingness to independently carry out various types of research work following the identified problem and goal.…”