Development of self-belief for employability in higher education: ability, efficacy and control in context

Supporting business students’ transition into higher education: the case of marketing downloads

“…The unease expressed by respondents when guidelines were not totally explicit regarding the choice of topics reflects the concerns raised by Turner (2014) who noted that when students do not have enough information to make decisions, then there is a possibility that the circumstances can be stress-inducing (p 596). This needs to be carefully considered when designing learning and teaching initiatives.…”

“…Their emotional outlook, a positive coping style and a feeling of being in control of their environment can promote resilience and provide the motivation needed to achieve social and academic goals. Turner (2014) identifies that self-belief is important for performance. In the context of employability, she notes that self-belief enables action and needs to be developed alongside skills within the curriculum.…”

“…In this approach, the co-operative nature of students participating with each other is highlighted. Taking a view of student-centred learning further, Turner (2014) notes the importance of 'mastery experience' which in turn relates to students gaining success, improvement and control (p 598). Finally, as Peterson and Dover (2014) note, a key challenge when developing effective pedagogy is to integrate theory with the realities of the workplace.…”

“…This resonates with the earlier discussion regarding the changing nature of HE students and their need to develop self-efficacy and independent learning skills. A learning environment where students feel secure, confident and empowered to participate and acquire knowledge is key (McCabe and O'Connor 2014;Turner 2014). The aim is for students in transition to develop their academic voice and their learner identity in order to avoid any negative effects on retention and progression (Tangney 2014).…”

Learning through inquiry: a Global Health Hackathon

“…Thereby, we aimed to allow students to develop relatively high levels of competency in their newly won skills as competency itself has been linked to in-depth understanding of discipline-specific knowledge and methods, mastery of transferable skills, and an adequate dose of self-efficacy (Knight and Yorke 2003;Rosenberg, Heimler, and Morote 2012;Turner 2014). In fact, research highlights that students who believe in their own abilities seek more challenging projects and persevere longer when faced with difficult tasks that do not lend themselves to straightforward solutions (Turner 2014). The experience of successful performance, in turn, has been related to raised 'efficacy expectations' connected to increased self-esteem (Lane, Lane, and Kyprianou 2004) and to a decrease in feelings of stress, anxiety, and depression (Bandura 1986;Yi and Hwang 2003;Zimmerman 2000).…”