ENGINEERING STUDENTS’ SELF-EFFICACY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE

Abstract

Using the Systematic Quantitative Literature Review method, this paper reviewed the literature related to engineering students’ self-efficacy in higher education from 2010 to 2020 to evaluate the existing research and suggest directions for future work. One hundred and thirty-five articles were selected for the review of the most popular research topics and four patterns of the distribution of studies, namely countries, methods, and study samples. The most popular research topics worldwide were learning performance and self-efficacy, self-efficacy and gender/race, preservice teachers’ self-efficacy, and self-efficacy and entrepreneurship. Few articles investigated engineering students’ self-efficacy in English language learning, online learning, or E-learning in the last decade. Most reviewed studies were either conducted in the USA or high-income countries and administered in single research settings. Quantitative methods outnumbered qualitative or mixed-method research.  Undergraduates were the most researched participants, followed by a mix of graduates and postgraduates. The review includes only articles but not presentation papers, dissertations, and book chapters, thereby reducing the coverage of the existing research on engineering students’ self-efficacy in higher education.