Self-efficacy in university students: the role of academic empowerment

Academic self-efficacy constitutes an important factor for optimal performance in the university. In the current teaching-learning model, academic empowerment appears as a process that facilitates the acquisition of tools necessary to develop self-efficacy. The empowerment of the student can enhance their actions to improve their skills, adapt and transform their environment. The objective of the study was to analyze the relationship between academic empowerment and the academic self-efficacy of university students. For this, the data of 440 university students of different years and careers were analyzed, using three Likert-type scales adapted to the academic field. Pearson correlations and structural equations (SEM) were applied to the variables studied. The results have shown that psychological empowerment plays a mediating role between structural empowerment and academic self-efficacy. These results highlight the transcendent role of the structural conditions that must sustain the learning process.