Examining the Self-Efficacy of High-Achieving First Generation College Students

Self-efficacy is defined as "one's perceived capabilities for learning or performing actions at designated levels" (Schunk & Mullen, 2012, p. 220), and has been shown to account for up to 25 percent of the variance in academic achievement (Multon et al., 1991; Schunk & Pajares, 2009). The development and influence of self-efficacy on the academic achievement of first-generation college students has received relatively little attention in the literature. Implementing a case study approach, this study intended to understand how self-efficacy has developed and influenced the academic success of high-achieving first-generation college students. Data for this study came from two separate in-depth interviews with 16 high-achieving college seniors enrolled in the honors program at a four-year Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Findings from the study were consistent with the core tenets of self-efficacy. In the study, participants' self-efficacy development was largely driven by positive mastery/lived experiences before and during college. Vicarious/modeled experiences and social/verbal persuasion also played a role in forming participants' sense of capability, albeit not as consistently as lived/mastery experiences. In terms of influence, the lived/mastery experiences participants identified were largely positive and more consistently influential than positive or negative vicarious/modeled experiences and/or social/verbal persuasion. Based on findings from the study, implications for practice and directions for future research are offered.