Robert W. Lent

Self-efficacy in the prediction of academic performance and perceived career options.

This study explored the relation of self-efficacy beliefs to educational/vocational choice and performance, assessing the extent to which efficacy beliefs, in concert with other relevant variables, predict academic grades, persistence, and perceived career options in students considering science and engineering fields. Subjects were 105 undergraduates who participated in a career planning course on science and engineering fields. Hierarchical regression analyses indicated that self-efficacy contributed significant unique variance to the prediction of grades, persistence, and range of perceived career options in technical/scientific fields. The two self-efficacy scales used were moderately intercorrelated but differentially related to previous academic performance; neither scale was significantly related to general selfesteem or career indecision. Implications for further career self-efficacy research, and for career and academic counseling, are discussed.

Career self-efficacy: Empirical status and future directions

Abstract Banduras self-efficacy theory, stemming from a social cognitive model of behavior, has been gaining empirical attention in the career literature. This paper reviews emerging findings applying self-efficacy theory to career-relevant behaviors; examines a number of conceptual and methodological issues arising from this work; and offers several directions for future research and theory on the career self-efficacy construct. Self-efficacy appears to offer promise in understanding certain career entry behaviors, such as college major choices and academic performance, though there has been little work relating self-efficacy to career development beyond college or exploring causal connections between self-efficacy and career behaviors. An expanded base for research on career self-efficacy is advocated.

Self-efficacy as a moderator of scholastic aptitude-academic performance relationships

Abstract This study explored the moderating effects of academic self-efficacy beliefs on the relationship of scholastic aptitude to academic achievement (grade point average) and persistence (retention). Subjects, 105 students enrolled in a career planning course for science and engineering majors, were administered measures of personal efficacy for (a) completing a variety of technical/science majors (Educational Requirements—Strength; ER-S), and (b) achieving specific academic goals relevant to success in such majors (Academic Milestones—Strength; AM-S). Results indicated that while AM-S was a strong predictor of academic outcomes regardless of aptitude level, ER-S moderated the relationship of scholastic aptitude and academic performance/persistence. Specifically, the grades and persistence of lower aptitude students were facilitated if they possessed high ER-S beliefs, but the performance and persistence of high-aptitude students were relatively unaffected by ER-S beliefs. Implications for future research on career self-efficacy, and for career and academic counseling, are discussed.

Advances in vocational theory and research: A 20-year retrospective.

This paper reviews major advances in theory and research on vocational behavior over the past 2 decades. Organized along the lines of traditional distinctions between counseling and organizational behavior, the state of theory and research circa 1971 is reviewed, then important trends in research and theory development in the intervening decades are summarized. Some important distinctions in focus between the counseling psychology and organizational behavior perspectives are noted. Within the counseling psychology tradition the evolution of several older theoretical models and the emergence of promising new conceptual frameworks are traced. From an organizational behavior perspective, changing trends in the application of theoretical models to vocational topics are explored. Finally, important areas of convergence are discussed and recommendations for future research, particularly the cross-fertilization of ideas between traditions within the field of vocational behavior, are proposed.

Relation of self-efficacy to inventoried vocational interests

Abstract This study explored the relation of self-efficacy beliefs to inventoried vocational interests in science and engineering students. Subjects were 70 students in a career planning course who completed the Strong-Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII) and measures of self-efficacy involving perceived capability to complete the educational requirements of science and engineering fields. Findings indicated a number of significant correlations between the two self-efficacy measures and corresponding interest scales on the SCII: Self-efficacy for engineering fields correlated with the Realistic and Investigative General Occupational Themes, the Science and Mechanical Activities Basic Interest Scales, and the Engineering and Chemist Occupational Scales; self-efficacy for science fields correlated with the Investigative Theme, the Science and Mathematics Basic Interest Scales, the Chemist Occupational Scale, and Academic Comfort. Implications for counseling and further research are discussed, along with theoretical speculations regarding the nature of the link between self-efficacy and career interests.

Cognitive Assessment of the Sources of Mathematics Self-Efficacy: A Thought-Listing Analysis.

This study explored the sources of information that students employ in appraising their mathematics self-efficacy. Responding to a thought-listing questionnaire, 103 college students cited personal performance experiences (e.g., past successes) as the most common, and most influential, basis for their efficacy beliefs. Other theory- derived efficacy sources (e.g., vicarious learning) were mentioned much less often. Several response categories emerged, such as interest and effort considerations, that may reflect the heuristics that students enlist to estimate their academic capabilities under varying motivational or contextual conditions. Few gender differences appeared in the efficacy source listings, though women tended to cite physiological reactions and teaching quality considerations more often than did men. These findings offer a methodological complement to research using more traditional, psychometric measures of the sources of self-efficacy. Implications for research, as well as for educational and career interventions, are discussed.

Counseling Psychology's Public Image:

One of the major issues in need of increased attention from professionals in the field of counseling psychology is that of public image. What type of image do we, as members of the discipline, wish to project? And how may we further the perception that counseling psychology is a vital resource to be utilized in addressing societal issues? This report, comprising several working papers presented at the Third National Conference for Counseling Psychology: Planning the Future (the Georgia conference), approaches these issues first, by providing a capsulated overview of pertinent literature in the field and, second, by forwarding a number of recommendations or action plans for the development and promotion of a positive professional image among academicians, practitioners, and the public at large. As a means of implementation for the recommendations made, an Ad Hoc Committee on Public Image was formulated and subcommittees identified to address academic, media-related, and political concerns.