Can academic hope increase academic engagement in Iranian students who are university applicants? investigating academic buoyancy as a mediator

Abstract In Iran, a large number of adolescents compete every year to enter university, given the better job opportunities that may exist after graduation. The hope of having more education affects students’ academic engagement. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between academic hope and academic engagement with the mediating role of academic buoyancy, using the Academic Hope Scale, Academic Buoyancy Scale, and Academic Engagement Scale. The participants in the study were 353 Iranian students in the last year of high school who had applied to enter university in 2019. Data were analysed using structural equation modelling procedures. The results showed that there was a direct significant relationship between academic hope (p ≤ .01, β = 0.19) and academic buoyancy (p ≤ .01, β = 0.25) with academic engagement. There was a direct and significant relationship between academic hope and academic buoyancy (p ≤ .01, β = 0.33). And academic buoyancy partially mediated the relationship between academic hope and academic engagement. The discussion concerns the potential benefits of implementing interventions designed to enhance academic hope to increase learners’ academic engagement.