A Sustainable Academic Journey in the Middle East: An Exploratory Study of Female College Students’ Self-Efficacy and Perceived Social Support

Abstract

In a society that is set to move from a patriarchal, gender-segregated workforce to one characterized by gender equity, female college students are the focal agents of change. Thus, they were selected to examine the contribution that perceived social support of women toward other women plays in their self-efficacy (i.e., confidence in one’s abilities) and academic performance (as measured by class grades). Self-reports were used to collect information about perceived social support, its nature and sources, and general self-efficacy from a sample of 131 female college students (age range: 18–24). Regression analyses were used to examine the participants’ responses. Surprisingly, the stronger the perceived positive social support reported by the respondents, the lower their academic performance. The contribution of the sources of negative social support (i.e., criticism) to either performance or self-efficacy was contingent on its being either received or given. Namely, explaining the criticism that women receive from other women by attributing it to their social environment was linked to higher performance, whereas explaining the criticism that women generate toward other women by attributing it to their social environment was linked to lower self-efficacy. However, the more likely women were to respond to criticism of women in person or via social media, the higher their self-efficacy. It was concluded that, for the selected sample, the contribution of social support, either positive or negative, to self-confidence and performance might depend on the extent to which female students perceive themselves as independent agents capable of self-determination in an environment making steps toward gender equity.