The attribution model of achievement motivation has been applied to academic achievement as a way of understanding underachievement and as a basis for developing intervention programs. There has been little applied research in this area, however, that supports the use of the model in school settings. The purpose of the present study was to test the applicability of the model to an actual school setting. Subjects were 149 tenth grade students in a large urban school district. In accordance with the model, specific attributions for success or failure were assessed, as well as subjects' perceptions of the locus, stability, and controllability of attributions. Attribution patterns found in previous analog research were not found in a school setting. Immediate effort attributions were the most prevalent, regardless of performance level or outcome. Causal beliefs were found to relate to performance in ways predicted by the model but also in some ways not predicted. Relationships were generally stronger for high performers. Comparing subjects' perceptions of the dimensional properties of attributions across outcomes showed a strong outcome bias. Attributions were perceived as more internal and stable following successes, consistent with previous research. In addition, a performance level bias was found. Low performers rated attributions as less internal, stable, and controllable following successes and more so following failures than did high performers. This bias, termed the underachievement bias, was discussed in terms of its detrimental effects on school performance. The differences between high and low performers regarding perceptions of dimensionalities were consistent with the predictions of the attribution model. It was concluded that the attribution model is applicable to school settings. Suggestions were made that more applied research be conducted, that intervention programs based on this model should target subjects' perceptions of attributions rather than just the specific attributions themselves, and that because of the differences among subjects in perceptions of dimensional properties of attributions, researchers should obtain a direct measure of subjects' perceptions rather than assuming them.

The purpose of the present investigation was to assess the relationships among the contingency of teachers' reactions as perceived by the pupils, the pupils' academic performance, and internality. One might expect that children who perceive their teacher as contingently rewarding and punishing would achieve higher grades and test scores than those who view their teachers' reactions as unrelated to their behavior. It is believed that children's perceptions of the contingencies of their teacher's responses may be more highly related to achievement behavior than the teacher's actual distribution of rewards and punishments. Perceived contingency of punishments and rewards may be important determiners of achievement. The perception of punishments as noncontingent is likely to be negatively related to achievement; however, the same may not be true of noncontingent reward. Indiscriminate dispersion of rewards could have a motivating effect or, as one might infer from Paris & Cairns (1972), no effect at all. Internality and achievement are expected to be positively related, perhaps more so for boys than for girls, as the trend of previous evidence suggests. Because of conflicting reports, no firm expectation can be formulated with regard to sex differences and the effectiveness of IAR+ versus IAR- scores.

La psychologisation est une explication causale en des termes psychologiques des évènements qui arrivent aux individus (Beauvois, 2006). Alors que le terme de psychologisation fait référence à la caractéristique interne des explications fournies par les individus, celui de psychopathologisation ferait référence aux caractéristiques à la fois internes mais aussi incontrôlables de ces explications (Haslam, Ban, & Kaufmann, 2007). Attribuer la cause d’une situation d’échec académique à une disposition contrôlable serait majorer la responsabilité de l’individu qui échoue dans cette situation (Weiner, 1995). En revanche attribuer la cause d’un échec académique à une disposition psychopathologique serait minorer la responsabilité de cet individu. Le but principal de cette thèse est 1) de métaboliser le concept de psychopathologisation 2) de révéler un lien entre l’échec académique et l’explication de cet échec par des causes psychopathologiques 3) de montrer que ce lien est distinct de celui existant entre l’échec académique et l’explication de celui-ci par des causes internes et contrôlables. Nous avons tenté de démontrer que les explications causales faites en des termes psychopathologiques avaient bien des caractéristiques différentes de celles faites en des termes internes et contrôlables. Nous avons très parcimonieusement montré un lien entre l’échec académique et les attributions causales d’ordre psychopathologique. Enfin la distinction entre la psychopathologisation et l’attribution causale à des causes internes et contrôlables reste à explorer plus avant. / Psychologization is a causal explanation in psychological terms of events occurring to people (Beauvois, 2006). Although psychologization