ElmCore Journal of Educational Psychology October, 2014 | Page 23

Science-Fellows®
Wycmug

Yes

No

No

No

Suzzy

NO

NO

NO

Yes

THE RESULTS AND FINDINGS

The students’ Self-Concept and Identity

History of Academic Achievement

Kenyan parents instilled a sense of agency
in their children. Bandura (2001) stated that “agency
embodies the endowment, belief system, selfregulatory capabilities and distributed structures and
the functions through which personal influence is
exercised rather than residing in a discrete entity in a
particular place” (p. 2). Parents had high academic
expectations and taught their children to be
responsible and independent. Parents created a
structured life for their children at an early age. To
Kenyan parents, there was no such thing as “can’t do”
and no excuses were tolerated for academic failure.

The Kenyan students in the study had
demonstrated academic success as evident in their
GPA, class rank, standardized test scores, and their
enrollment in Ivy League colleges and other highly
selective colleges. These findings supported a study by
Massey et al. (2007), which found Black students from
Africa, especially from Kenya, were well represented
in America’s most selective colleges. Such
representation was greatest in the Ivy League colleges,
as was the case with sample that participated in this
study. Of the 13 participants 11 were attending Public
Ivy and Ivy League schools and the other two were
attending highly selective colleges. Four were enrolled
in an Ivy League college.
Another finding that was supported by
Massey et al. (2007) was the