Page 105 - Secondary school students’ university readiness and their transition to university Els van Rooij

Chapter 4
Abstract
Academic self-e cacy is a crucial predictor of rst-year university students’ success, which makes it a key intended outcome of pre-university education. Students with high academic self-e cacy at the end of secondary education likely experience a better transition to university. is study aimed to investigate which factors relate to secondary school students’ self-e cacy in terms of being a successful university student, including a personality variable (need for cognition), a motivational variable (academic interest), and two behavioural variables (behavioural engagement and out-of-school academic activities). Structural equation models of data collected in grades 10 and 11 at ve schools served to test the proposed model. e results revealed that need for cognition, academic interest, and out-of-school academic activities related directly to self- e cacy. Need for cognition and academic interest were especially pertinent. Behavioural engagement was not related to self-e cacy, showing that personality and motivation were more important in determining self-e cacy than actual behaviour. Background factors played a role: Female students, students taking humanities and social sciences coursework, and students without university- educated parents had lower need for cognition or academic interest, and thus may have lower con dence in themselves being successful in university. By focusing on improving students’ need for cognition and academic interest, secondary school teachers can contribute to the development of students’ academic self-e cacy and thereby increase their chances for a successful transition to university.
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