Effect of Academic Background on Social Competence and its Relationship with Academic Motivation and Academic Performance of First Year University Students

Certain differences have been observed in the students belonging to different academic backgrounds hence the purpose of the current research was to explore the effect of academic background (i.e., Cambridge & HSSC) on Social Competence and to see its relationship with Academic motivation and Academic performance among first year university students. The hypothesis states that there is a significant difference between Social Competence and Academic Motivation of Cambridge and Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSSC) students. There also exists a significant relationship between Social competence, Academic motivation and Academic performance of first year university students. Research design of the study was comparative co-relational survey design. Whereas sampling technique used was purposive convenient sampling. There were N=166 participants (Males n=53 & Females n=113; Cambridge n=90 & HSSC n=76) with the age range of 18-23 years (M=2.76, SD=1.28) from different private and government universities of Karachi. Academic Motivation Scale (Vallerrand, et al., 1992) and Social Competence Scale (Shujja, Malik, & Khan, 2015) for Adolescence were used for measuring academic motivation and social competence whereas for academic performance previous grades in last given exams were demanded. Statistical analysis including T-test was used for measuring relationship variables of Academic Motivation, Social Competence and Academic Performance among first year university students show no significant relationship. a positive but weak relationship was discovered between social competence and intrinsic motivation. Furthermore, a weak relationship was identified between social competence and gender. This study will help increase insight and improvise the education system and teaching methodologies of both educational systems. Implications for teachers to use innovative methodologies and strategies while teaching to enhance students’ social and academic skills to positively influence their performance.