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Academic atmosphere and graduate students’ innovation ability: the role of scientific research self-efficacy and scientific engagement

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Abstract

At present, our society is more and more interested in innovation ability. The Chinese government emphasizes higher education institutions’ role in forming and developing students’ innovation abilities. However, few studies have explored how to improve the innovation ability of higher education students from the academic atmosphere of higher education institutions. This study examines the impact of the academic atmosphere on Chinese graduate students’ innovation ability and the chain mediating effect of scientific research self-efficacy and scientific engagement. Three hundred thirteen Chinese postgraduates were investigated with the academic atmosphere scale, scientific research self-efficacy scale, scientific engagement scale, and innovation ability scale. The bootstrap method was used to test the mediating effect. The results show that (1) there is a significant positive correlation between the academic atmosphere and the innovation ability of graduate students, (2) scientific research self-efficacy and scientific engagement play a mediating role between the academic atmosphere and graduate students’ innovation ability, and (3) the mediating role includes three paths: the mediating role of scientific research self-efficacy, the mediating role of scientific engagement, and the chain mediating role of scientific research self-efficacy and scientific engagement. The research results provide empirical evidence and reference suggestions for improving the innovation ability of graduate students. Therefore, this study suggests that higher education institutions should adopt more effective academic atmosphere management strategies to create a positive academic atmosphere to improve the scientific research efficacy and engagement of postgraduates and thus solve the practical problem of the low innovation ability of postgraduates.

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The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This work was supported by the Shanxi Postgraduate Education Innovation Project (grant number: 2022Y448).

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Author notes

  1. Xinqiang Han and Qian Xu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Education Science, Shanxi Normal University, Taiyuan, China

    Xinqiang Han, Qian Xu, Junhu Xiao & Zhuoyu Liu

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  1. Xinqiang Han
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Correspondence to Xinqiang Han.

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Ethical approval

This study was conducted following the Declaration of Helsinki and Measures for Ethical Review of Biomedical Research Involving Humans, Ministry of Health, China. The protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shanxi Normal University.

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Participants took the survey after providing informed consent.

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Additional information

Xinqiang Han

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology, Positive psychology

Most relevant publications:

Han, X., Xu, Q., & Xiao, J. (2023). The influence of school atmosphere on Chinese teachers’ job satisfaction: The chain mediating effect of psychological capital and professional identity. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1), 1.

Qian Xu

Current themes of research:

Educational psychology, vocational psychology, management psychology, social psychology, and critical psychology

Most relevant publications:

Xu, Q., Hou, Z., Zhang, C., Cui, Y. F., & Hu, X. Y. (2023). Influences of human, social, and psychological capital on career adaptability: Net and configuration effects. Current Psychology, Advanced Online.

Xu, Q., Hou, Z., Zhang, C., Yu, F., Guan, J., & Liu, X.(2022). Human capital, social capital, psychological capital, and job performance: Based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 938875.

Xu, Q., Hou, Z., Zhang, C., Yu, F., & Li, T. (2022). Career capital and well-being: A configurational perspective. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(16), 10196.

Han, X., Xu, Q. (co-first), & Xiao, J. (2023). The influence of school atmosphere on Chinese teachers’ job satisfaction: The chain mediating effect of psychological capital and professional identity. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1), 1.

Xu, Q., Guo, C., Yu, K., Wang, A., Liu, J., & Mei, L. (2020).Influence of psychological capital, social capital and human capital on employee’s well-being: Moderationg effect of task uncertainty. China Journal of Health Psychology, 29 (1), 71-76. (In Chinese)

Xu, Q., Guo, C., Wang, A., & Lu, X. (2020). A comparative study on occupational gender stereotypes of post-80s and post-95s College Students. Psychological monthly, 17Psychological monthly, 17(15), 108-109. (In Chinese)

Junhu Xiao

Current themes of research:

Education management, Positive psychology

Most relevant publications:

Han, X., Xu, Q., & Xiao, J. (co-first (2023). The influence of school atmosphere on Chinese teachers’ job satisfaction: The chain mediating effect of psychological capital and professional identity. Behavioral Sciences, 13(1), 1.

Zhuoyu Liu

Current themes of research:

Teacher education

Most relevant publications:

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Han, X., Xu, Q., Xiao, J. et al. Academic atmosphere and graduate students’ innovation ability: the role of scientific research self-efficacy and scientific engagement. Eur J Psychol Educ 39, 1027–1044 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10212-023-00737-x

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