Road to Researcher: The Development of Research Self-Efficacy in Higher Education Scholars

Abstract

Aim/Purpose: Understanding how students develop a sense of efficacy as researchers can provide faculty members in higher education doctoral programs insight into how to be more effective teachers and mentors, necessitating discipline-specific research on how graduate programs are and can be fostering students’ research self-efficacy (RSE). Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how doctoral programs and early research experiences contribute to the development of RSE in higher education scholars. Background: Participants identified elements of the formal and “hidden” curriculum that promoted and inhibited RSE development. Methodology: We employed multiple case study analysis of 17 individual early career scholars in higher education and student affairs. Contribution: Findings indicate that the development of RSE is complex, but that Bandura’s four main sources of efficacy are a useful way to understand the types of experiences that students are and should be having to promote RSE. Our findings also highlight the importance of the research training environment in RSE development. Findings: We found that the formal curriculum of participants’ doctoral programs – their research methods coursework and the process of writing their dissertations – were important facilitators of their RSE development. However, we also found that the “hidden curriculum” – the availability of extracurricular research opportunities, faculty and peer mentoring, and the overall research culture of the doctoral programs – were influential in participants’ development. Recommendations for Practitioners: Our findings point to a number of implications for higher education graduate programs seeking to improve students’ RSE. First, with regard to coursework, our findings point to the importance of recognizing the negative experiences students may bring with them to their doctoral programs, particularly related to quantitative methods, and of finding ways to help them see quantitative methods in different ways than they have before. Second, our findings suggest important implications for how faculty members as teachers, advisors, and men-tors can think about providing feedback. Finally, our findings suggest the importance of understanding the “hidden curriculum,” and how faculty members can influence students’ experiences outside of coursework and dissertations.

Information Literacy, Research Self-Efficacy, and Research Productivity of Doctoral Students in Universities in Ogun State, Nigeria

“…Following the study of Simisaye and Popoola (2019), research productivity is described as the total number of journal articles, textbooks, monographs, conference proceedings, technical reports, chapters in books, theses, dissertations, scientific peer reviews, co-authored textbooks, occasional papers and patents produced by scholars within a specified timeframe. However, when viewed as the process of grooming future researchers, Niehaus et al (2018) defined researcher development as the process whereby students' capacity and willingness to carry out the research components of their work or studies may be considered enhanced.…”

Examining Educational Leadership Doctoral Students’ Self-Efficacy as Related to Their Role as a Scholarly Practitioner Researcher

“…Additionally, researchers have cautioned there are existing problems with differentiating the effects of self-efficacy and other constructs, such as self-concept, expectancy value, student demographics, as well as measures of personal, psychosocial, and institutional factors (Gardner, 2010). Furthermore, if a student were to do extremely well on one section of their dissertation their self-efficacy may rise, but if they were to struggle and complete another section of the dissertation poorly then their self-efficacy might fall (Niehaus et al, 2018).…”

“…As such, it has been proposed that doctoral programs consider designing their research courses to provide students opportunities to conduct research, as well as apply research skills to achieve data-driven accountability to meet the expectations that occur in the work arena (Kerrigan & Hayes, 2016). According to Niehaus et al (2018), a major component in training researchers is the development of research self-efficacy. Research self-efficacy can be related to the achievement goal theory, in which the researcher's confidence in ability can affect the researcher's behaviors and selected actions intended to reach a specified goal (Wester et al, 2018;Wester et al, 2020).…”

Relationship Between Information Literacy Skills Acquisition and Research Self-Efficacy of Library and Information Science Postgraduate Students in Southeast Nigerian Universities

“…Similarly, Onwuegbuzie (2003) asserted that research self-efficacy is believed to influence students' choices of behaviour, effort invested, persistence and consequently task success. Several studies as observed by Niehaus, Garcia, and Reading (2018) have pointed to the importance of research self-efficacy in the development of independent researchers. Evans (2011) noted the importance of internal perceptions like self-efficacy in the attitudinal development of researchers.…”