For the Pitchshifter

Pitchshifter (band)

Pitchshifter are a British five-piece electronic-metal band from Nottingham, United Kingdom formed in 1989. The band was started by bassist and vocalist Mark Clayden, lead guitarist and programmer Johnny A...

 song, see Underachiever (song).

An underachiever is a person and especially a student who fails to achieve his or her potential or does not do as well as expected.

Of particular interest is academic underachievement. Studies of individuals who have not realised their apparent potential have identified learning disabilities, ADHD

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is a developmental disorder. It is primarily characterized by "the co-existence of attentional problems and hyperactivity, with each behavior occurring infrequently alone" and symptoms starting before seven years of age.ADHD is the most commonly studied and...

, and many other educational problems, and enabled methods of addressing these problems. Current theories among academic scholars prefer to address underperformance problems with remedial help.

Academic under-achievement can also be attributed to relatively intelligent or gifted students, who not perform as expected either because they are bored or choose not to excel. For example, the academically successful daughter of two college professors who drops out of university may be looked upon as an underachiever.

The term is also used more generally, for example a team that contains many star players but still loses games against teams with relatively little obvious talent would be termed underachieving. A stock

Stock

The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...

 which achieves poor profit

Profit (accounting)

In accounting, profit can be considered to be the difference between the purchase price and the costs of bringing to market whatever it is that is accounted as an enterprise in terms of the component costs of delivered goods and/or services and any operating or other expenses.-Definition:There are...

 and/or capital gain

Capital gain

A capital gain is a profit that results from investments into a capital asset, such as stocks, bonds or real estate, which exceeds the purchase price. It is the difference between a higher selling price and a lower purchase price, resulting in a financial gain for the investor...

s despite sound underlying business and/or asset backing may be called underachieving.

See also

• Achievement gap
  Achievement gap
  Achievement gap refers to the observed disparity on a number of educational measures between the performance of groups of students, especially groups defined by gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. The achievement gap can be observed on a variety of measures, including standardized...
  
  
• Overachievement
  Overachievement
  Overachievers are individuals who "perform better or achieve more success than expected." The implicit presumption is that the "overachiever" is achieving superior results through excessive effort...
  
  
• Twice exceptional
  Twice exceptional
  The term twice exceptional, often abbreviated as 2e, is commonly applied to high-ability children who have learning difficulties. It refers to the fact that these children are exceptional both because of their intellectual gifts and because of their special needs.A 2e child usually refers to a...
  
  
• Depression
  Depression (mood)
  Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
  
  
• Downward mobility

External links

• Essays on academic underachievement among gifted children.