Self-Efficacy and Academic Achievement
Bandura, through his social cognitive theory, proposed the concepts of self-efficacy. He defined self-efficacy (SE) as a personal belief of different people based on their capabilities to succeed in a particular field, situation, or accomplish specific tasks. As per Maddux and Kleiman (2018), most of the individuals with self-efficacy hold concentration on achieving particular goals or objectives in life. In the education system, individuals with high SE get highly motivated to carry out their academic work leading to higher performance in their academics (Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló & Gómez-Artiga, 2017). Moreover, various studies indicate that SE differs based on different factors such as the domain, age, as well as gender among university students (Maddux & Kleiman, 2018). Arguing from the theoretical point of view, strengthening self-efficacy originates from activities like the experience of mastery, observation of the success of others, and encouragement from the social atmosphere like peers. On the same note, different psychological issues possess significant impacts on the SE (Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló & Gómez-Artiga, 2017). for instance, emotional challenges such as fear, stress, and pain negatively affect individuals’ self-efficacy.
In the education system, more so in university scenarios, self-efficacy could get defined as individual confidence possessed by the students on their capabilities in performing planned academic activities under a particular situation. According to Maddux and Kleiman (2018), SE in education systems closely relates to cognitive knowledge, focused on accomplishing academic tasks as well as ambitious in academics, which results in success. Similarly, SE comprises the crucial judgments that students make concerning their abilities related to particular academic work together with circumstances involved in performing those tasks (Kolo, Jaafar & Ahmad, 2017). Moreover, the perceptions that people hold on their self-efficacy exist as a crucial variable that affects motivations and strategies that entail the accomplishment of a specific goal. For instance, emotions play a critical role in different cumbersome situations during university studies (Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló & Gómez-Artiga, 2017). Besides, SE persists as a representation of the fundamental factor for attaining goals or decision making that learner experiences throughout their life. Such aspects of the self-efficacy make the students acquire knowledge about their personality and relate to the external environment and development of particular skills in the studying process (Maddux & Kleiman, 2018). Nevertheless, the SE indirectly or directly affects the behaviors of a person. Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló, and Gómez-Artiga (2017) assert that it impacts on the individuals’ ambitions and the degree of commitment in achieving their objectives as well as emotions encountered while dealing with the different obstacle in the course of working to achieve those goals. Similarly, SE changes the individual’s characters concerning the utilization of resources and opportunities towards their targets.
Academic Self-Efficacy
In the educational context, SE comprises beliefs that people hold capabilities to study or performance behaviors. Self-efficacy in most of the university students acts as a determinant in how they think, motivate, and feel about themselves in alignment with their academic goals (Kolo, Jaafar & Ahmad,2017). Various studies indicate that factors like communication, attention, excellence, and self-regulation originate from self-efficacy, which makes the student concentrate on the studies to achieve their academic objective despite undergoing various obstacles.
Self-efficacy makes the student have factors such as high attention, which causes them to focus on academics works. As per Kolo, Jaafar and Ahmad (2017), Attention originates from cognitive procedures in which instead of merely seeing things or thinking about what they encounter in their learning process, they actively begin to concentrate on the surrounding aspects based on their objectives. In most cases, students who possess great attention in what they encounter within and outside the university environments. Affuso, Bacchini, and Miranda (2017) explain that the level of attention would be different as per age, gender as well as domain. Equally, the students who, in many cases, perceive their challenges to pay attention in education hold little possibilities in their academic success. Such incidences occur due to limited adjustments in the university environment (Maddux & Kleiman, 2018). Notably, self-efficacy enhances excellence among the students, which occurs as the observance of set standards and norms in the university academic system, which helps them to aim at the higher quality performance. In the scenario of university education, self-efficacy of students persist as better indicators of student performance and success as compared to the generalized assessments of the academic prowess of learners (Kolo, Jaafar & Ahmad, 2017). Based on various studies, SE among university students happens as an internal feature connected with psychological wellbeing and satisfaction, which begin as favorable elements for survival in university conditions.
Self-Regulation
Self-regulated student concentrates on control and autonomy of controlling, regulating, and directing their actions towards educational objectives. Such goals result in a high focus on information acquisition as well as personal development and improvements (Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló & Gómez-Artiga, 2017). Besides, self-regulated university students occur as conscious of their learning strengths and weaknesses. On the same note, they hold necessary strategies that enable them to deal with the daily obstacles they experience while carrying out their academic tasks. Maddux and Kleiman (2018) argue that self-efficacy allows learners to believe that intelligence exists as malleable, which contributes to their success. Equally, university students with high SE possess skills to take advantage of the chances to in handling the problematic academic works and comprehend the prevailing subject matter in which it helps them to stay oriented on their objectives (Kolo, Jaafar & Ahmad, 2017). Nevertheless, university students with a high level of self-efficacy emerge as more tenacious as well as hardworking. In many cases, they prefer to handle difficult tasks in various domains, hence effectively copping up with their anxiety. Similarly, such students perceive studying as valuable and exciting.
