Identifying the Sources of Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Self-Efficacy

• In Event: Poster Session 9
  In Poster Session: Measurement in STEM Education (Poster Session 2)

Abstract

This study examines undergraduate engineering students’ experiences to understand the formation of their self-efficacy and to determine whether the sources of engineering self-efficacy differ by gender. Participants include 145 students from two southeastern research universities in the United States. They completed an online survey containing open-ended items on the sources of engineering self-efficacy. Analysis of responses revealed similar trends in how men and women described the sources of their self-efficacy in engineering. Mastery experience, in the form of favorable academic experiences, prevailed as a powerful source of students’ self-efficacy. Knowing someone who was an engineer and receiving encouragement from family and friends also helped form students’ beliefs in their abilities to navigate through their engineering programs and to be engineers.

Authors

• Natasha Mamaril, University of Kentucky

• Ellen L. Usher, University of Kentucky

• Ross Economy, Clemson University

• Marian Kennedy, Clemson University