Academic competition among students of color - An interview study

Forty-one relatively high-achieving students of color were interviewed abou t the competition for grades that they felt in their high schools. Students of color are particularly interesting with regard to competition because t hey have sometimes been portrayed as rejecting academic achievement. The st udents reported competing for grades. They generally thought competition wa s beneficial. Students commented that they focused on grade point average t o help them improve their grades and monitored the grades that other studen ts were receiving. They made almost no comments about competition leading t o learning or mastering skills. Their responses are interpreted in light of motivation research that suggests that academic competition and social com parison can lead to maladaptive motivational orientations.