Academic Self-Efficacy and GPA
University life and environment occur as challenging to most of the students in their academic performance. Various research works indicate that student’s self-efficacy significantly influences their grade point averages. Based on past studies, SE holds significant positive impacts on GPA and general academic performance (Affuso, Bacchini & Miranda, 2017). Moreover, the GPA difference among females and males in the university system due to various reasons. Similarly, a positive relationship persists between the student’s self-efficacy and GPA grade scores. SE enables the students to have multiple beliefs and capabilities in accomplishing their academic task in alignment with the educational aims, which result in a higher GPA (Doménech-Betoret, Abellán-Roselló & Gómez-Artiga, 2017). As a result, in most cases, self-efficacy based GPA grade scores act as a more accurate predictor as compared to the generalized performance of the university students. Kolo, Jaafar, and Ahmad (2017) explain that different scholars posit that variables exist in the individuals with SE based on factors such as entire SE, gender, and age as well as domain focused or selected by the university students. The general self-efficacy helps the students in becoming more optimistic in attaining their goals concentrating on specific subjects.
Students get affected by the factors they encounter in the academics conditions such as social and academic experience and family background. Such issues as university policies, norms, culture, and programs require the students with a high level of SE to navigate through and reach their academic targets (Kolo, Jaafar & Ahmad, 2017). Such a factor acts as a significant determinant in gaining the required skills, knowledge, behaviors, beliefs, and attitudes that enables university students to achieve higher GPA scores in their subjects considering factors such as age and gender constant. On the same note, self-efficacy influences the GPA scores due to making the students persist as multidimensional (Maddux & Kleiman, 2018). For instance, SE enables the students to stay focused on achieving the desired skill and knowledge significant in attaining particular goals in each subject. Equally, SE students possess a high level of competence and persistence in their academic works leading to perform their tasks with commitments, which results in high GPA scores in various domains. Notably, self-efficacy happens as the most critical element of self-regulatory among university students. As a result, it originates from individual experience based on the past performance on GPA, which links to the personal success as well as reflecting and observation of other students’ performance and attainment in general GPA scores. As per Affuso, Bacchini, and Miranda (2017), SE makes the university students strive and achieve higher GPA scores as compared to the previous ones based on goal orientation and determination. Such students remain focused despite encountering various challenges within or outside the university surroundings (Affuso, Bacchini & Miranda, 2017). Therefore, self-efficacy significantly influences the GPA outcome based on multiple factor-like domains, gender, and age among university students.
Education System of Saudi Arabian Universities
The Educations system of Saudi Arabia has experienced a wide range of transformation since the establishment of the kingdom in 1932. In the early days, education was limited to the few individuals from wealthy families (Pariona, 2017). At that time, Islam studies took center stage in most of the learning fields with limited access to other areas such as education and science. Recently, the kingdom of Saudi Arabia possesses more than 50 private and public universities, as well as other colleges and higher learning institutions (Alharbi, 2018). The current higher education in Saudi Arabia exists for all citizens in whom the government offers free health services, educations, and reading materials. According to Pariona (2017), despite Islam occurring as the primary focus in university educations structure, the system further offers high-quality teachings in various fields such as sciences and arts. Such diversity aims at equipping its citizens for life as well as working competitively in the global economy. Notably, Saudi Arabia started investing in the university educations system at the beginning of the new era, which marked rapid growth and development in the early 1970s (Pariona, 2017). The kingdom created the Ministry of Higher Education in 1975 intending to formulate and implement long term plans to guarantee a higher education structure of offering highly educated and skilled labor for its growing and sophisticated economy (Almudarra, 2017). The main ministry objective targeted at creating higher learning institutions throughout the kingdom as well as improving and expanding the existing ones.
Currently, over one million students get enrolled in private and public universities in Saudi Arabia. King Saud University exists as the oldest in the kingdom, which was opened in 1957 with 21b students and nine instructors. Moreover, the current largest university persists as King Abdulaziz, located in Jeddah, which was established back in 1967 with local entrepreneurs who believed in the power of education as the primary factor for national growth and development (Almudarra, 2017). Moreover, the Ministry of Higher Education and technical and vocational Training Corporation formulate the regulation and policies as well as to conduct funding procedures for funding requirements to all higher learning institutions (Alharbi, 2018). Since the beginning of the higher education system, Saudi Arabic persists as the primary language of offering instructions. Moreover, some of the private institutions use English and medium for teaching and used in most of the medical fields in public and privates universities (Pariona, 2017). Other ministries such as those of health, religious affairs, defense, and interior also play a significant part in the higher education system throughout the kingdom.
References
Affuso, G., Bacchini, D., & Miranda, M. C. (2017). The contribution of school-related parental monitoring, self-determination, and self-efficacy to academic achievement. The Journal of Educational Research, 110(5), 565-574.
Doménech-Betoret, F., Abellán-Roselló, L., & Gómez-Artiga, A. (2017). Self-efficacy, satisfaction, and academic achievement: the mediator role of Students’ expectancy-value beliefs. Frontiers in psychology, 8, 1193.
Kolo, A. G., Jaafar, W. M., & Ahmad, N. B. (2017). Relationship between Academic Self-efficacy Believed of College Students and Academic Performance. IOSR Journal of Humanities and Sociall Sciences, 22(1), 75-80.
Maddux, J. E., & Kleiman, E. M. (2018). Self‑efficacy. Guilford Press.
Almudarra, J. B. (2017). Leadership and supervision in Saudi Arabian educational context. International Journal of Developing and Emerging Economies, 5(11), 34-47.
Alharbi, E. A. R. (2018). Higher education in Saudi Arabia: Challenges to achieving world-class recognition. International of Journal of Culture and History, 2(4), 169-172.
Pariona, A. (2017, August 1). What Type Of Education System Does Saudi Arabia Have? Retrieved from https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-type-of-education-system-does-saudi-arabia-have.html