academic identity

The number of depressed Malaysian university students has sharply increased over the past ten years. What started as a localized academic issue has now become a major national mental health crisis, but the true experiences of those affected remain elusive. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to comprehend the authentic experiences of students in Malaysian universities who are experiencing depression. This research employed a qualitative methodology via a phenomenological framework involving five participants female university students who are diagnosed clinically with depression. Information was accessed via semi-structured interviews that were digitally audiotaped, transcribed verbatim and translated to English to analyse the information. The results indicate that there are six major themes that describe the experience of having depression. They are high-achieving students losing their academic identity because they entered the survival mode, a bitter fight between seeking the help of professional assistance and turning to drug use or self-harm in order to cope, the pressure of being a normal, fearing to be seen as a burden, the contradiction between familial beliefs and attributing depression to lack of spirituality, the physically isolated nature of staying in the room because of the need to avoid social interaction, and the impact of past sexual abuse as an underlying factor of psychological trauma. The themes indicate that student depression is not just a medical problem but they are very much influenced by intrapersonal, social, cultural, and spiritual demands. It is thus recommendable to provide necessary support that will alleviate the deep-seated experience of depression, especially in the university.

This study explores how senior high school students make meaning of underachievement through the lens of growth mindset. Underachievement is often reduced to laziness, while students' subjective experiences remain underexplored. A qualitative design with interpretative phenomenological analysis was used. Five students identified as underachieving were selected purposively, and a counseling teacher and a classroom teacher served as supporting informants. Data were gathered through in-depth semi-structured interviews, observation during interviews, and relevant documentation, then analyzed through repeated reading, initial noting, theme development, and cross-case analysis. Six themes emerged: feeling academically not good enough, fear of failure and environmental expectations, the conflict between potential and performance, avoidance of academic challenges, self-reflection on failure, and the emergence of growth mindset as a reinterpretation of ability. Underachievement was lived as a threat to academic identity sustained by fixed beliefs about ability, and avoidance functioned as self-protection that limited development. Growth mindset appeared not as a ready-made trait but as a gradual process triggered by reflection and supportive relationships, coexisting with lingering doubt. School counseling should therefore address how students interpret failure, not only their academic performance.

این پژوهش به بررسی چگونگی معنابخشی دانش‌آموزان دبیرستانی به عملکرد پایین از منظر ذهنیت رشد می‌پردازد. عملکرد پایین اغلب به تنبلی تقلیل داده می‌شود، در حالی که تجارب ذهنی دانش‌آموزان کمتر مورد توجه قرار گرفته است. این مطالعه با رویکرد کیفی و تحلیل پدیدارشناختی تفسیری انجام شده است. پنج دانش‌آموز که به عنوان دارای عملکرد پایین شناسایی شدند به صورت هدفمند انتخاب شدند و یک مشاور مدرسه و یک معلم کلاس به عنوان مطلعان پشتیبان حضور داشتند. داده‌ها از طریق مصاحبه‌های عمیق نیمه‌ساختاریافته، مشاهده در حین مصاحبه و اسناد مرتبط گردآوری و از طریق خوانش مکرر، یادداشت‌برداری اولیه، توسعه مضامین و تحلیل بین‌موردی تحلیل شدند. شش مضمون استخراج شد: احساس ناکافی بودن از نظر تحصیلی، ترس از شکست و انتظارات محیطی، تعارض بین توان بالقوه و عملکرد، اجتناب از چالش‌های تحصیلی، تأمل بر شکست و ظهور ذهنیت رشد به عنوان بازتفسیر توانایی. عملکرد پایین به عنوان تهدیدی برای هویت تحصیلی تجربه می‌شد که با باورهای ثابت درباره توانایی تداوم می‌یافت و اجتناب، نقش محافظت از خود را ایفا می‌کرد که رشد را محدود می‌ساخت. ذهنیت رشد نه به عنوان یک ویژگی از پیش موجود، بلکه به عنوان فرایندی تدریجی که با تأمل و روابط حمایتی برانگیخته می‌شود و همزمان با تردیدهای باقی‌مانده همزیستی دارد، ظاهر شد. بنابراین، مشاوره مدرسه باید به نحوه تفسیر شکست توسط دانش‌آموزان بپردازد، نه صرفاً عملکرد تحصیلی آنان.