TYPE Systematic Review

PUBLISHED 28 March 2023

DOI 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136141

Gender-moderated effects of
OPEN ACCESS academic self-concept on
achievement, motivation,
EDITED BY
Carol Fuller,
University of Reading, United Kingdom
REVIEWED BY
Gaetana Affuso,
performance, and self-efficacy: A
University of Campania ’Luigi Vanvitelli, Italy
Luigi Aldieri,
University of Salerno, Italy
systematic review
Longcun Sun,
Jiangsu Normal University, China
Leihong Wang1 and Zhonggen Yu2*
*CORRESPONDENCE
Zhonggen Yu 1
Department of Linguistics, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China, 2 Faculty of Foreign
[email protected] Studies, Beijing Language and Culture University, Beijing, China
SPECIALTY SECTION
This article was submitted to
Educational Psychology, Although academic self-concept plays a crucial role in promoting students’
a section of the journal
Frontiers in Psychology education, there is a paucity of studies simultaneously exploring the
gender-moderated effects of academic self-concept. This study aimed to explore
RECEIVED 02 January 2023
ACCEPTED 13 March 2023 gender-moderated effects of academic self-concept on achievement, motivation,
PUBLISHED 28 March 2023 performance, and self-efficacy. With Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic
CITATION Reviews and Meta-Analyses Protocol (PRISMA-P) and STARLITE criteria, this study
Wang LH and Yu ZG (2023) Gender-moderated screened and assessed the retrieved literature, finally including 53 studies. It was
effects of academic self-concept on
achievement, motivation, performance, and concluded that academic self-concept exerted a positive influence on improving
self-efficacy: A systematic review. achievement, enhancing motivation, ameliorating performance, and boosting
Front. Psychol. 14:1136141. self-efficacy. It should also be noted that interrelations between academic
doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136141
self-concept and other educational constructs may be much more complicated
COPYRIGHT
than expected since gender disparities may moderate the effects of academic
© 2023 Wang and Yu. This is an open-access
article distributed under the terms of the self-concept. Gender discrepancies in academic self-concept could account
Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). for the gap between male students and female students in subject-specific
The use, distribution or reproduction in other
achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy, especially in STEM
forums is permitted, provided the original
author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are courses. Teaching interventions and educational policies should be taken to
credited and that the original publication in this enhance female students’ STEM courses self-concept. Future studies should
journal is cited, in accordance with accepted
promote educational equality, highlight academic self-concept of special groups,
academic practice. No use, distribution or
reproduction is permitted which does not and enhance academic self-concept in online learning.
comply with these terms. Systematic review registration: https://osf.io/uxjnv/?view_only=b10db44d3415
4d96a361c159ca15a5b5.

KEYWORDS

academic self-concept, achievement, motivation, performance, self-efficacy, gender

differences

Introduction
Academic self-concept has been widely acknowledged as an indispensable goal in the
educational enterprise (Jansen et al., 2020). Academically successful students are generally
characteristic of positive academic self-concept, strong motivation, and desirable academic
behaviors (Burger and Naude, 2020). As a matter of fact, academic self-concept is not only
a desirable educational goal but also a significant means of boosting students’ academic
outcomes and improving educational behaviors (Marsh et al., 2014). The COVID-19
pandemic compelled teachers and students to switch from offline learning to online learning,
which exerted a negative effect on students’ academic self-concept (Emmerichs et al.,
2021). Fortunately, it is reported that high academic self-concept and motivation may be
conducive to enhancing students’ performance and achievement emotions, especially in
adverse circumstances (Paechter et al., 2022).

