The Mediating Role of Academic Self-Efficacy and Psychological Well-Being in Gender Differences of University Students’ Achievement in Pakistan

The present research aims to explore the mediation of Academic Self-Efficacy and Psychological Well-being in University Students' Gender differences in Pakistan. In present days, academic performance at university is seen as a multidimensional process that depends on the cognitive abilities as well as on the self-beliefs of students on the way they could adapt themselves to the challenges, imposed by academic stress, of staying in psychological ebquilibrium. Given this Pakistani context, in which gendered roles and social norms have a large impact on both anticipated educational attainment and historical disparities in attainment, a focus on these mediating variables can allow for the expression of some explanation for these persistent inequalities. Taking a qualitative approach the study investigates the ways in which young men and young women are thinking about what they are able to do, and what it might mean for well-being to be linked to learning. Girls are very resolute, disciplined and dedicated, but the social norms, restricted mobility and safety makes them lose confidence level and long term goals. On the other hand, male students have more access and social acceptance to attain higher education, which by contrast presents specific challenges like society’s need for success, financial responsibilities, lack of means to share what they feel. In that twofold mechanism, academic self-efficacy appears as a critical mediator facilitating persistence, resilience, and thriving under adversity, whereas psychological well-being acts to stabilise it, maintaining the motivation and the active to engage in favourable ways. The findings from such a study indicate that greater consideration should be given to academic performance beyond grades or test scores, and the psychological and social-cultural experiences which mediate gender effects at the tertiary level. By foregrounding the lives and voices of young women attending institutions of higher education and by critically examining what types of interventions, pedagogical practices and institutional policies need to be implemented in order to address the urgency of attending to the sites of labour inequality in ways that also attend to students’ well-being, this study points out the interconnectedness of gender justice and student well-being as part of the same enterprise. This study contributes towards the conceptualization of educational success in Pakistan by unpacking the role of self-efficacy and well-being as important mediating processes to achieve equity in out-of-school educational attainments.