Effect of academic support on school outcomes through school engagement: evidence of gender invariance

In order to understand the adequate development of students, direct measures such as their grades, but also indirect measures such as their satisfaction with school, must be taken into account. It is also important to determine which variables promote it and how. This study aims to explore if the mediating effect of school engagement between academic support (from teachers, parents, and peers) and school outcomes (satisfaction with school, and grades) is gender invariant. The sample was 1712 students with a mean age of 14.73 (52.7% female). The model was tested using Structural Equation Modeling and an invariance routine was carried out to test gender moderation. The model satisfactorily fitted the data, with the school engagement mediating the effect of parents, teachers, and peer support on satisfaction with school and grades. Teacher support was the dimension of academic support with the highest impact. The model explained 46% of the variance of satisfaction and 7.8% of grades. The invariance routine revealed no moderation effects due to gender. The proposed model is invariant across boys and girls, being the academic support equally relevant for both correct involvement and performance in school. Implications are discussed.