Systematic review for the definition and measurement of self-efficacy in university students

Abstract

The objectives of this review were: (1) to identify literature published within the last years on self-efficacy in university students; (2) describe and evaluate the employed definitions and measurements; and (3) establish the methodological coherency between the stated definitions and employed measurement scales within the respectively described domains in higher education. A systematic revision was conducted for articles published between 2007 and 2019. Empirical studies on self-efficacy in university students were included. A total of 66 articles were included. Most of the selected literature defined and measured specific domains of self-efficacy in university students. The reviewed authors defined “self-efficacy” as a set of beliefs connected to specific domains of functioning. Most of the studies presented coherency between the research objective and definition/measurement of self-efficacy. Nevertheless, a notable percentage of the studies lacked coherency, which underscored the need for further refinement and improvement in this area.