STUDENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY IN THEIR SELF-REGULATED LEARNING STRATEGIES: A DEVELOPMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to provide a developmental perspective on students’ self-efficacy in their self-regulatory learning strategies using data obtained from cohort groups of students ranging from age 9 to 17 (N=1257), to determine whether this confidence differs as a function of gender, and to discover whether these differences are a function of gender orientation beliefs rather than of gender. Confidence in self-regulation decreased as students progressed from elementary school to high school, and the decrease was steeper than a similar decrease in self-perceptions of academic competence. Gender differences favored girls, but these differences were rendered nonsignificant when gender orientation beliefs were controlled. Instead, a feminine orientation was particularly adaptive. Findings support the contentions of researchers who have argued that gender differences in academic motivation may be a function of the stereotypical beliefs that students hold about gender.