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It has been demonstrated that gender differences could make could be subject-related (Shavelson et al., 1976; Arens et al., 2016),
a difference to students’ formation and development of academic such as English self-concept and history self-concept, or skill-
self-concept (Postigo et al., 2022). The stronger the gender related (Arens and Jansen, 2016), such as reading self-concept and
stereotypes in educational settings, the more pronounced the writing self-concept. Besides, academic self-concept could also be
gender-moderated effects on academic self-concept (Koivuhovi roughly divided into verbal self-concept and mathematics self-
et al., 2019). To some extent, gender disparities in academic self- concept (Vu et al., 2022).
concept accorded closely with gender stereotypes (Ertl et al., 2017). Academic self-concept was formed in the interplay of social,
To put it simply, male students maintaining higher math self- dimensional, and temporal comparison (Wolff and Möller, 2022).
concept tended to excel at mathematics. On the contrary, female The internal/external frame of reference model demonstrated
students holding positive verbal self-concept were more likely to that academic self-concept was significantly interrelated with
be proficient in languages (Espinoza and Taut, 2020). Moreover, achievement within and across domains (Arens and Preckel,
in terms of academic self-concept, there existed larger gender 2018). For instance, if student A with lower verbal achievement
differences in gifted students than average-ability students (Preckel compared with student B with higher verbal achievement, then
et al., 2008). student A may be stuck with a lower self-concept (Kavanagh,
Some reviews have been conducted to explore gender- 2020). Meanwhile, if one student excelled in verbal affairs but
moderated effects of academic self-concept on educational underperforms in mathematics, then this student may undergo
constructs. A moderating effect of gender has been found in a lower mathematic self-concept (Lohbeck and Möller, 2017).
social comparison in the classroom, with gender differences Moreover, big-fish-little-pond effect (henceforth “BFLPE”) claimed
negatively affecting female students’ expectations of success and that students usually suffered from lower academic self-concept,
self-concept (Dijkstra et al., 2008). Gender stereotypes could in company with higher-achieving classmates than lower-achieving
exert negative influences on female students’ mathematics and classmates (Aguillon et al., 2020).
science self-concept, causing female students’ under-participation
in Olympiads (Steegh et al., 2019). Compared with boys, girls with
lower self-efficacy suffered from higher math anxiety (Kaur et al.,
Achievement
2022). The class composition may make a difference to female
students’ academic self-concept, with the single-sex class being
Achievement could be generally defined as positive long-
beneficial to female students’ science-related self-concept (Belfi
term outcomes derived from academic learning (Tomás et al.,
et al., 2012).
2020). Achievement was assumed to be based on cognitive
Despite ever-increasing attention has been paid to academic
ability (Chen et al., 2012). Multiple factors may exert an
self-concept and gender differences, there is a paucity of studies
influence on achievement, such as individual characteristics,
simultaneously synthesizing the gender-moderated effects of
teachers’ instructions, expectancy (Friedrich et al., 2015), and
academic self-concept on a couple of educational constructs (see
academic environment. According to expectancy-value theory,
Table 1). Given the academic self-concept’s great significance in
actual academic achievement could be prominently predicted by
boosting educational outcomes, it is indispensable to make a
expectancy for success (Cambria et al., 2017). Several ways were
systematic review regarding gender-moderated effects of academic
available to measure students’ achievement, such as school grades,
self-concept on achievement, motivation, performance, and self-
achievement test scores and, grade point average (Arens et al.,
efficacy. This study firstly makes a brief review of the above-
2022).
mentioned constructs and gender differences separately, then
Abundant studies have been conducted to explore the
strives to examine the gender-moderated effects of academic
reciprocal association between academic self-concept and
self-concept on achievement, motivation, performance, and self-
achievement (Wu et al., 2021). Nevertheless, the interrelation
efficacy. Finally, implications for future research are made to
between academic self-concept and achievement may be more
improve educational outcomes and strive for education equality.
complex than supposed to be (Keller et al., 2021). Besides, whether
gender differences could exert an influence on the interplay
between academic self-concept and achievement remained
Literature review controversial (Cambria et al., 2017). Given the inconsistent
findings, it is worthwhile to scrutinize the literature and account
Academic self-concept
for the intricate interrelations between academic self-concept
and achievement.
It was necessary to clarify the definition and classification
of academic self-concept. Academic self-concept was regarded as
a facet of self-concept (Jónsdóttir and Blöndal, 2022). Different
from physical, social, and emotional self-concept, academic self- Motivation
concept was specifically bound up with academic outcomes (Vu
et al., 2022). Therefore, academic self-concept could be defined Motivation was regarded as a decisive factor influencing
as students’ self-perception of their current academic competence students’ learning process and academic success (Fadda et al.,
(Marsh and Martin, 2011; Paechter et al., 2022). Academic self- 2022). Motivation may act as an indispensable part of boosting
concept was widely acknowledged as both multidimensional and educational outcomes, such as perseverance and performance
hierarchical construct (Beaudrie, 2018). Academic self-concept (Wigfield and Eccles, 2000). Motivation was generally composed

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TABLE 1 A comparison between previous studies and the current study.

N References Data range Academic topics

Self-concept Achievement Motivation Performance Self-efficacy Gender
√ √
1 Dijkstra et al. 1954–2007 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
(2008)
√ √ √
2 Steegh et al. 2008–2017 ✗ ✗ ✗
(2019)
√ √
3 Kaur et al. 1990–2020 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
(2022)
√ √
4 Belfi et al. 2000–2011 ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
(2012)
√ √ √ √ √ √
5 Current study 2008–2022

of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation (Paechter et al., 2022). Self-efficacy