refers to internal characteristic of explanations given by the people, psychopathologization refers to characteristics both internal and uncontrollable of these explanations (Haslam, et al., 2007). Attributing the cause of an individual’s academic failure to a controllable disposition would increase the perceived individual’s responsibility for this situation (Weiner, 1995). Conversely attributing to an uncontrollable disposition the cause of the same issue would decreased his responsibility. The main goal of this work is to 1) metabolize the psychopathologization concept 2) reveal a link between academic failure and psychopathologization 3) show that this link is different from the one that exists between attribution to internal and controllable causes and academic failure. We tried to show that psychopathologization and attribution to internal and controllable causes are different in essence. We hardly succeeded to reveal a link between psychopathologization and academic failure. Finally, further work is needed to show a distinction between the two processes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use electronic portfolios (e-portfolios) in private tertiary institutions in South Africa to enhance the learning experience of scholars. The study adopted an interpretive ontological stance and subjective epistemological stance as the researcher sought to understand how-portfolios can be used to enhance learning. The focus was on understanding people in a social setting though employing field research to collect and interpret data. Action research, in this case employing a pre-test, intervention and post-test limited to a single cycle, was selected as strategy. The empirical part of the study was conducted during the first semester of 2014 (January to May) at a private tertiary university in Gauteng, South Africa. A pre-survey has been conducted before implementation and a post-survey after the implementation of e-portfolios to test the attitude of the participants, where after the results were compared. The pre-test was administered before creating e-portfolios and the post-test towards the end of the semester after developing and maintaining e-portfolios. Questionnaires were used to obtain information such as the attitude of the respondents on learning, assessment, reflection, collaboration and interpersonal communication through the use of e-portfolios. Questionnaires served as the main data collection tool throughout the survey. The sample was selected from first and second year students in the Information Technology faculty, with the sample size n=48. The researcher further collected data through observing subjects and conducting group interviews that were recorded to augment the questionnaire approach and verify the results through triangulation. The questionnaires were distributed to the participants who were given thirty minutes to complete. Responses were made using a five-point Likert scale and open-ended questions. The response rate was outstanding as all 48 subjects participated in the study. The researcher used a mixed-methods approach for this study; SPSS 22.0 was used for quantitative data analysis and thematic analysis was employed for the qualitative data. Reliability for quantitative data was determined using Cronbach’s alpha. Regression analysis was done as well as correlations to determine relationships and associations. To further cement relationships, t-tests and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were employed. Trustworthiness for qualitative data and justification for credibility, dependability, transferability and confirmability were discussed. vi The results revealed that e-portfolios could be used effectively at private tertiary institutions to enhance the learning experience of scholars as evidenced by the significant statistics obtained in this study.

Student Number : 9305365T - MEd research report - School of Education - Faculty of Humanities / Previous studies have examined the issue of assessing university students and relating their performance on the assessment measures to their academic performance in South Africa (Butler & Van Dyk, 2004; Nel, Dreyer, & Kopper, 2004). Nel et al (2004) used a comprehensive assessment battery whereas Butler and Van Dyk (2004) used a single test, the ELSA-PLUS. However, there is very little research on the relationship between reading and academic performance (Onwuebuzie, Mayes, Arthur, Johnson, Robinson, Ashe, Elbedous & Collins, 2004). The Stanford Diagnostic Reading Test (SDRT) Blue Level was administered to 380 first year students in the one of the schools in an English medium university in South Africa at the beginning of 2005. 67 students volunteered to have their results used in the study of which 22 were English second language (L2) speakers and 43 were English first language (L1) speakers. The results showed that there were significant differences between the L1 and L2 students, where the performance of the L2 students was significantly weaker than that of the L1 students on the Reading Comprehension, Vocabulary, Word Parts and Structural Analysis subtests of the SDRT. However, it emerged that the SDRT is not a good predictive test for academic achievement for either L1 or L2 students.

