Academic Resilience in Contexts of Inequality: Motivational and Self‐Efficacy Profiles of Disadvantaged High Achievers
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Introduction: Socioeconomic disparities in academic achievement are well‐documented in France and emerge early in schooling. Yet, a subset of students from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds attains high academic performance, challenging deterministic accounts of educational inequality. Academic resilience offers a useful framework to identify these students, but little is known about the socio‐emotional characteristics that distinguish resilient learners during early adolescence, a critical developmental period. Methods: Using data from a nationally large cohort of 8934 French students (mean age = 11.50 years; 51% girls), we adopted a definition‐based approach to academic resilience. Learner profiles were constructed by cross‐classifying tertiles of family socioeconomic status (SES) and academic achievement assessed in Grade 7, yielding nine SES × achievement profiles. Intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and academic self‐efficacy were measured via student self‐report in Grade 6. Bayesian analyses of covariance were conducted to compare socio‐emotional profiles across groups, controlling for age and sex. Results: Decisive evidence emerged for differences in intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy across learner profiles. Academically resilient students (low SES, high achievement) reported substantially higher intrinsic motivation and self‐efficacy than disadvantaged low achievers, and levels statistically indistinguishable from socioeconomically advantaged high achievers. Self‐efficacy showed the strongest differentiation across profiles and the steepest gradient across achievement levels. In contrast, extrinsic motivation exhibited weaker and less consistent differences between groups. Conclusions: These findings indicate that academic resilience in early adolescence is characterized by socio‐emotional profiles marked by strong self‐efficacy and elevated intrinsic motivation, comparable to those of advantaged high achievers. By highlighting psychological resources that differentiate resilient from non‐resilient students under conditions of socioeconomic disadvantage, this study identifies promising targets for interventions aimed at reducing educational inequalities.
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In the French context, parental occupation and education are particularly common indicators of social background in educational statistics.
“In the French context, parental occupation and education are particularly common indicators of social background in educational statistics (Rémeau et al., 2025, Rémeau, Raffy, & Borst 2026, Rémeau, Schmitt, & Borst 2026).”
From Participation in extracurricular activities predicts academic growth and mediates socioeconomic inequalities in primary school (2026) · cites this paper as Rémeau, Raffy, & Borst 2026
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Sorted by citations
Brunet, L., Rémeau, M., Houdé, O., & Borst, G. (2026) · British Journal of Educational Psychology · doi:10.1111/bjep.70127
Self-citation
- Authors
- Rémeau, M., Raffy, G., & Borst, G.
- Affiliations
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Ministere de l'Education Nationale (FR)
- Corresponding author
- Rémeau, Margot
- Venue
- Journal of Adolescence
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2026-05-28
- Volume
- 98
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1939-1956
- ISSN
- 0140-1971 (ISSN-L)
- 1095-9254
- PMC
- PMC13440724
- OpenAlex
- W7162669969
- Cited by
- 4
- References
- 10
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4
- FWCI
- 22.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Adolescence (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR-21-ESRE-0034)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Education, Achievement, and Giftedness
- Social Sciences › Education › School Choice and Performance
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation
- Keywords
- academic resilience, educational inequality, socioeconomic status, academic performance, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, academic self-efficacy, early adolescence, French students
- MeSH terms
- Academic Success, Low Socioeconomic Status, Adolescent, Child, Female, France, Humans, Male, Motivation, Social Class, Socioeconomic Factors, Students, Self Efficacy, Resilience, Psychological
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