Intrinsic motivation may involve inherent satisfaction derived from
engaging in or accomplishing an academic task (Brisson et al., Self-efficacy was an integral determinant of academic decisions
2017). On the contrary, extrinsic motivation may relate to the aim and outcomes (Tomás et al., 2020). Self-efficacy could be defined
of achieving some educational outcomes (Brisson et al., 2017), such as students’ self-perceived confidence to accomplish educational
as achievement-oriented behaviors or performance. tasks or achieve academic goals (Arens et al., 2022). Self-efficacy
The available researches have substantially recognized also referred to one’s ability to effectively control academic activities
the significance of motivation, but not enough attention has and foster capabilities (Wan et al., 2021). Academic self-efficacy was
been paid to gender differences in academic self-concept of great significance in education enterprise (Arens et al., 2022)
on motivation. Although both boys and girls suffered and it could make a great difference to students’ thoughts and
from motivational decreases (Scherrer and Preckel, 2019), behavior. Strong self-efficacy usually made students courageous to
gender-moderated effects of academic self-concept on meet academic challenges while weak self-efficacy made students
motivation may vary from boys to girls (Wirthwein et al., fearful of engaging in academic activities (Scherrer and Preckel,
2020). Therefore, there is a need to review the effects of 2019).
academic self-concept on motivation from the perspective of Although extensive researches have been conducted on the
gender differences. significance of self-efficacy (Arens et al., 2022), inconsistent
findings remained to be systematically reviewed, such as whether
academic self-concept and self-efficacy could mutually influence
each other (Scherer, 2013). Moreover, gender differences should
Performance be taken into consideration as regards the effects of academic
self-concept on self-efficacy. Clarifying gender differences in self-
As an academic indicator, performance was a prominent
efficacy was conducive to promoting female’s representation in
reflection of academic self-concept (Gorges et al., 2018). Moreover,
STEM careers, ranging from science, technology, engineering to
performance was an important educational outcome in students’
mathematics (Aguillon et al., 2020).
academic careers (Burger and Naudé, 2019). Performance could
be deemed as how students handled with their academic tasks
with instructions from teachers (Wigfield et al., 2020). As often is
the case, performance was measured by means of school grades, Gender differences
grade point average, or standardized achievement tests (Steinmayr
et al., 2018). Among negative performances, there was an increasing Gender was an influential variable in educational settings
trend of test anxiety in school-aged children (Raymo et al., (Cooper et al., 2018). Gender may influence students’ interest in
2019). science lessons (Cheung, 2018). Gender stereotypes referred to
Considerable researches have demonstrated that performance a generalization of social expectation and habitual attribution in
was positively related with academic self-concept (Colmar terms of a particular gender’s abilities (Ertl et al., 2017; Savolainen
et al., 2019). However, little research has touched on whether et al., 2018). It was assumed that there were differences in academic
academic self-concept could directly predict performance abilities and characteristics among male and female students,
and whether gender identity could make a difference to accounting for their discrepant behaviors (Bieg et al., 2015), such
students’ performance (Aguillon et al., 2020). Therefore, as girls may hold higher verbal self-concept while boys may excel
there is an urgent need to review the interrelation between in math self-concept (Espinoza and Taut, 2020) and these gender
academic self-concept and performance in terms of gender discrepancies may become increasingly prominent over time (Valls,
differences, alleviating students’ test anxiety and fostering students’ 2022). Therefore, the influence of gender differences in education
academic buoyancy. should not be overlooked.

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Although some studies have recognized gender differences such as psychiatry and management, etc., this study narrowed down
in educational settings, scarce research explored the gender- the scope to only focus on education and educational research,
moderated effects of academic self-concept on achievement, resulting in 763 results.
motivation, performance, and self-efficacy. According to a To accurately identify trending themes, this study employed
longitudinal study, moderation effects of gender could be found VOSviewer to visualize the bibliographic network. Firstly, this
between expectancy-value belief and courses participation, study imported the bibliographic data downloaded from Web
performance, and preparation among Hispanic youth (Safavian, of Science. Secondly, this study chose the reasonable type of
2019). Once math-related gender stereotypes were widely analysis, unit of analysis, and counting method. Taking trending
acknowledged by the whole class, then female students’ math themes into consideration, the type of co-occurrence plus all
self-concept would be negatively affected (Wolff, 2021). Gender keywords was more suitable. This study assumed each co-
differences seemed to constantly make a difference to students’ occurrence with the same weight, and adopted full counting
academic behaviors, particularly during the transition from as the counting method. Thirdly, as for the threshold, this
elementary school to middle school (Savolainen et al., 2018). bibliographic network admitted a keyword occurring at least eight
times. This resulting in successfully identifying 209 items from
the 2612 keyword searched, which are able to meet the base line
Objectives and research questions requirement. The network visualization was shown in Figure 2.
As depicted by the colors in Figure 2, the bibliographic network
This study intends to systematically review whether academic consisted of 6 clusters including a total of 209 keywords. Cluster
self-concept could exert an influence on achievement, motivation, 1 represented 70 items, e.g., academic achievement, academic
performance, and self-efficacy. The study focuses on the motivation, academic performance, academic self-concept, and
following five questions: (1) Can academic self-concept influence efficacy. Cluster 2 represented 40 items, e.g., academic self-
achievement? (2) Can academic self-concept influence motivation? concept, academic achievement, competence belief, dimensional
(3) Can academic self-concept influence performance? (4) Can comparison, expectancy-value theory. Cluster 3 represented 36
academic self-concept influence self-efficacy? (5) Can gender items, e.g., ability, ability grouping, achievement, attainment,
differences moderate the effects of academic self-concept on aspirations, big-fish-little-pond effect, and social comparison.
achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy? Cluster 4 represented 27 items, e.g., attitudes, beliefs, gender
differences, intervention, stereotype threat, and resilience. Cluster 5
represented 20 items, e.g., achievement goals, attitude, competence,
Research methods goal orientation, intrinsic motivation, and math anxiety. Cluster 6
represented 16 items, e.g., achievement motivations, antecedents,
Research design anxiety, etc.
Apart from the cluster analysis, VOSviewer provided the
This study adopted rapid evidence assessment to review the list of keywords based on total link strengths. As was clearly
previous literature systematically. Figure 1 illustrated how this shown in Figure 3, academic self-concept has the strongest link
study dealt with literature review on academic self-concept. Firstly, strength (N = 3,854), ranked first in the list. In addition, the
this review retrieved all the relevant literature from Web of Science link strengths of achievement (N = 2,445), motivation (N =
(core collection). Secondly, this review scrutinized the much- 1,766), and performance (N = 1,381) are also highly ranked. But
debated themes and then put forward the corresponding research what should not be ignored is that the item self-efficacy with
questions by virtue of clustering and link strengths supported by the total link strength (N = 781) is ranked top 10. Judged from
VOSviewer. Thirdly, this review screened the literature under the the clusters and total link strengths, it is demonstrated that self-
guideline of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and concept, achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy
Meta-analysis (PRISMA) (PRISMA-P Group et al., 2015). Fourthly, are trending themes.
this review assessed literature quality with STRALITE (Booth,
2006). Lastly, this review explored the gender-moderated effects
of academic self-concept in terms of achievement, motivation,
performance, and self-efficacy. Literature selection

