Educational Self-Efficacy of College Women: Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice

Abstract

As early as the 19th century, federal laws in the United States designated equal educational opportunity for both males and females; however, women still perceived that a woman's place was in the home rather than in secondary schools, colleges, or professions (Kite, 2001). By the mid-19th century, women's academies began to provide women with secondary and college-level instruction. During the early 20th century, the demand for teachers encouraged large numbers of women to participate in higher education. The women's rights movement gained power through the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Title IX Education Amendments of 1972 (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.), which prohibited gender discrimination in educational institutions receiving federal aid. Indeed, data reported by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES, 2002) indicate that between 1969 and 1999, the number of undergraduate women increased by 156%, from 2.9 million to 7.4 million, whereas the number of men increased only 37%, from 4.0 million to 5.5 million. According to statistics on education (NCES, 2002), there are now more women than men enrolled in institutions of higher education. Despite women's advances in higher education during the past 30 years, women still face psychosocial disadvantages in educational pursuits when compared with men. For instance, women report lower educational self-efficacy, that is, the belief that one can successfully complete specific educational tasks (Bandura, 1997); have lower self-esteem; experience higher academic stress; and often perceive less support for education. For women of color (who remain underrepresented on campuses), these factors are barriers to educational success (Gloria, 1997). Researchers (Gloria & Robinson Kurpius, 2001; Gloria, Robinson Kurpius, Hamilton, & Willson, 1999) have consistently shown that academic stress, self-esteem, and valuing of and commitment to education are predictive of educational self-efficacy, which in turn is a significant predictor of academic persistence decisions. Academic stress is most prevalent during the undergraduate years (Sher, Wood, & Gotham, 1996) when there is also the highest dropout rate (Daugherty & Lane, 1999). A variety of stressors, such as homesickness and financial concerns, have been linked to nonpersistence (Kirton, 1999; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1980). In addition, gender gaps in academic stress repeatedly have been reported. In a study of students attending orientation and the 1st week of classes, women's stress levels were significantly higher than were men's (Reisberg, 2000). Factors contributing to these women's stress were time spent with student activities, child and home care responsibilities, and volunteering. For racial/ethnic minority students, there may be additional stressors of cultural incongruity (Gloria & Robinson Kurpius, 2001; Gloria et al., 1999), or the experience of one's personal culture not seemingly fitting with the university environment culture. For women of color, dual minority status further adds to levels of stress (Ancis & Sanchez-Hucles, 2000). Studying ethnic and racial minority undergraduates, Gloria et al. (1999) reported that students' self-beliefs (self-esteem and educational self-efficacy) were directly related to academic stress and to persisting in school. Other researchers (Robinson Kurpius, Chee, Rayle, & Arredondo, 2003) have also found that both self-esteem and educational self-efficacy are positively related to persistence decisions, to grades and occupational aspirations (Lent, Brown, & Gore, 1997), and to academic achievement and adjustment (Boulter, 2002). In contrast, self-esteem and academic stress have been found to be negatively related with each other (Abouserie, 1994). Furthermore, Newby-Fraser and Schlebusch (1997) reported that academic stress, as well as self-esteem and educational self-efficacy, can be moderated by social support from friends and family. …