Faculty expectations and academic achievement: a multilevel analysis of the Pygmalion Effect in university students

<ns3:p>Background The quality of education provided by higher education institutions is largely dependent on the interpersonal relationships established between students and faculty members. Using the principles of the Pygmalion Effect, this study examined the impact of teachers’ expectations on the academic performance of first-year students at the Technical University of the North. Methods An explanatory, cross-sectional research approach incorporating a quantitative methodology and multilevel modelling techniques was employed to analyse the data. A total of 476 students and 30 teachers participated in the study. These participants responded to five validated psychometric instruments (Aiken’s V > 0.85; Cronbach’s α 0.79–0.88). Results An exploratory factor analysis identified three factors in students that accounted for 69.23% of the variance: Classroom Climate, Negative Interactions and Perceived Expectations. In the study of teaching practices, the explained variance of 59.20% was distributed across three factors: Expectations, Theories of Intelligence and Perception of Potential. Multilevel regression analysis revealed that teacher expectations were the paramount predictor of performance (B = 1.18; p < 0.001). Specifically, the analysis showed that for each unit increase in these expectations, the academic average rose by 1.18 points, thereby surpassing the impact of student perceptions. Conclusions These results provide substantial evidence in support of the Pygmalion effect in a university setting. These results highlight the importance of re-examining the expectations placed on teachers during their professional training.</ns3:p>