The researchers screened the previously retrieved literature by

Research corpus means of Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and
Meta-analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P). As shown in Figure 4, a total
This study collected relevant literature from Web of Science of 1,128 records are obtained from Web of Science (core collection).
(core collection) on October 16, 2022. Web of Science was known as In terms of document types, a total of 12 records are excluded,
a digital database with abundant high-quality academic articles. For such as editorial materials (N = 5), meeting abstracts (N = 4), book
the sake of comprehensiveness, this study retrieved all the data from chapters (N = 2), and conference proceedings (N = 1). In terms of
Web of Science sub-databases accessible to the school library. The relevance, language, and abstract, 463 more records are excluded,
literature retrieved, ranging from January 2008 to October 2022, including records beyond the field of education and educational
amounted to 1128 results, by keying in “academic self-concept” research (N = 356), records not written in English (N = 77), records
(topic) and student∗ OR learn∗ OR educat∗ (topic) through without abstract (N = 1), and records irrelevant to the proposed
Boolean logic. Given that some articles belong to irrelevant fields, research questions (N = 29).

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FIGURE 1
Steps of literature collection and selection.

FIGURE 2
The bibliographic network.

After 2 rounds of screening, a total of 653 full-text articles of clear logic or specific design (N = 16), inadequate sources of
needed to be assessed in terms of eligibility. Thereinto, the full evidence (N = 81), unclear measurement or classification (N =
text of 68 records was not accessible. Apart from that, the rest 199), unwarranted analysis and interpretation (N = 41), without
literature was screened based on the AERA reporting standards. generalization (N = 93), and not well-constructed title, abstract
The literature was excluded due to the following reasons, lack or headings (N = 93). 5 previous literature reviews were added.
of thorough formation of the research problem (N = 13), lack Finally, a total of 53 studies were covered for this systematic review.

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FIGURE 3
Total link strengths.

Literature assessment analytical techniques, topics, and major findings. Secondly, the
researchers classified the topics into six categories, academic
To conduct the study effectively, the retrieved articles should self-concept, gender, achievement, motivation, performance,
be both comprehensive and topic-oriented. STARLITE may be and self-efficacy. Finally, by illuminating the relevant research
employed as a practical method to assess the quality of literature. questions, the researchers made a comprehensive analysis
The mnemonic STARLITE stands for the following eight standards, of gender-moderated effects of academic self-concept on
sampling strategy, type of study, approaches, range of years, achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy.
limits, inclusion and exclusions, terms used, and electronic sources
respectively (Booth, 2006). Table 2 is designed to demonstrate
whether all the above standards were satisfied or not. According
to the illustrations in Table 2, the present study generally satisfies Interpretation of included literature
the standards for systematic reviews with refined results based on
STARLITE. Moreover, two raters undertook literature assessment The included literature was listed alphabetically by the author’s
(“agree” = 2, “partially agree” = 1, “disagree” = 0), and the inter- family name (see Appendix). All the enlightening literature
rater concordance (k = 0.941) indicated that the included literature included was published from 2008 to 2022. As shown by Figure 5,
was of good quality. the academic researches on academic self-concept have been
relatively stable before 2019, and the outbreak of the COVID-
19 pandemic triggered the upsurge of studies on academic self-
concept in 2021. This might be largely attributed to the constructive
Literature synthesis role of academic self-concept on educational constructs, such as
achievement, performance, motivation, and self-efficacy, especially
This study adopted the comparative thematic approach to in adverse circumstances (Paechter et al., 2022).
synthesize the literature, from coding themes, and describing The included literature could be interpreted from the
themes to synthesizing themes (Bridges et al., 2020). Firstly, the perspective of samples, methods, and analytical techniques. As for
researchers scrutinized the 53 enlightening studies included, samples, a majority of literature (N = 33) targeted at junior and
sorting out the corresponding samples, research methods, senior middle school students. Only two studies explored the effects

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FIGURE 4
The PRISMA flow diagram of literature selection.

