Factors influencing Students’ Academic Success: The Mediating Role of Study Engagement

Abstract

The purposes of this study were to (1) investigate how purpose in life, peer support, satisfaction with teaching quality are related to students’ academic success; and (2) to examine whether study engagement mediates the effects of purpose in life, peer support, and satisfaction with teaching quality on academic success. Using anonymous questionnaire survey, the research sample was comprised of 802 undergraduate university students of a public university in the north of Thailand. Structural Equation Modelling with SPSS Amos 21 was conducted to test all hypotheses. As predicted, purpose in life, peer support, satisfaction with teaching quality are related to study engagement as its antecedents.  The main contribution of this study pertains to the results of the path model, which indicate that study engagement not only has direct relationships to academic success, but also it fully mediates the effects of purpose in life, peer support, and satisfaction with teaching quality on academic success.