Career Development Among First-Year College Students

TLDR

The study examines how college self‑efficacy influences first‑year students’ persistence and academic success using social cognitive career theory. The authors conducted regression analyses on 401 first‑year undergraduates, controlling for demographic and academic variables, to assess the relationship between end‑of‑first‑semester self‑efficacy and subsequent persistence and academic success. Higher college self‑efficacy predicts greater odds of persistence and academic success, underscoring its importance for early career development and informing career counseling practice.

Abstract

The present study investigates the career development of college student persistence decisions through the theoretical lens of social cognitive career theory (SCCT). Specifically, the authors sought to understand the potential role of college self-efficacy in first-year student persistence and academic success at a medium size university. Using a final sample of 401 undergraduates, regression analyses suggested that increased levels of college self-efficacy at the first semester’s end were associated with greater odds of persisting into the Spring semester and of being academically successful, after controlling for gender, ethnicity, first-generation status, high school grade point average (GPA), and initial level of college self-efficacy. Results suggest that college self-efficacy may be an important cognitive variable in college students’ persistence decisions and their academic success, which offers additional information about their early career development and is valuable for career counselors to consider. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.