O ensino fundamental é a fase da construção de novas amizades e desenvolvimento de habilidades acadêmicas específicas. Desde que a criança ingressa no primeiro ano, está exposta a um universo novo, onde lhe são colocadas regras e responsabilidades além daquelas vivenciadas na educação infantil. Todos esses desafios requerem um repertório prévio para o enfrentamento, que a passagem pela educação infantil pode ajudar a construir. O objetivo principal do presente estudo foi investigar o impacto da freqüência à educação infantil (EI) sobre alguns indicadores de adaptação da criança no ensino fundamental, bem como verificar possíveis efeitos compensadores da freqüência ao ensino fundamental nas diferenças eventualmente observadas no início do terceiro ano. Como preditores de resultados acadêmicos, foram incluídas na pesquisa, além da variável frequência na EI, as seguintes variáveis: (a) da criança - potencial cognitivo, habilidades sociais, problemas de comportamento, autoconceito e nível de estresse escolar; (b) do contexto - envolvimento de um membro adulto da família na vida escolar da criança. A amostra foi composta por 294 participantes de ambos os sexos, estudantes das cinco escolas públicas de ensino fundamental de um município do Estado de SP com aproximadamente 23.000 habitantes. Os participantes foram divididos em três grupos: Grupo 0 - alunos sem acesso prévio à EI; Grupo 1 alunos com um ano de EI; Grupo 2 alunos com dois anos na EI. As crianças foram avaliadas em três etapas: 3º, 4º e 5º ano do ensino fundamental. Os professores também participaram como informantes nestas três etapas. Foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: Raven; TDE (Teste de Desempenho Escolar); Avaliação Pedagógica coletiva; Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ 1); Self Perception Profile for Children (SPPC); Inventário de Estressores Escolares, SSRS Formulário do professor e Escala de Envolvimento de um Membro Adulto da Família. Foram realizadas análises das qualidades psicométricas das escalas utilizadas, ANCOVA, MANOVA (medidas repetidas) e Análise de Regressão Linear Múltipla. Os resultados da ANCOVA sugerem que a freqüência à EI contribui para melhores resultados acadêmicos, habilidades sociais mais desenvolvidas, menos comportamentos problemáticos e um autoconceito mais elevado, controlada a variável nível socioeconômico. A MANOVA com medidas repetidas indica progresso significativo, ao longo dos anos, no potencial cognitivo, nas habilidades sociais e no desempenho avaliado pelo professor e por meio de teste (TDE), bem como melhora nos problemas de comportamento intemalizantes; diminuem algumas medidas de auto-conceito e o desempenho avaliado coletivamente. Os melhores resultados dos alunos com acesso à EI persistem no decorrer dos anos no ensino fundamental. O efeito da EI se manteve na regressão, junto com outros preditores, principalmente habilidades sociais de responsabilidade/cooperação e envolvimento da família; dimensões do autoconceito, potencial cognitivo, nível de estresse escolar e outras habilidades sociais contribuíram para a predição de alguns indicadores, em menor grau. A EI teve, pois, sobre o desempenho escolar posterior uma influência direta, além da influência indireta exercida mediante o fortalecimento de preditores como as habilidades sociais e o potencial cognitivo. O progresso observado ao longo do ensino fundamental não compensa a desvantagem inicial dos alunos sem acesso à EI. / Basic education constitutes a stage of construction of new friendships, and of development of specific academic skills. Since the time a child integrates its first school year/level, it is exposed to a new universe, where it faces rules and responsibilities, beyond those experienced in pre-school education. These challenges require a prior repertoire in order to surpass them, which pre-school education may help to construct. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of pre-school education on some of the childrens indicators of adjustment to basic education, as well as to verify possible compensating effects, when attending basic education, for early pre-school influences that may possibly be observed in the beginning of the third year. As predictors of academic results, included in the research, besides the variable attendance to pre-school, were the following variables: (a) child variables - cognitive potential, social skills, behaviour problems, self-concept and level of school stress; (b) context variables involvement of an adult family member in the childs school life. The sample was composed of 294 participants of both sexes, pupils in five public basic education schools of a council in the State of São