Global and economic self-efficacy in the educational attainment process

Despite psychological and sociological evidence that self-efficacy beliefs predict goal striving and a variety of achievement-related behaviors, self-efficacy has been neglected in studies of educational attainment. Using data from a longitudinal study of 1,000 adolescents, we examine the sources of adolescents' self-efficacy beliefs and the effects of these beliefs on educational attendance immediately after high school. Both social background and personal achievements are found to influence economic self-efficacy; this, in turn, fosters educational attainment. This self-concept dimension exerts its effects on postsecondary achievement both directly and indirectly, through relevant expectations and students' behaviors during the last year of high school.