of academic self-concept among kindergarten students. Germany RQ1: Can academic self-concept influence
(N = 16) has topped the list for conducting researches on academic achievement?
self-concept, followed by the United States (N = 4), Belgium (N
= 3), and China (N = 3). Moreover, datasets involving multiple Academic self-concept exerted a positive influence on
countries were employed in some literature, such as PISA and individuals’ achievement. Positive academic self-concept
TIMSS. Questionnaires (N = 31), and scales (N = 18) were widely could boost achievement of both regular students and gifted
used in the researches. It was the structural equation model (N students (Preckel et al., 2017). With higher academic self-
= 13) that explored gender-moderated effects of academic self- concept, students’ foreign language learning could be greatly
concept most effectively. Confirmatory factor analysis (N = 10) facilitated, and academic achievement could also be enhanced
came second. (Zhang, 2022). As for college students, higher academic
self-concept was conducive to an increase in classroom
participation and achievement (Zhou et al., 2015). Driven
by positive academic self-concept, students actively involved
Results themselves in classroom activities, achieving more academic
goals (Schnitzler et al., 2021). Moreover, teachers’ higher
This section summarized the gender-moderated effects of expectations could also be converted into students’ positive
academic self-concept on the following educational constructs, academic self-concept, contributing to satisfactory achievement
such as achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy. (Szumski and Karwowski, 2019).

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TABLE 2 Self-check based on STARLITE.

Check Elements Detailed explanation

X S: sampling strategy Comprehensive sampling enabled all the relevant literature accessible to the study; Selective sampling made the
retained literature within education and educational research field.

X T: types of studies Both macro and micro researches were included, varying from qualitative study, quantitative study to mixed study.

X A: approaches Hand-searching was incorporated into electronic subject searches by means of flexible adjustment of Boolean logic
search. For example, the terms “academic self-concept”, “educat∗ ”, “learn∗ ”, “student∗ ”, “achievement∗ ”,
“motivation”, “performance”, and “efficacy” were chosen as the topic.

X R: range of years The literature retrieved is from January 2008 to October 2022; Figure 5 shows the number of publications on
academic self-concept.

X L: limits This study set limits on four aspects, time, document types, the language in which the articles were written.
Specifically, the articles, except book chapters, etc., written in English, published from 2008 to 2022, within education
and educational research domain were included.

X I: inclusion and exclusion Some literature were included while others were excluded based on the following criteria, whether the publication
date ranged from 2008 to 2022; whether the literature was within education and educational research scope; whether
the literature was relevant to academic self-concept, achievement, motivation, performance, self-efficacy and gender
differences; whether the literature offered adequate samples or statistics; whether the literature was rigidly designed;
whether the results or conclusions were clear and convincing.

X T: terms used The terms, such as “academic self-concept”, “achievement”, “motivation”, “performance”, “self-efficacy”, and
“gender”, were fully present.

X E: electronic sources All the accessible 6 sub-databases from Web of Science (core collection) were covered.

FIGURE 5
The number of publications on academic self-concept.

Different findings academic self-concept and achievement was proven to change over
time, varying from the skill-development model to the reciprocal
People took it for granted that the interrelation between effect model (Wu et al., 2021). Finally, cross-cultural modesty
academic self-concept and achievement should be linear, bias may make academic self-concept negatively associated with
continuous, and stable. Nevertheless, it was not the case. Firstly, achievement (Min et al., 2016).
researches showed that there existed a non-linear rather than
corresponding tendency between academic self-concept and
achievement (Keller et al., 2021). This was because some under- RQ2: Can academic self-concept influence
achieving students tended to adopt self-protective strategies, motivation?
pretending to hold a positive academic self-concept (Keller et al.,
2021). Secondly, according to an investigation among Flemish Academic self-concept and motivation were interrelated with
adolescents, there was no such correlation between academic self- each other (Paechter et al., 2022). Students’ high academic self-
concept and achievement during a period ranging from grade 7 to concept was generally accompanied by robust motivation while
grade 8 (Pinxten et al., 2013). Thirdly, the interrelation between students’ low academic self-concept could bring about declining

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motivation (Van de gaer et al., 2009). Students with robust self-efficacy, no correlation was found between previous self-
motivation and positive academic self-concept tended to be efficacy and subsequent self-concept (Arens et al., 2022). Students
willingly involved in academic activities (Burger and Naude, possessing higher academic self-concept in the active-learning
2020). Freshmen academic self-concept was critical to subsequent environment were more likely to show a higher sense of self-efficacy
motivation during university (Fryer, 2015). The gifted students and belonging (Aguillon et al., 2020). Academic self-concept was
with higher mathematical ability self-concept tended to hold higher conducive to sustaining self-efficacy beliefs about maintaining
intrinsic motivation (Bergold et al., 2020). Academic self-concept interest in a specific domain (Fryer and Ainley, 2019).
was proven to account for Japanese students’ motivational deficits
in learning English (Fryer et al., 2018).

