The Relationship Between Extracurricular Activities and Adolescents' Academic Performance and Self-Concept

Daniil Alexandrov, Ksenia Tenisheva and Svetlana Savelyeva
Additional contact information
Daniil Alexandrov: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/4132356
Ksenia Tenisheva: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/8995252
Svetlana Savelyeva: http://www.hse.ru/en/org/persons/4405712

Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, 2017, issue 4, 217-241

Abstract: Daniil Alexandrov - Candidate of Sciences in Biology, Head of the Laboratory of Sociology in Education and Science, National Research University Higher School of Economics (Saint Petersburg). Address: 16 Soyuza Pechatnikov Str., 190121 St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. E-mail: dalexandrov@hse.ru Ksenia Tenisheva - Research Assistant, Sociology of Education and Science Laboratory, National Research University Higher School of Economics (St. Petersburg). Address: 55 Sedova Str., 190008, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. E-mail: tenishewa. soc@gmail.com Svetlana Savelyeva - Deputy Head, Sociology of Education and Science Laboratory, National Research University Higher School of Economics (St. Petersburg). Address: 55 Sedova Str., 190008, St. Petersburg, Russian Federation. E-mail: ssavelieva@hse.ru The paper explores the relation between involvement of school students in extracurricular activities and their self-concept in mathematics and humanities as well as physical self-concept. The study is based on a survey involving over 5,000 ninth-graders from schools in St. Petersburg, Leningrad Oblast and Pskov. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis methods reveal that involvement in extracurricular activities of any kind is positively related with academic performance, most strongly with educational achievements in foreign languages. We found no gender differences in the relationship between extracurricular activities and academic performance or self-concept; even sports have the same effects on the self-concept of boys and girls. Both structured and unstructured extracurricular activities are positively related with academic achievement, though the relation for unstructured activities is weaker. Engagement in two or three types structured extracurricular activities and in unstructured activities at the same time appears to be the most useful option in terms of academic achievement. Extracurricular activities also boost students' self-concept in relevant academic domains. The strength of relationship between extracurricular activities and academic performance depends on the size of the city, being more conspicuous in small cities and towns than in megalopolises.

Keywords: extracurricular activities; academic performance; self-concept; self-esteem; concerted cultivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nos:voprob:2017:i:4:p:217-241

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow from National Research University Higher School of Economics
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Marta Morozova ().