A case study of psycho-social factors affecting underachievement in an independent school

Abstract

Recent educational research has shown that underachievement is now increasingly prominent as educators and educationists concern themselves with questions regarding the loss of potential in students who do not perform optimally in the school system. This study aims at an in-depth qualitative analysis of three psychosocial factors that research literature has suggested to be major influences in underachievement for high-ability female underachievers in an Independent (Express Stream Secondary) school. These three factors are the Personal Factors, the Family Factors and the Peer Factors.