Self-esteem and scholastic achievement : a study of Maltese secondary school girls in Form 1 and Form 4

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between female student's selfesteem, measured through the Coopersmith School Form SEI and their scholastic attainment, measured through the students' Annual examination results. Therefore, it sought to: 1) Study the relationship between self-esteem and scholastic achievement for the general sample; 2) Investigate the difference in the relationship between self-esteem and scholastic achievement as found in the Junior Lyceums sample and the Area Secondary schools sample; 3) Investigate the difference in the relationship between self-esteem and scholastic achievement as found in the Form 1 sample and the Form 4 sample. The sample consisted of 191 Form 1 students: 95 Junior Lyceum students and 96 Area Secondary School students and 189 Form 4 students: 99 Junior Lyceum students and 90 Area Secondary School students, during the scholastic year 2005-2006. The scores obtained by the students for Maths, English and Maltese for the Annual examinations of the year 2005-2006 were recorded and their total used as an indicator of Academic achievement. Results indicated that there is a stronger relationship between Scholastic achievement and Academic self-esteem than there is between scholastic achievement and other subscales. Results also showed that Social/Peers self-esteem was sometimes negatively correlated with Academic achievement. However, the most important discovery in this study was the differences in results when the sample was divided and analysed as smaller samples rather than considering the general sample only.