Discipline identification, identity incompatibility, belonging and their association with deep approaches to learning and academic self-efficacy during COVID-19 in the UK

Previous research indicates that discipline identification — the level of integration of one’s discipline of study into the self-concept — is associated with deep approaches to learning and academic self-efficacy. However, it is not known whether these relationships would hold in the context of learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study investigates this, as well as exploring whether belonging, identity incompatibility, and virtual and in-person time spent with fellow students and with faculty act as potential antecedents of discipline identification. A cross-sectional online survey with n = 385 students in the UK was conducted during the spring term (February–May) of the 2019–2020 academic year, when UK universities were under COVID-19 restrictions. Of those students, n = 109 completed a follow-up survey during the autumn term (September–December) of the 2020–2021 academic year. Due to pandemic-related changes, the two waves of data were analysed separately using path analysis. During the spring term, identity incompatibility and discipline identification were significantly associated with both deep approaches to learning and academic self-efficacy. There were also significant indirect effects of belonging on both deep approaches to learning and academic self-efficacy via discipline identification. During the autumn term, discipline identification was again significantly associated with both academic outcomes. Identity incompatibility was significantly associated with academic self-efficacy. There were also indirect effects of identity incompatibility and belonging on deep approaches to learning via discipline identification. These results add to the literature on the importance of discipline identification and associated social-psychological processes in predicting important higher education outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.