Paulo, which has approximately 23.000 inhabitants. The participants were divided into three groups: Group 0 pupils without previous access to pre-school education; Group 1 pupils with one year of pre-school attendance; group 2- pupils with two years of pre-school. The children were evaluated in three stages: 3rd, 4th and 5th levels of basic education. The following instruments have been applied: Raven, School Performance Test, collective Pedagogic Evaluation, Self Description Questionnaire (SDQ 1); Self Perception Profile for Children (SPPC); School Stressors Inventory, SSRS- Teachers Formulary and Adult Family Members Involvement questionnaire. Psychometric quality analyses were tested in the scales used, and ANCOVA, MANOVA (repeated measures), and multiple linear regression were also applied. The ANCOVA results suggest that attending to pre-school contributes to better academic results, more developed social skills, less behaviour problems and higher self-concept, when the socioeconomic level is controlled. The repeated measures MANOVA shows significant progress over the years, in cognitive potential, in social skills and school performance as evaluated by the teacher and through a test (TDE), as well as improvement in internalizing behaviour problems; some measures of self-concept and collectively evaluated school performance show decrements as children go on to more advanced school levels.The advantage of pupils who attended pre-school persisted throughout the years in basic school. The effect of pre-school education was maintained in regression, along with other predictors, mainly social abilities of responsibility/cooperation, and family involvement; self-concept dimensions, cognitive potential, school level stress, and other social skills contributed to predicting some indicators, in a lesser degree. The pre-school had, therefore, a direct influence on subsequent school performance, besides the indirect influence presented through the strengthening of predictors such as social skills and cognitive potential. The progress observed through basic school does not compensate the initial disadvantage of pupils without access to pre-school education.

No período da vida que corresponde aos anos do ensino fundamental, faixa dos seis aos 12 anos, a criança se depara com tarefas de desenvolvimento relacionadas ao desempenho escolar e à competência interpessoal. O resultado de realização dessas tarefas é influenciado pela interação entre as características pessoais da criança e do contexto ambiental em que ela vive e participa. Supõe-se que aquelas que ingressam neste nível educacional com repertório prévio mais desenvolvido para lidar com as demandas da fase se saem melhor, apresentando cumulativamente um desenvolvimento mais saudável e promissor. Tem sido demonstrado o impacto das experiências escolares iniciais (passagem pela educação infantil) sobre a trajetória futura da criança na escola. O desempenho alcançado por ela e a qualidade dos seus relacionamentos com os colegas e o professor nesse momento predizem seu progresso escolar nos anos subsequentes, tanto em termos de aprendizagem como de ajustamento. Nesse contexto, o objetivo deste estudo foi investigar quais variáveis pessoais e ambientais constituem-se como preditores de desempenho escolar e competência interpessoal da criança, verificando de que forma a exposição à educação infantil influencia no cumprimento dessas tarefas de desenvolvimento típicas da fase. Das características pessoais da criança foram investigadas: o potencial cognitivo, as habilidades sociais e o comportamento problemático; do contexto ambiental foram incluídos: o estresse escolar, o envolvimento da família na vida escolar da criança e a passagem pela educação infantil. Participaram do estudo 336 crianças, estudantes da 2ª série do ensino fundamental de escolas públicas de uma cidade do interior do estado de São Paulo e seus respectivos pais/responsáveis e professores. Com as crianças foram utilizados os seguintes instrumentos: Matrizes Progressivas de Raven; Inventário de Estressores Escolares; Teste de Desempenho Escolar, Entrevista Sociométrica e Avaliação Pedagógica. Os pais/responsáveis responderam ao Critério Socioeconômico Brasil; os professores responderam à Escala de Envolvimento de um Membro Adulto da Família e ao Social Skills Rating System - SSRS-BR, formulário do professor. Foram processadas análises de regressão para desempenho escolar e competência interpessoal, tendo como preditores as variáveis da criança e do contexto ambiental, assim como indicadores socioeconômicos; e para as comparações de grupos foi aplicado o teste não-paramétrico de Kruskal- Wallis. Essas comparações foram realizadas com 