The Relationship between Peer Environment and Academic Achievement among Pre-Service Social Studies Teachers

Academic achievement in higher education is associated not only with individual and instructional factors but also with students' social environment. However, evidence on peer environments among Social Studies Education students in Indonesia remains limited, particularly regarding how peer interactions are experienced in academic contexts. This study examines the relationship between peer environment and academic achievement among pre-service Social Studies teachers at the Social Studies Education Study Program, Faculty of Education and Teacher Training, State Islamic University of Maulana Malik Ibrahim Malang. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was used. The quantitative phase involved 220 students from a population of 488 students in the 2023, 2024, and 2025 cohorts and was analyzed using PLS-SEM. The qualitative phase involved semi-structured interviews with 15 students selected purposively from the quantitative phase. The quantitative results indicated a positive and statistically significant association between peer environment and academic achievement (β = 0.145; t = 2.123; p = 0.034), although the effect size was small (f² = 0.014) and the model explained 1.5% of the variance in academic achievement (R² = 0.015). The qualitative findings identified four themes: academic behavior modeling, socio-academic support, group learning norms, and positive competitive drive. Together, the findings suggest that peer environment is a contextual factor associated with academic achievement through students' academic behaviors and interactions, rather than a dominant determinant of GPA. The study extends the application of Peer Influence Theory to pre-service Social Studies teacher education by highlighting the academic orientation and quality of peer interactions.