Academic Self- Efficacy and Achievement Motivation as Predictors of University Academic Success: A Pilot Study

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive power of academic self-efficacy andachievement motivation on university students’ achievement (FYCGPA) among 4 th yearuniversity students. It specifically investigates age and gender/sex- related patterns ofachievement in university based on a randomly drawn sample of 208 (male = 141 and female =67) from a total population of 333 medicine and health sciences college 4 th year students (male=185, female = 148) in Hawassa university. The adapted scales of academic self-efficacy, andachievement motivation were employed to collect data. Students’ university achievement wasmeasured based on first year cumulative GPA (FYCGPA). The adapted scales yielded acceptableinternal consistency reliabilities ranging from 0.86 - 0.90 and statistically significant convergentand discriminant validity coefficients between the two scales (r = .47, p < .001). Hierarchical andsimultaneous multiple regression procedures were used to address the major research questions.The findings revealed that academic self-efficacy (ASE) and achievement motivation (AM) arestrong predictors of university students’ achievement when used jointly. When used separately,AM was identified as better predictor of university students’ achievement as compared to ASE.On the other hand, university students’ achievement (FYCGPA) is significantly predicted by Ageand Gender/Sex. Low achievement in university among 4 th year students is associated more withgirls than boys. Besides, a declining trend in university students’ achievement is also evidentwith increasing age. Finally, the study outlines the implications of the findings.