Controversies
RQ3: Can academic self-concept influence
performance? It remained controversial whether the relationship between
academic self-concept and self-efficacy was bidirectional or
Academic self-concept could boost students’ performance. It unidirectional. Some researchers claimed that academic self-
has been confirmed that academic self-concept was conducive concept and self-efficacy could mutually influence each other
to promoting Spanish heritage learners’ performance in reading, (Scherer, 2013). Nevertheless, it should be emphasized that self-
writing, and spelling (Beaudrie, 2018). Higher academic self- efficacy merely exerted a temporary rather than permanent effect on
concept encouraged lower-achieving students to seek help from academic self-concept (Ferla et al., 2009). Moreover, it was reported
teachers and peers, which subsequently promoted students’ that enrollment in multiple developmental courses only exerted a
achievement (Amemiya and Wang, 2017). In active learning negative influence on students’ academic self-concept but made no
classrooms, students with positive academic self-concept were difference to students’ self-efficacy (Martin et al., 2017).
more likely to participate in group discussions and achieve
academic success (Cooper et al., 2018). By virtue of positive
academic self-concept, Chinese Miao students’ test anxiety was
alleviated, and mathematical problem-solving performance was RQ 5: Can gender differences moderate the
dramatically enhanced (Guo et al., 2020). Academic self-concept
effects of academic self-concept on
was demonstrated to explain course attendance and absence (Fryer
et al., 2018) and make difference to students’ course selection and
achievement, motivation, performance,
dropout (Gorges, 2019). and self-efficacy?

To sum up, academic self-concept could exert positive

influence on achievement, motivation, performance, and self-
Inconsistent findings efficacy. Nevertheless, special attention should be paid to gender
differences, since gender may play moderating roles in the
Disagreement arose about whether academic self-concept could effects of academic self-concept on the educational constructs
directly predict performance. Contrary to the mainstream studies, mentioned above.
some researchers claimed that mathematics self-concept was
incapable of directly predicting mathematics performance without
mediation of mathematics self-efficacy and anxiety (Ferla et al.,
2009). It was often the case that students suffering from test anxiety
hold negative academic self-concept (von der Embse et al., 2018). Gender-moderated effects on achievement
Nevertheless, evidence showed that academic self-concept may not
be capable of mediating the association between performance and Controversies have arisen as for whether gender differences
test anxiety (Raymo et al., 2019). could moderate the effect of academic self-concept on achievement.
On one hand, some studies maintained that the correlation between
academic self-concept and achievement was irrelevant to gender
(Niepel et al., 2022), especially among youth with intellectual
RQ4: Can academic self-concept influence disabilities (Maïano et al., 2019). On the other hand, gender
self-efficacy? differences were recognized as for causality between academic self-
concept and achievement (Pinxten et al., 2013). Compared with
Academic self-concept could exert a strong impact on self- male counterparts, female students with a lower level of physics
efficacy but the reverse is not true (Arens et al., 2022). self-concept tended to be underachievers in physics (Hofer and
Because academic self-concept was oriented toward the past Stern, 2016). Moreover, there were obvious gender discrepancies in
while self-efficacy was relevant to the future (Scherrer and math interest and academic self-concept since elementary school,
Preckel, 2019). Take math as an example, although there was a which may bring about a large gap in math achievement (Ganley
positive association between previous self-concept and subsequent and Lubienski, 2016).

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Gender-moderated effects on motivation Discussion

Gender differences moderated the effects of academic self- This systematic review aimed at exploring the gender-
concept on students’ motivation. The school subjects in which moderated effects of academic self-concept on several significant
students were motivated seemed to be consistent with gender and representative educational constructs, such as achievement,
stereotypes (Wirthwein et al., 2020). On one hand, boys tended motivation, performance, and self-efficacy. The review was based
to maintain higher motivation than girls, particularly in math and on 53 included studies. Each research question received a
science (Dietrich and Lazarides, 2019; Espinoza and Taut, 2020). thorough and satisfactory exploration. In a word, gender was
On the other hand, female students were more motivated in the an indispensable factor when it came to effects of academic
verbal-related subjects, such as German and English (Wirthwein self-concept on achievement, motivation, performance, and self-
et al., 2020) and may excel in reading motivation (Muntoni efficacy.
and Retelsdorf, 2019). Moreover, girls were proven to be more
motivated in learning than boys, which in turn may bring about
better academic performance (Alivernini et al., 2020). Girls’ higher
motivation may be attributed to their characteristics. Compared The positive effects of academic
with boys, girls were reported to care more about satisfying social self-concept
acceptance and teachers’ feedback (Brass et al., 2019).
Academic self-concept played a crucial role in promoting
students’ educational outcomes. High levels of academic self-
concept provided students the impetus to boost achievement,
Gender-moderated effects on performance
strengthen motivation, improve performance, and promote the
cultivation of self-efficacy. The results presented in this research
Gender was a moderator on the effects of academic self-concept
were compatible with the opinions proposed in the previous
on students’ performance. Gender identity made a difference to
studies. High levels of academic self-concept enabled students
students’ performance (Aguillon et al., 2020). Assuming STEM
to achieve goals smoothly and fulfill themselves (Berger et al.,
courses to be male-dominated exerted a negative influence on
2020). Positive academic self-concept may slow down the declining
female students’ academic self-concept in the physics and chemistry
motivation in school careers (Scherrer and Preckel, 2019).
domain (Cooper et al., 2018), which in turn caused female students’
Academic self-concept was conducive to strengthening the positive
passive participation (Sax et al., 2017), under-representation in
link between motivation and performance (Erentaite et al., 2022).
STEM (Else-Quest et al., 2013) and Olympiads (Steegh et al., 2019).
Academic self-concept, such as computer thinking self-concept,
Male students participated more actively and frequently in active-
was proven to be tightly associated with self-efficacy (Guggemos,
learning classrooms (Aguillon et al., 2020). Gender differences also
2021).
applied to gifted students, gifted boys outperformed gifted girls
Nevertheless, it can’t be taken for granted that linear,
in all tasks, except verbal tasks (Gindi et al., 2019). Girls had no
continuous, and stable relations remained constantly between
other choice but to spare more effort to study, striving for better
academic self-concept and achievement. The self-protective
performance (Van Houtte, 2017). Moreover, in terms of academic
strategies adopted by underachieving students may derange the
adjustment, male students were more adaptive to transition to
linear relationship. The correlation between academic self-concept
higher education (Rosman et al., 2020).
and achievement may fade away temporarily (Keller et al., 2021)
or change over the school period (Pinxten et al., 2013). Academic
self-concept and achievement turned out to be negatively correlated
Gender-moderated effects on self-efficacy under modesty bias across cultures (Min et al., 2016).

