Correlation between Self-Efficacy and Choice of Career among Colleges of Education Mathematics Students in Kano State, Nigeria

Abstract The study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy and choice of career among Colleges of Education Mathematics students in Kano State, Nigeria. Three research questions with their corresponding hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a correlational research design. The population of the study was one hundred thirty-two NCE I Mathematics student-teachers as at 2019/2020 session. All the NCE I student-teachers participated in the study. Mathematics Student-Teachers Self-Efficacy Scale (MSTSES), adapted from the work of Usher and Pajares (2009), was the instrument used for the study. MSTSES was valid and reliable with a Cronbach Alpha of 0.84. Apart from demographic information, the instrument consists of 20 items designed based on the four sources of self-efficacy. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation. While the hypotheses were tested at the 0.05 level of significance and analyzed using Point-Biserial correlation and Pearson product moment correlation, based on the findings, it was concluded that student-teachers’ self-efficacy was low, and there was no significant correlation between the student-teachers’ self-efficacy and teaching careers. The study recommends that students’ self-efficacy in Mathematics and a Mathematics teaching career should be considered before they were admitted into teacher education programs. Keywords: Mathematics, Self-efficacy, Student-teachers, Mathematics Teaching Career