95 crianças selecionadas da amostra de 336 e divididas quanto ao tempo de exposição à educação infantil: 32 sem EI; 31 com um ano; e 32 com dois anos. Esses três grupos de crianças eram balanceados quanto à escolaridade do chefe de família e ao nível socioeconômico. Os resultados indicam que as características pessoais e ambientais preditoras de desempenho escolar são as habilidades sociais de responsabilidade/cooperação, o potencial cognitivo, exposição à educação infantil, exposição e impacto dos estressores escolares, envolvimento familiar na vida escolar da criança, nível socioeconômico e escolaridade do chefe de família. Os preditores que se associaram à competência interpessoal foram a habilidade social de autodefesa e cooperação com os pares, o comportamento problemático e o envolvimento da família na vida escolar da criança. Através das comparações de grupos a passagem pela educação infantil mostrou-se como uma importante influência, visto que as crianças com um ou dois anos de experiência prévia se saíram melhor em desempenho escolar e competência interpessoal. Apresentaram vantagens em todos os indicadores de desempenho escolar avaliados; mostraram-se como mais queridas pelos colegas e apresentaram uma tendência vantajosa nos indicadores positivos de intensidade do quanto é querido e amizade. / In the years when children go to elementary school (6 - 12 years old), they face tasks related to their development, academic performance and interpersonal competence. Children\'s performance in these tasks is influenced by the interaction between the child\'s personal characteristics and the environment in which the child lives. Those who start elementary school with a richer repertoire developed previously are supposed to have a better performance. They tend to present healthier and more promising development. There are some studies about the impact of kindergarten (K) experience on the child\'s future academic life. The child\'s performance and the quality of its relationship with schoolmates and teacher at that moment predict its academic progress, as well as self-adjustment in the following years. This study aims to investigate which personal and environmental variables may work as predictors of children\'s academic performance and interpersonal competence, by analyzing how the exposure to K influences in the performance of developmental tasks typical of that phase. The children\'s personal characteristics investigated were: cognitive potential, social skills, and problem behavior. The environmental factors investigated were: school stress, family support in the child\'s school life, and the child\'s attendance to K. A group of 336 second-grade elementary students from public schools in a city in the inland of the State of São Paulo and their parents/guardians and teachers participated in this study. The children were assesssed with Raven\'s Progressive Matrices, the School Hassles Inventory, the School Achievement Test, Sociometric Interview, and pedagogical evaluation. Parents/guardians answered the Brazilian Social-economic Criterion; the teachers answered the Scale of Participation of an Adult Family Member and to the Social Skills Rating System - SSRS-BR, teacher form. Regression analysis was used for prediction of academic performance and interpersonal competence with the child\'s and its environmental variables, as well as socialeconomic indicators. The non-parametric method Kruskal-Wallis test was used in order to compare groups. Ninety-five out of 336 children were selected and compared as for the time of attendance/exposure to K: 32 did not attend K; 31 had one year of K; 32 had two years of K. These 3 groups were balanced social-economically and as for the family\'s breadwinner\'s schooling. Results show that the personal and environmental characteristics to predict academic performance are: social skills related to responsibility and cooperation, cognitive potential, exposure to K environment, exposure to and impact of school hassles, family participation in the child\'s school life, social-economic level, and family\'s breadwinner\'s schooling. The predictors associated to interpersonal competence were the social skill of selfdefense and peer cooperation, problem behavior, and family participation in the child\'s school life. By comparison, K attendance has proven to have important influence, since children with one or two years of K experience before elementary school performed better academically and in terms of interpersonal competence. They scored higher in all academic performance indicators used; they were seen as more popular among schoolmates and showed positive tendency in indicators of popularity and friendship.

