INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RESEARCH AND INNOVATION IN SOCIAL SCIENCE (IJRISS)
ISSN No. 2454-6186 | DOI: 10.47772/IJRISS | Volume IX Issue XI November 2025
The Impact of Student Integration, Academic Motivation, and Self-
Esteem on Academic Performance: A Conceptual Model for
Malaysian Universities
Nur Kamarul Hafiz bin Jamil., Amir Faisal bin Ahamed Latfi
Faculty of Business, UNITAR International University, Malaysia
Received: 10 November 2025; Accepted: 20 November 2025; Published: 28 November 2025
ABSTRACT
This conceptual paper examines how peer mentoring influences academic growth among university students in
Malaysia, grounded in Social Learning Theory. These programs, where senior students mentor juniors, are
increasingly recognized for improving retention, engagement, and performance. However, their implementation
in Malaysian universities remains inconsistent and lacks a unified theoretical foundation. The study proposes a
framework that views academic development as the primary outcome affected by three key factors: student
integration, academic motivation, and self-esteem. These factors function as mechanisms through which
mentoring enhances self-efficacy, persistence, and resilience. The paper reviews both international and local
literature to demonstrate how observational learning, modelling, and reinforcement within mentoring
relationships foster academic success. A survey-based, quantitative research design utilizing PLS-SEM analysis
is outlined to test the framework. This research advances theory by applying Social Learning Theory to structured
peer mentoring and provides practical insights for creating effective mentoring programs. The goal is to help
institutions improve student engagement, academic achievement, and well-being, ultimately reducing dropout
rates and enhancing overall educational outcomes.
Keywords: Peer mentoring, Student integration, Academic motivation, Self-esteem, Academic development
INTRODUCTION
Entering university brings significant challenges for students, such as academic demands, social isolation, and
emotional pressures. First-year students are especially at risk, often finding it hard to adjust to new learning
environments, which can result in lower performance and higher dropout rates [15, 47]. Peer mentoring
programs, where senior students support juniors, have shown positive outcomes worldwide, enhancing retention,
GPA, and student engagement [17, 8, 18, 20]. In Malaysia, these programs are becoming more common, but
their deployment remains inconsistent and lacks standardized empirical evidence [24, 33, 45].
Malaysian universities struggle to establish structured peer-mentoring programs despite recognizing their
benefits, mainly because of limited research on their effectiveness and the absence of a solid theoretical basis
[34, 15, 45]. Without a clear conceptual framework, these programs risk not producing measurable academic
improvements. This conceptual paper aims to develop a framework that explains how peer mentoring affects
student academic growth in Malaysian universities. It focuses on the roles of student integration, academic
motivation, and self-esteem as key factors. By reviewing both international and local literature and grounding
the discussion in established theory, particularly Social Learning Theory, which emphasizes learning through
observation, modelling, and reinforcement in social contexts [12, 45], the paper proposes that peer mentoring
can enhance academic achievement by promoting self-efficacy, motivation, and social integration.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Underpinning Theory Foundation for Developing Research Constructs
Social Learning Theory posits that people learn by watching others and imitating behaviours that lead to success
[23, 25, 16]. Peer mentoring exemplifies this idea by offering mentees role models—senior students who
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