Academic achievement of Indian adolescents and its correlates

This study investigates the relationship between the dependent variables academic achievement (GPA) and independent variables, parents educational attainment, annual per capita income, self-concept, social caste and achievement motivation. The relationship between self-concept and caste was also investigated. The relation between GPA and the independent variables taken together was also determined by multiple correlation. The study also identified the best predictors of academic achievement by stepwise regression analysis. As hypothesized, all independent variables were found to be positively and significantly related to the dependent variable. The relationship between self concept and caste, r = .44, p . 05, did not reach statistical significance. Therefore, the hypothesis that this is a positively significant relationship between self concept and caste was rejected. The combined relationship between GPA and the dependent variables taken together was found to be = . 591, explaining a variance of 33 percent. Fathers\u27 educational attainment was found to be the best predictor of GPA followed by income, caste, self concept, sex code and achievement motivation. The findings of the study are discussed separately along with the conclusions and recommendations arising out of them are also given