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to examine the stressors that Saudi students experience while studying in the United States and their impact on academic performance. The study found a considerable amount of stress as a consequence of cultural differences, lack of social integration, the academic environment, and inadequate orientation. Based on the findings, the researcher recommended several strategies for improving the experiences of Saudi students at American universities. These recommendations include better interactions between the staff/administrators and students, more social events for the Saudi students and their families, and more opportunities to interact with American fellows inside and outside the classroom. The researcher also recommends that colleges and universities improve the relevance of course and program assignments for the Saudi students as well as the administrative support, mentoring relationships, and orientation programs they provide to these students.

Os anos iniciais do Ensino Fundamental são decisivos no sentido de que podem influenciar o desempenho acadêmico e psicossocial dos alunos ao longo da sua trajetória escolar. A maneira como um aluno vivencia esta inserção, assim como os desfechos resultantes deste momento, pode influenciar seu desenvolvimento em anos posteriores. Baseado em achados prévios, o presente trabalho, sob o enfoque do modelo Bioecológico de Desenvolvimento de Bronfenbrenner, foi concebido com o objetivo de investigar o percurso escolar de crianças nos três primeiros anos do ensino fundamental, tendo em consideração variáveis relacionadas: à Pessoa (Criança), ao Contexto (Família e Escola), ao Processo e ao Tempo. Seguindo metodologia longitudinal, as crianças no 1º ano (n=186), no 2º ano (n=176) e no 3º ano (n=151) do Ensino Fundamental foram avaliadas em termos de habilidades sociais, problemas de comportamento e competência acadêmica (Social Skills Rating System - SSRS-BR versão para professores), potencial cognitivo (Matrizes Progressivas colorida de Raven), sintomas de estresse infantil (Escala de Estresse Infantil), percepção de estressores escolares (Inventário de Estressores Escolares) e desempenho acadêmico (Provinha Brasil -2009). As famílias de 122 alunos responderam ao questionário Critério Brasil para levantamento do nível socioeconômico e ao Inventário sobre Recursos do Ambiente Familiar por ocasião do 1º ano. Também foram levantados o IDEB e a localização de cada escola. Como procedimento de análise de dados, foram utilizadas estatísticas descritivas, correlações, comparações, regressão e medidas repetidas. Considerando o conjunto dos resultados encontrados é possível inferir que os alunos acompanhados neste estudo, ao longo dos três primeiros anos do ensino fundamental, apresentam repertório social, poucos problemas de comportamento e no geral têm competência acadêmica acima da média, segundo a avaliação das professoras. Eles percebem poucas ocorrências ou intensidade de situações cotidianas da escola como estressoras, de forma estável nos três momentos em que foram avaliadas. O 2º ano apresentou maiores médias e também o maior percentual de crianças com sintomas de estresse, e o 3º ano, a menor média e também a melhor distribuição em termos de evolução dos sintomas. Tanto o potencial cognitivo, quanto a Provinha Brasil, foram melhorando as médias ao longo dos anos. Nas análises de comparação as meninas têm médias superiores em habilidades sociais, competência acadêmica e desempenho acadêmico. Os meninos apresentam, em média, mais comportamentos externalizantes. Alunos que frequentaram dois anos apresentam mais habilidades de autodefesa, maior competência acadêmica e desempenho acadêmico e menos sintomas de estresse infantil do que alunos que frequentaram um ano. Os recursos da família predizem o desempenho dos alunos nos três anos, salientando-se o RAF 1 Interação pai-criança, que aparece como preditor nos dois primeiros anos. No 2º ano, a localização da escola na periferia é um preditor negativo para desempenho acadêmico. Os resultados indicam que os recursos das crianças podem atuar como fatores de proteção nos anos iniciais da escolarização e sugerem que políticas públicas possam contribuir para o estímulo e desenvolvimento dessas habilidades e competências. / The early years of Basic Education are decisive as they may influence academic and psychosocial performance of students along their scholastic course. The manner that a student experiences this insertion, as well as the results obtained from this moment, may influence his development in years to come. Based on previous findings, the present study, from the standpoint of the Bronfenbrenner Bioecological Development model, was developed with the aim