There were inconsistent findings about whether gender

differences exerted an influence on self-efficacy. Some researchers
insisted that gender effects were found on mathematics self-efficacy The gender-moderated effects of academic
but not science self-efficacy (Louis and Mistele, 2012; Chen and self-concept
Usher, 2013). Other researchers maintained that there existed
a deep-rooted gender stereotype of self-efficacy, especially in An increasing body of studies has indicated that gender was
STEM courses (Aguillon et al., 2020). In other words, male an indispensable variable in educational researches (Espinoza and
students seemed to maintain higher mathematics self-concept Taut, 2020). Compared with boys, girls were vulnerable to suffering
and self-efficacy than female students (Bakan Kalaycioglu, from the threat of gender stereotypes (Aguillon et al., 2020).
2017). Female students were more susceptible to gender Boys and girls might behave differently in terms of academic self-
identity and held lower self-efficacy in STEM courses (Aguillon concept, achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy.
et al., 2020). Some researches attributed this phenomenon to Attitudes toward STEM courses differed from males to females,
girls’ academic preferences. Girls’ math self-concept and self- which accounted for gender disparities in classroom participation
efficacy were dwarfed by their outstanding verbal self-concept (Neill et al., 2019) and academic competitions (Steegh et al., 2019).
and self-efficacy (Marsh et al., 2019), which belittled girls’ It has also been confirmed that STEM-oriented self-concept could
academic achievement. be negatively attributed to gender stereotypes (Ertl et al., 2017).

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Wang and Yu 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136141

Gender differences could play moderating roles in the effects of abstemiously to protect students from suffering from BFLPE (Liem
academic self-concept on achievement, motivation, performance, et al., 2013). Moreover, in order to mitigate BFLPE, it was advisable
and self-efficacy. The pervasive gender stereotypes or gender bias to adopt more assessment tasks rather than tests or exams in both
could impose an adverse influence on female students’ academic academically selective schools and comprehensive schools (Seaton
self-concept, which may further influence their educational et al., 2015). Active-learning pedagogy should be promoted in
outcomes, undermining their confidence and impairing their self- educational policies, encouraging students at all levels to participate
efficacy (Ertl et al., 2017). Male students held higher mathematics in classroom activities (Aguillon et al., 2020).
self-concept, motivation, and self-efficacy (Arens et al., 2022) while Given the moderating role of gender in academic self-concept,
female students bore themselves with higher verbal-related self- it is essential to incorporate gender into educational policies
concept (Arens et al., 2018). Gender disparities in academic self- (Furlin, 2021). Undoubtedly, gender stereotypes may hinder
concept caused female students’ passive participation (Sax et al., females from making excellent achievement in educational systems
2017) and under-representation in STEM (Else-Quest et al., 2013). (Nakray, 2018). Therefore, it was incumbent on policymakers to
Female students’ lower STEM self-concept negatively affected their make and carry out policies to ensure educational equality across
self-efficacy, which made them doubtful about their achievement, genders. Educational policies should be made to promote inclusive
showing lower STEM success expectancy (Robnett and Thoman, education, paying enough attention to gender discrepancies
2017). in academic self-concept and minimizing gender stereotypes
in educational settings (Alexiadou and Rambla, 2022). As for
curriculum policy, courses should integrate learning orientation,
and goal orientation with activity orientation, imperceptibly
Suggestions for educational instructors
enhancing female students’ STEM self-concept (Mynott, 2018).
In addition, textbooks could be compiled with case studies of
In view of gender disparities in classroom participation,
outstanding female representatives in STEM field (Espinoza and
equitable teaching strategies should be adopted to maximize
Taut, 2020).
the benefits of active learning (Aguillon et al., 2020), making
boys and girls equally involved in STEM courses. Taking gender
differences into account, teachers should offer more help to
female students, since girls are proven to be more dependent on
Conclusion
teachers’ instructional support (Espinoza and Taut, 2020). Early Major findings
interventions should be implemented to boost female students’
math interest, since gender discrepancies in math interest may lead This study conducted a systematic review of the gender-
to distinct math outcomes (Ganley and Lubienski, 2016). There is moderated effects of academic self-concept on achievement,
no denying that equitable teaching strategies may not be an absolute motivation, performance, and self-efficacy. In line with previous
remedy. Teachers should implement flexible teaching strategies, studies, this study firmly supported that academic self-concept
in accordance with the distinct aptitude of students, to motivate exerted a positive influence on educational outcomes. Specifically
different genders (Yu and Deng, 2022). speaking, academic self-concept could improve achievement,
Moreover, it is advisable for instructors to reform academic enhance motivation, ameliorate performance, and boost self-
training programs, by combining conventional teaching with efficacy. Moreover, the interrelation between academic self-concept
hands-on activities. Practical experience is integral for students to and achievement may not be linear, continuous, and stable.
foster self-identity, boost academic self-concept and self-efficacy. Additionally, it should also be highlighted that gender played
Encouraging students to participate in hands-on activities is moderating roles in the link between academic self-concept and
conducive to building up female students’ confidence, especially achievement, motivation, performance, and self-efficacy. Gender
in disappointing and daunting STEM courses (Betz et al., 2021). stereotypes exerted a negative influence on female students’ math-
Moreover, teachers should give more positive encouragement and related self-concept and self-efficacy, causing female students to
feedback to female students, since gender bias may lead to an be underachievers in STEM courses and careers. Although female
overestimation of male students’ mathematics achievement and students were less motivated in math-related discipline, they spared
an underestimation of female students’ mathematics achievement more effort to cope with social comparison.
(McCoy et al., 2022). Improvement of academic self-concept may
further enhance female students’ learning motivation and interest.
Limitations

