Successful transition from school to university is essential for the academic success of any student. Gifted students might encounter unique challenges due to their characteristics, and there is an evidence that a failure to adjust to the demands of university environment has a negative effect on gifted students’ academic performance, leading to underachievement. This qualitative study aimed at exploration of gifted students’ adjustment to university and issues they face within this process. We use the lenses provided by self-determination theory to further interpret the role of both internal and external motivation forces contributing to gifted students’ adjustment and achievement in higher education settings. It was identified that the gifted school and university learning environments, as well as the influence of key people (parents, peers, and teachers) played a crucial role in facilitating or impeding gifted school graduates’ sense of self-determination and consequently their adjustment and achievement. This study offers interesting insights for the understanding of gifted (under)achievement in a context where giftedness is predominantly conceived as high intelligence and academic achievement, gifted students are identified via performance-based measures, specialized schools are the preferred means for gifted education, and young people’s talents are considered invaluable for the development of the national economy and the society.

中文翻译：

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天才学生在大学的调整和成绩不佳。自决理论视角的探索

从学校到大学的成功过渡对于任何学生的学业成功都至关重要。资优学生可能因其特点而遇到独特的挑战，有证据表明，未能适应大学环境的要求会对资优学生的学业表现产生负面影响，导致成绩不佳。这项定性研究旨在探索天才学生对大学的适应以及他们在此过程中面临的问题。我们使用自决理论提供的视角来进一步解释内部和外部动力对天才学生在高等教育环境中的调整和成就的作用。研究发现，天才学校和大学的学习环境，以及关键人物（父母、同龄人、和教师）在促进或阻碍有天赋的学校毕业生的自决意识以及他们的适应和成就方面发挥了至关重要的作用。在天才主要被认为是高智商和学业成就、通过基于表现的措施来识别天才学生、专门学校是天才教育的首选方式的背景下，这项研究为理解天才（欠）成就提供了有趣的见解，以及青年人的才干被认为对国民经济和社会的发展具有不可估量的价值。