What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students
Existing research has identified gender as a driving variable of student success in higher education: women attend college at a higher rate and are also more successful than their male peers. We build on the extant literature by asking whether specific cognitive variables (i.e., self-efficacy and ca...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-07-01
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| Series: | Education Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/7/333 |
| _version_ | 1797527297101660160 |
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| author | Kerstin Hamann Maura A. E. Pilotti Bruce M. Wilson |
| author_facet | Kerstin Hamann Maura A. E. Pilotti Bruce M. Wilson |
| author_sort | Kerstin Hamann |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Existing research has identified gender as a driving variable of student success in higher education: women attend college at a higher rate and are also more successful than their male peers. We build on the extant literature by asking whether specific cognitive variables (i.e., self-efficacy and causal attribution habits) distinguish male and female students with differing academic performance levels. Using a case study, we collected data from students enrolled in a general education course (sample size N = 400) at a large public university in the United States. Our findings indicate that while students’ course grades and cumulative college grades did not vary by gender, female and male students reported different self-efficacy and causal attribution habits for good grades and poor grades. To illustrate, self-efficacy for female students is broad and stretches across all their courses; in contrast, for male students, it is more limited to specific courses. These gender differences in cognition, particularly in accounting for undesirable events, may assist faculty members and advisors in understanding how students respond to difficulties and challenges. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:40:57Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3b56b52e3db44958a22e94f6ef6de12e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2227-7102 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T09:40:57Z |
| publishDate | 2021-07-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Education Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-3b56b52e3db44958a22e94f6ef6de12e2023-11-22T03:36:35ZengMDPI AGEducation Sciences2227-71022021-07-0111733310.3390/educsci11070333What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College StudentsKerstin Hamann0Maura A. E. Pilotti1Bruce M. Wilson2School of Politics, Security, and International Affairs, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USACollege of Sciences and Human Studies, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Khobar 31952, Saudi ArabiaSchool of Politics, Security, and International Affairs, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL 32816, USAExisting research has identified gender as a driving variable of student success in higher education: women attend college at a higher rate and are also more successful than their male peers. We build on the extant literature by asking whether specific cognitive variables (i.e., self-efficacy and causal attribution habits) distinguish male and female students with differing academic performance levels. Using a case study, we collected data from students enrolled in a general education course (sample size N = 400) at a large public university in the United States. Our findings indicate that while students’ course grades and cumulative college grades did not vary by gender, female and male students reported different self-efficacy and causal attribution habits for good grades and poor grades. To illustrate, self-efficacy for female students is broad and stretches across all their courses; in contrast, for male students, it is more limited to specific courses. These gender differences in cognition, particularly in accounting for undesirable events, may assist faculty members and advisors in understanding how students respond to difficulties and challenges.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/7/333self-efficacycausal attributiongender gapstudent success |
| spellingShingle | Kerstin Hamann Maura A. E. Pilotti Bruce M. Wilson What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students Education Sciences self-efficacy causal attribution gender gap student success |
| title | What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students |
| title_full | What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students |
| title_fullStr | What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students |
| title_full_unstemmed | What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students |
| title_short | What Lies Beneath: The Role of Self-Efficacy, Causal Attribution Habits, and Gender in Accounting for the Success of College Students |
| title_sort | what lies beneath the role of self efficacy causal attribution habits and gender in accounting for the success of college students |
| topic | self-efficacy causal attribution gender gap student success |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-7102/11/7/333 |
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