Studying the Status of Academic Self-efficacy and its Relationship with Research Self-efficacy in Students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences, 2024

Introduction: Given the unclear relationship between academic and research self-efficacy and, the present study investigated the association of academic self-efficacy and research self-efficacy in students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in 2024. Method: This descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study included 384 students. The Owen & Froman Research Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and the Phillips & Russell Student Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire were used to collect data. Data analysis was performed Independent Sample T-tests, analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation coefficient at a significance level of <0.05. Results: In this study, the mean age of students was 22.62±2.4 years. Most of the students were female (57.3%), single (90.9%), from the medical school (49.7%), and non-local (77.9%). Based on the results, the academic self-efficacy score was high in 15.6% of the students, moderate in 80.2%, and low in 4.2%. In terms of research self-efficacy, only 26% had high self-efficacy, 46.1% had moderate self-efficacy, and 27.9% had low self-efficacy. No significant association was observed between academic self-efficacy and demographic variables. The research self-efficacy score was significantly lower at the medical school (P = 0.004). A weak inverse linear correlation was observed between research self-efficacy score with academic self-efficacy (r = -0.338, P < 0.0001) and academic semester (r = -0.107, P = 0.03). Conclusion: Few students reported high academic and research self-efficacy. Thus, implementing short-term practical workshops, curriculum revision, and incentive systems is recommended to enhance students' academic and research self-efficacy.