The Academic Success Inventory for College Students: Exploratory Factor Analysis

and Applicability
Erica Mathis, B.S., Brianna Werner, B.A., and Emily Bullock-Yowell, Ph.D.
Psychology Department, The University of Southern Mississippi

Introduction Hypothesis Discussion and Future Directions

An exploratory factor analysis will reveal less than ten factors that
In the existing higher education literature, academic success assessed the overall construct of academic success. The ASICS is an important measure for assessing college
has typically been measured by grade point average and exam results Methods students success in a more global manner than relying on
(Duff, Boyle, Dunleavy, & Ferguson, 2004; Diseth 2003). However, some Through the SONA research system, 368 undergraduate students
research has asserted that academic success should be considered as a GPA and course grades alone. Conducting more research on
(300 female, 68 male; M age 20.5;63.3% White Non-Hispanic, 31.5%
more complex construct (Welles, 2010). Often, students decide or are Black Non-Hispanic, 2.2% American Indian/Alaskan Native, 1.1% and including this measure would likely increase the visibility
forced to leave college before degree completion because of their Asian/Pacific Islander, 1.1% Other, .8% Hispanic; M GPA 3.04) were of the measure to practitioners in a college or university
academic success. These students often leave due to reasons not recruited to complete a websurvey in exchange for course credit.
exclusive to academic performance. Such reasons include: lack of setting.
motivation, lack of career decidedness, lack of support, external conflict Measures: While there appears to be some weak evidence for 9 factors,
from friends and family, demands of extracurricular activities, and even Demographics questionnaire
Academic Success Inventory for College Students (ASICS; Prevatt et al., the current study found that there are likely 10 factors
lack of self-confidence (Prevatt et al., 2011). Therefore, it is important to
assess variables outside of GPA and course grades to determine what 2011)-50 Items represented on the ASICS.
unaddressed aspects of academic success influence students decisions More research is needed to confirm 10 factors, specifically in
to leave a degree program before completion. ASICS Scales M SD
a more diverse college sample.
To address this issue, researchers have developed a self-report Total Score .88 3077 497 Additionally, future research should consider the effects of
measure that assesses a variety of factors posited to be components of General Academic Skills .89 68 17 incentivizing participants through course credit. This could
academic success. The Academic Success Inventory for College Perceived Instructor Efficacy .42 61
lead students to falsely believe that they should answer in an
Students (ASICS; Prevatt et al., 2011) currently includes ten subscales 23
which are labeled as the posited factors. These subscales include: Skills, Career Decidedness .86 77 22 overly positive manner.
Quality of Instruction, Career Decidedness, External Motivation/Future, External Motivation/Future .87 61 24
External Motivation/Current .53 74 15
Confidence in Abilities, Personal Adjustment, Concentration and Self-
Personal Adjustment .83 62 24 References
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