Self-Efficacy, Self-Regulation, and Academic Success Among Ethnically Diverse, First-Generation, and Non-First-Generation College Students

• In Event: Mindfulness and Social Emotional Competence for College Students

Abstract

This study examined whether self-efficacy predicted academic success and, if so, whether self-regulation mediated that relation for first-generation college students compared to non-first-generation college students (model 1) and for varying racial/ethnic groups (model 2). The participants are 3,316 incoming college freshmen from one ethnically-diverse urban public university. Results indicated that self-efficacy indirectly predicted academic success through emotional and behavioral regulation, regardless of generational status. Significant indirect paths from self-efficacy to academic success through emotional and behavioral regulation varied by race/ethnicity. These two types of self-regulation had divergent effects: increased behavioral regulation, but decreased emotional regulation, enhanced academic success. Findings highlighted that differentiated interventions should be provided to meet diverse needs, particularly for students who may have less sociocultural capital.

Authors

• Jinyoung Koh, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Sue P Farruggia, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Lindsey Back, University of Illinois at Chicago