Factors Related to College Going Self-efficacy among Urban African American High School Students

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between college-going self-efficacy and high school students' perceived levels of achievement goal orientations (mastery-approach, performance-approach, performance-avoidance), vocational identity, need for occupational information, and barriers to occupational goals for a sample of African American urban high school students (N = 200). Furthermore, this study examined the extent to which those factors helped predict scores on the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale. Findings revealed positive relationships between mastery-approach, performance-approach, and performance-avoidance goal orientation, as well as vocational identity across all subscales of the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale. Results showed little to no relationship between occupational information, the barriers scale and college-going self-efficacy scores. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were conducted to explore the predictability of the achievement goal orientation and career related factors on college-going self-efficacy. Results indicated that goal orientation would be consistently statistically significant across all phases of the college going process reflected in their self-efficacy scores and vocational identity was a significant predictor during the first phase and the final phase of the college going process.