Associations Between Perceived Self-Efficacy, Perceived Value, and Academic Achievement: Exploring a Gender Difference Within English-Medium Instruction

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between two subconstructs of motivation, perceived self-efficacy and perceived value and students’ academic achievement in an EMI context with special attention to students’ gender differences. While English-Medium Instruction (EMI) has been the subject of much interest, little is known about whether motivational subconstructs, students’ perceived self-efficacy and perceived value, have any connection to students’ academic achievement in an EMI environment. To investigate this issue, we looked closely at the effects of perceived self-efficacy and perceived value on 65 second- and third-year business school students’ academic achievement in EMI courses and also looked specifically at the relation between students’ gender and their perceived self-efficacy and perceived value. Controlling for individual and group-level characteristics, an OLS regression analysis showed that students’ perceived self-efficacy had a significant impact on their academic achievement. A further analysis found significantly higher perceived self-efficacy among the female students than among the male students. These findings provide tentative support for the claim that perceived self-efficacy can help to explain certain differences in academic achievement, with regard to gender.