ERIC Number: EJ1323725
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0897-5264
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Promoting College Students' Major and Career Self-Efficacy through Validating Support
Kitchen, Joseph A.
Journal of College Student Development, v62 n2 p422-437 Jul-Aug 2021
Persistently low graduation rates continue to leave educators in search of ways to promote the success of college students. One understudied factor that scholarship has linked to student persistence and success is students' confidence in their major and career paths--their major and career self-efficacy (MCSE). Ways to increase students' MCSE in higher education are understudied, and what researchers typically focus on is the effectiveness of specific college interventions like career courses or workshops. In this study, I centered how college educators adopting a strengths-oriented, affirming, and validating approach to supporting students affects students' MCSE. Drawing on a longitudinal data set of 760 students, I found that a strengths-oriented, affirming, validating approach to support significantly increases students' MCSE. Moreover, this positive relationship held true across a range of student characteristics including sex, race/ethnicity, first-generation status, ACT scores, college GPA, academic self-efficacy, and earlier reported levels of MCSE. Findings indicate that a validating approach to supporting students' development is a promising direction for college educators to increase students' MCSE and by extension their college success.
Descriptors: Undergraduate Students, Majors (Students), Career Pathways, Academic Achievement, Academic Persistence, Student Empowerment, Student Development, College Faculty, Teacher Student Relationship, Student Characteristics, Self Efficacy
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Nebraska (Omaha); Nebraska (Lincoln)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A