SELF-BELIEFS AND BACKGROUND VARIABLES AS PREDICTORS OF SCHOOL WITHDRAWAL OF ADOLESCENT STUDENTS

There has been a recent Interest in adolescent studentsʹ school withdrawal and in the identification of factors that may be related to their failure to continue in the educational system. The purpose of this study was to examine the contributions of academic background, selfbeliefs. and other factors toward the explanation of school withdrawal by adolescent students. There were several findings from this study. First, both academic background and self-beliefs were significant predictors of school withdrawal. Second, specific self-beliefs (such as financial goals and social goals) showed significant negative relationships with school withdrawal. Third, the relationships between self-beliefs and school withdrawal were different for minority and majority students. These results provide support for the efficacy of academic background and other variables as predictors of adolescent studentsʹ school withdrawal.