of investigating children´s scholastic course in the first three years of basic education, considering variables related to the Person (Child), Context (Family and School), Process and Time. Children were evaluated longitudinally in the 1st (n=186), 2nd (n=176) and 3rd year (n=151) of Basic Education in their social skills, behavior problems and academic competence (Social Skills Rating System - SSRS-BR - teachers version), cognitive potential (Ravens colored Progressive Matrices), stress symptoms (Scale of Child Stress), perception of school stressors (Inventory of School Stressors) and academic performance (Provinha Brasil 2009). The families of 122 students answered the Brazil Criterium questionnaire for socioeconomic status and answered to the Home Environment Resources Scale - HERS in their first year of Basic Education. The IDEB and location of each school were also taken into account. In the procedure for data analysis, descriptive statistics, correlations, comparisons, regressions and repeated measures were used. From the results as a whole it is possible to infer that the children followed in this study along the first three years of basic schooling present social repertoire, few behavioral problems, and in general they have an academic achievement above average, according to the teachers evaluation. The students perceive few everyday school situations as stressors, and the stressors appeared stable through the three occasions of evaluation. The 2nd year showed higher averages and also the biggest percentage of children with stress symptoms, and the 3° year, the lowest average and also the best distribution in symptoms evolution. Both the cognitive potential and the score on the Provinha Brasil improved throughout the years. Girls have shown higher averages in social skills, academic performance and academic competence. Boys present, in average, more externalizing behavior. Students who have been to preschool for two years show more self-defense skills, more academic competence and academic performance, and less symptoms of stress as compared to students who have been to preschool for only one year. Family resources predict the students performances in the three years of school, stressing that the factor Father-child Interaction appears as predictor in the first two years of school. In the 2° year, students from schools located in the citys outskirts showed a smaller academic performance compared to the schools located in the citys center. The results show that the childrens resources can act as protection factors in the early years of schooling and suggest that public policies may contribute to the stimulus and development of these skills and competences.

O Brasil é comumente associado ao país da diversidade. Seja ela de cunho cultural, histórico, racial ou social, fato é que a diversidade existe em larga extensão no país, inclusive nos meios acadêmicos. Na academia, tal como na sociedade, a inserção de indivíduos diferentes desemboca no estranhamento e nas atitudes preconceituosas. Este preconceito, por sua vez, influencia o desempenho acadêmico do estudante, pois a literatura revela que quanto maiores o preconceito e a discriminação do corpo docente da escola, menores são as notas do aluno. Alguns outros estudos têm procurado identificar a relação entre o desempenho acadêmico e a crença de auto-eficácia. A auto-eficácia pode ser definida como a crença do indivíduo sobre a sua capacidade de desempenho em atividades específicas. São quatro as fontes de desenvolvimento da auto-eficácia: experiências positivas; experiências vicárias; estados fisiológicos e emocionais das pessoas; e persuasão verbal. Das quatro fontes, as experiências positivas são, segundo a literatura, a mais importante e impactante no desenvolvimento e manutenção da auto-eficácia. A Síndrome do Impostor, também chamada de Fenômeno Impostor, tem sido exaustivamente estudada no cenário internacional sob os mais diversos aspectos - educacionais, emocionais, profissionais, etc. Os impostores, assim chamados os portadores da síndrome do impostor, não acreditam que são inteligentes, acreditam que as outras pessoas superestimam suas capacidades, mesmo que as evidências apontem que sejam altamente capazes, e atribuem as suas realizações à sorte ou esforço demasiado. Uma vez que as pessoas são influenciadas mais pela forma como elas lêem suas performances de sucesso, do que pelo sucesso, por si só, as teorias da auto-eficácia e a síndrome do impostor convergem na medida em que a teoria da auto-eficácia apresenta relação com a avaliação dos resultados das ações e a síndrome do impostor, na atribuição do sucesso ou fracasso à capacidade ou ao esforço. Esta pesquisa investigou a influência do fenômeno impostor e da auto-eficácia