The influence of personal networks and social support on study attainment of students in university education

Abstract

In this paper, the influence of personal networks and social support on study attainment of students in university education is examined. Furthermore, the paper aimed at clarifying the possible mediating role of achievement motivation, time spent on studying and working, procrastination and self-esteem. The study is a follow-up of the '89 cohort study, but is restricted to those students who have transferred to university education after finishing secondary education. The students have been approached with a questionnaire in 2004. Multinomial logistic regression shows that social support has no effect on study attainment, but that personal networks do have an effect on attainment. The relationship between social support and personal networks on the one hand and study progress on the other hand is not mediated by the before mentioned variables.Keywords Personal network Á Social support Á University Á Higher education Á Attainment Á Student Á Achievement motivation Á Self-esteem Á Procrastination Students who transfer to higher education face a number of changes in their personal and academic environment. The transition from secondary education to higher education not only calls for academic adjustment, but also includes different social demands. Students need to develop new or increased capacity for self-regulation and must learn to cope with the time pressure that is inherent in going to college. Moreover, students must integrate into a new social environment. They leave their parental house, most of their former classmates and teachers and they meet new friends, housemates and classmates. Existing supportive relationships may change or even disappear, and new supportive connections can be formed. The extent to which students succeed in integrating into this new environment and also the amount of social support received from network members possibly determines part of their academic success or failure.L. Eggens (&) Á M. P. C. van der Werf Á R. J. Bosker Groningen Institute for Educational Research, University of Groningen, Grote Rozenstraat 3, 9712 TG Groningen, The Netherlands e-mail: l.eggens@rug.nl 123High Educ (2008) 55:553-573 DOI 10.1007 Most models for explaining academic performance in higher education are based on the interaction model developed by Spady (1970Spady ( , 1971, further elaborated on by Tinto (1975). Based on these and other models, a wide range of possible determinants of academic performance has been described and tested, which can roughly be divided into contextrelated factors like curricular characteristics and assessment procedures, and studentrelated factors like gender, motivation and learning styles. These variables are mainly academic and/or personal determinants though, leaving the students' social environment out of consideration.This study examined the influence of personal networks and social support on academic attainment of students in university education. The impact of students' social support and personal network was studied together with the influence of achieve...

Benefits of personality characteristics and self‐efficacy in the perceived academic achievement of medical students

“…However, the negative impact of social activity (odds ratios smaller than 1) does not imply that social contacts are per se a threat to being successful at university. It has been shown that a social network can certainly be beneficial for students in completing their study successfully (Eggens, van der Werf, & Bosker, 2008). The impact of extraversion seems further to depend on the selected prediction criteria.…”

Peer mentoring – is a virtual form of support a viable alternative?

“…Eggens, van der Werf, and Bosker (2007) note that personal networks affect student attainment, and Clifton et al (2004) observe how peers give an individual the sense of coping and hence perceived control over academic progress. Harvey, Drew, and Smith (2006) noted how students from lower-income families have less peer support to draw on, and go on to suggest that there is some correlation between socio-economic groups, first-year grades and the possibility of withdrawing from study (especially where family problems intervene).…”

Enhancing the Social Capital of Learning Communities by Using an Ad Hoc Transient Communities Service

“…An online community also gives participants a sense of belonging, provides easy access to other participants and prevents the feeling of isolation participants might experience [1][2][3], thus reducing the chance of participants dropping out [4][5][6]. However, since community formation is a dynamic process, it is inherently unpredictable [7,8].…”

“…Social capital represents the participant's relationships within a social network, as well as the mutual support between participants [12]. The features of social capital include: (1) the social structure of the network -how are participants connected - [2,13], (2) the sense of belonging to the community [6,[14][15][16], and (3) the social support received and provided [17].…”