Autoeficácia em Estudantes do Ensino Superior “maiores de 23 anos”: estudo de uma escala

ObjectiveThe present study aims to study the psychometric qualities of the Higher Education Self-efficacy Scale, applied to a particular group of students, generically called “over the age of 23”.MethodThis scale was administered online to a convenience sample, consisting of 250 Portuguese students.ResultsConfirmatory Factor Analyses revealed an acceptable fit of the original three-factor model and of a proposed second-order model. The results also revealed internal consistency reliability evidence (assessed using Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability and omega coefficients) and measurement invariance across both groups defined by employability as a reason to enroll in higher education.ConclusionHigh correlations between the three first-order factors and lack of discriminant validity evidence (assessed using Average Variance Extracted) between two of them raised questions about subscore utility, with the further analysis pointing to the lack of sufficient evidence that these should be reported instead of just a single total score.