A Psychometric Study of the College Self-Efficacy Inventory

Abstract

Researchers and educators continue to try to understand and predict premature post-secondary institutional departure. According to social cognitive theory, self-efficacy beliefs are the gateway to understanding why individuals initiate behavior, the effort they expend in engaging in behavior, and their persistence in the face of obstacles. College self-efficacy (belief in one's ability to successfully engage in college-related behaviors) is a construct that may serve to further our understanding of college persistence and performance. The present study was conducted to more fully describe the construct of college self-efficacy as measured by the College Self-Efficacy Inventory (CSEI). specifically, we explored the factor structure and concurrent and predictive validity of scores on the CSEI. Results suggest that college self-efficacy, as measured by the CSEI, is a useful construct that may be of interest to researchers studying academic and career-related outcomes.