The academic self-concept of business and management students: A review of the literature

How students view themselves as learners has been linked to attainment, retention and engagement. This is important within the current policy and funding context of the Teaching Excellence Framework. The self-concept a student might have as a learner is key to the development of independent learning and critical thinking. In the domain of business studies this is of particular importance as future employers require graduates capable of making informed decisions, problem solving, finding creative solutions in addition to utilising and integrating knowledge from a variety of sources. Universities, however, are often cited as saying that school and college leavers are ill-equipped to adapt to the independent learning environment of university studies and lack the learner identity needed for this kind of academic work. This paper aims to provide a critical review of the literature on the self-concept of business students. A number of different theoretical concepts including academic self-concept, self-efficacy, learner identity and self-regulated learning. Problems arise in reaching sound conclusions from the current research base because of these theoretical differences. It can be argued, however, that the self-concept of business students as learners is an important field of study that requires further investigation.