Students’ Perceived Academic Self-Efficacy by Gender and Subject Domain

Abstract

The aim of this study is to test for possible gender variations in student perceived self-efficacy across six subject areas. More specifically, it examines whether students would rate their perceived self-efficacy in stereotypically male-dominated and female-dominated academic subject domains with respect to the gender variable. A self-designed questionnaire was employed to collect data from 367 high school students in different Moroccan public high schools. The data were then analyzed using Principal component analysis to identify the factors that contribute to the variance. T-tests were used to account for possible gender differences in students’ perceived academic self-efficacy. The results revealed that male students displayed higher self-efficacy scores in mathematics and sciences while female students showed higher self-efficacy scores in languages. This might reinforce the stereotypical belief that males and females are better in masculine and feminine subjects, respectively. Unexpectedly, female students exhibited higher scores than males in philosophy and in the perceived overall academic self-efficacy. Recommendations for educational practice are discussed.