The Difference in Self-efficacy Scores Among Students who Participate in Work-based Learning and Those who Do Not Based on Their Disability Status in Community College Programs PDF Download

Author: Kimberly Brown
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : College students with disabilities
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Students with disabilities are attending higher education institutes at an increasing rate due to the programs and retention practices developed in k-12 classrooms. A concern for community colleges is the student’s ability to transition into the workforce after graduation. A high percentage of students with disabilities are unemployed. It is essential to study factors that can contribute to a student’s ability or inability to successfully transition into employment after matriculation. Self-efficacy has been associated with academic success and could be a determinate for employment status. The purpose of this study was to determine if self-efficacy levels differ between students with and without disabilities who do or do not participate in work-based learning. Work-based learning is a program-specific internship experience designed to develop students’ hard and soft skills, job awareness, and professional network. The causal-comparative study determined the effect of work-based learning and disability status on students’ self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was measured using the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The data was collected from 14 North Carolina community colleges using convenience sampling. The data was analyzed using a two-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The two-way ANOVA yielded no statistical significance between self-efficacy scores between students with and without disabilities who did or did not participate in work-based learning. The difference between self-efficacy scores in students with and without disabilities was statistically significant and therefore support previous research studies’ assertations. Future studies should compare students’ self-efficacy scores over a semester to determine if there is a positive or negative change.