Self-concept, motivation, expectations, and socioeconomic level as predictors of academic performance in mathematics

• It is proposed a structural equations model for academic performance prediction.
• The academic performance of students depends on their individual characteristics.
• The variable with the highest predictive power was academic Self-Concept.
• Orectic variables are better predictors than the socioeconomic antecedents.
• Orectic variables are academic Self-Concept, Motivation, and Academic Expectations.

The objective of the present work is the study of the relationship between academic performance in two academic disciplines (Mathematics and Sciences) and three variables of an individual nature (Academic Self-Concept, Motivation, and Academic Expectations). In addition, the possible modulating effects of the socioeconomic level of the students were also taken into account. A sample of 7729 students in the second grade of Compulsory Secondary Education in Spain was used. The mean age was 13.78, – SD = .82 –, 52.8% were males. The results allow us to confirm that the variables analyzed present a high and statistically significant correlation with academic performance. The canonical correlation among those four variables and two measures of academic performance is .56. In the structural equations model proposed, 72% of the variance in academic performance is explained. No relevant differences were obtained as a function of student gender.