%0 Journal Article
%T Hierarchical Models of Self-Concept across Genders and Sciences/Humanities for College Students in Taiwan
%A Mei-Shiu Chiu
%J ISRN Education
%D 2013
%R 10.1155/2013/960371
%X The aim of this study is to examine the hierarchical model of self-concept (SC) using two operations (Models A and B). In Model A, global self-concept (GSC) is the higher-order factor of field-specific self-concepts (FSCs). In Model B, GSC is the predictor of the correlated FSCs. The data of 28,824 college students are obtained from the national database for higher education in Taiwan. The two models are examined by the use of total-group hierarchical confirmatory factor analysis (HCFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM), respectively. Multigroup HCFA and SEM are used to test whether the two models demonstrate measurement equivalence and structural invariance across female and male college students and across college students coming from different fields of study. The results of the analysis reveal three major findings. (1) The data fit Models A-B well for all the students as a whole. (2) Females and males are found not to be equivalent in the structure of both models. (3) Females from female-dominated humanities fields (education and business) are different from those in male-dominated sciences fields (engineering and natural sciences), while males from the four fields are similar in both models. 1. Introduction Self-concept is one of the major constructs in education, and appropriate development of self-concept has become one of the most major goals in education [1, 2]. Theories on self-concept, however, are normally posited by Western scholars, and the operation of self-concept is dominated by instruments developed in Western culture (e.g., [3, 4]), even though the theories and operations were supported by studies conducted for individuals form diverse cultures (e.g., [5¨C10]). Relatively few studies develop instruments suitable for the researchersĄŻ own cultures to address the issue of hierarchical and multidimensional structure of self-concept [11]. The aim of the study is to examine one of the major theories on self-concept using a different instrument and different subconstructs based on data from the official and continued large-scale database for higher education in Taiwan. The reoperation of a well-known theory on self-concept in Western culture is likely to advance the understanding of the theory and the culture in a non-Western culture. Shavelson et al. [12] posited a theory of a hierarchical structure of self-concept (SC), in which self-concept is regarded as an organized, multifaceted, hierarchical, stable, developmental, evaluative, and differential network. The hierarchy can be depicted as a system with one single, highest-order
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/isrn.education/2013/960371/