no desempenho acadêmico dos alunos minoritários, assim entendidos os estudantes bolsistas, principalmente do ProUni e ENADE, dos cursos de Ciências Contábeis e Administração de Empresas. Os instrumentos de pesquisa consistiram em um questionário composto pelas escalas CIPS - Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale - desenvolvida por Clance (1985) e pela Escala de auto-eficácia na formação superior (Polydoro & Guerreiro-Casanova, 2010). A população estudada era composta por 492 alunos dos cursos de Ciências Contábeis e Administração de quatro instituições de ensino privadas, todas estabelecidas no Estado de São Paulo, sendo duas da região metropolitana e duas de cidades do interior. Os estudantes pesquisados revelaram graus substanciais da síndrome do impostor. O teste do Qui-quadrado foi utilizado para determinar não só as relações entre a síndrome do impostor, a auto-eficácia e o desempenho acadêmico, como também suas relações com as demais variáveis sócio-demográficas. Crenças mais robustas de auto-eficácia impactaram em melhores desempenhos acadêmicos, enquanto que maiores níveis de SI desembocaram em desempenhos menos satisfatórios. A correlação de Pearson indicou que a síndrome do impostor apresentou uma relação negativa com a crença de auto-eficácia. Estes resultados sugerem que possivelmente os aspectos culturais do país influenciam o desenvolvimento e a relação entre a síndrome do impostor, a auto-eficácia e o desempenho acadêmico, o que faz jus a novos estudos futuros. / Brazil is usually known as a country of diversity. This diversity can be cultural, historical, racial or social, whatever, diversity exist in a huge part of the country, as well as between academicians. In Academy, like in the society, the input of different people creates a wave toward to conflicts and preconceptions. Furthermore, this preconception acts directly over the student academic performance, so, some studies indicate how much higher the preconception level, lowest is student performance. The focus of some studies is the identification of the relation between the academic performance and the belief of self-efficacy. The self-efficacy is defined as individual belief about the self-performance capability in specifics activities. There are four sources of development of self-efficacy: positive experiences, vicarious experiences, physiological and emotional comportment of people; and verbal persuasion. Positive experiences are the most important sources in development and maintenance of the self-efficacy. The impostor syndrome, known as impostor phenomenon, has been exhaustively studied by the international community under different point of views - educational, emotional, professional etc. The impostors, as are named the people with the symptom of the impostor syndrome, believe they are not intelligent enough. They believe that the other people overestimate their abilities despite the fact the evidences demonstrate that they are absolutely capable, connecting their achievements only with lucky or efforts. In a situation that the people are more influenced by the focus that they see their performance of success, than the real success, the self-efficacy theory and the impostor syndrome converge in the same point that the self-efficacy presents relation with the analysis of results of the actions and the impostor syndrome, in the attribution of success or failure to the capability or effort. This study has investigated the influence of the impostor phenomenon and the self-efficacy effect over the academic performance of scholarship students, mainly the students sponsored by ProUni and ENADE, members of Class of Accounting and Business Management. The instruments of the survey were both a range of questions composed by CIPS scales - Clance Impostor Phenomenon Scale - developed by Clance (1985) and the Scale of self-efficacy in higher education (Polydoro & Guerreiro-Casanova, 2010). The population submitted to the study was composed by 492 students of Accountant and Business Management of four universities located in São Paulo State. The study has shown important degrees of the impostor syndrome, the self-efficacy and the academic performance, as well as their relations with the socio-demographic variants. Stronger self-efficacy belief impact in better academic performance, whereas higher levels of Impostor Syndrome creates not so satisfactory performances. The correlation of Pearson has indicated that the impostor syndrome has presented a negative relation with the self-efficacy belief. These results suggest that possibly the cultural aspects influence in the development and in the relations between impostor syndrome, the self-efficacy and the academic performance, that requires new future studies.