Educational policy implications Frankly, several limitations remain unaddressed in this study.
Firstly, due to the limited library resources, the only accessible
In view of the significance of academic self-concept in database to this study is the authoritative Web of Science (core
educational outcomes (Postigo et al., 2022), educational policies collection), causing that the literature retrieved may not be
should be made and implemented to boost students’ academic totally comprehensive. Secondly, in terms of scope field, this
self-concept. Given the fact that ability stratification could make study exclusively narrows down the scope to education and
a difference to academic self-concept (Parker et al., 2021), within- educational research. Moreover, besides achievement, motivation,
school ability-streaming policy should be adopted flexibly and performance, and self-efficacy, there are many other educational

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Wang and Yu 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1136141

constructs needed to be considered, such as academic buoyance, Author contributions

school burnout, attitude, interest, engagement, and attribution
etc. Thirdly, taking the language mastery into consideration, the LW: methodology, investigation, editing, and writing—original
literature not written in English is excluded. draft. ZY: conceptualization and funding acquisition. Both authors
listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution
to the work and approved it for publication.
Implications for future studies

Future studies should pay attention to promote educational Funding

equality in terms of gender differences. Measures should be taken
to involve female students in class discussion and interaction. This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds
Equitable teaching strategies and academic training programs for the Central Universities, and the Research Funds of Beijing
should be adopted to enhance female students’ STEM self-concept. Language and Culture University (22YCX030), the 2019 MOOC
Moreover, teachers should design different courses based on of Beijing Language and Culture University (MOOC201902)
different gender characteristics (Yu, 2021). Only gender differences (Important) Introduction to Linguistics, Introduction to
are taken into consideration could education reforms achieve the Linguistics of Online and Offline Mixed Courses in Beijing
goal of gender equality. Language and Culture University in 2020, and the Special Fund
Future studies should attach importance to special groups, of Beijing Co-construction Project-Research and Reform of the
such as immigrant students, children of migrant workers, minority Undergraduate Teaching Reform and Innovation Project of Beijing
students, and students with special educational needs. With Higher Education in 2020-innovative Multilingual + Excellent
the development of globalization and urbanization, there is an Talent Training System (202010032003).
increasing tendency of immigrant children and migrant children.
However, immigrant students were vulnerable to anxiety and
depression at school (Alivernini et al., 2020). Moreover, numerous Acknowledgments
studies targeted at regular students, overlooking the particularities
of minority students and disabled students. The interrelations We would like to extend our gratitude to reviewers and funding.
between academic self-concept and educational constructs among
disabled students may be more complex than that among regular
students (Maïano et al., 2019).
Conflict of interest
Future studies should explore how to promote students’
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the
academic self-concept in online learning. The rampant
absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be
pandemic of COVID-19 compelled teachers and students to
construed as a potential conflict of interest.
accept online learning as the main way of delivering lectures
and acquiring knowledge (Yu et al., 2022). It was proven
that a positive academic self-concept enabled students to Publisher’s note
meet the challenges imposed by COVID-19 (Paechter et al.,
2022). However, online learning is undoubtedly distinct from All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the
traditional classroom learning. Since it has not reached a authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated
consistent conclusion as for the role of gender on online organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the
learning outcomes (Yu, 2021), gender-moderated effects of reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or
academic self-concept in an online learning context remain to claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or
be explored. endorsed by the publisher.

Data availability statement Supplementary material

The original contributions presented in the study are included
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found
in the article/Supplementary material, further inquiries can be
online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.
directed to the corresponding author.
1136141/full#supplementary-material

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