Resumen

ORNELAS, Martha; BLANCO, Humberto; GASTELUM, Gabriel  y  CHAVEZ, Alejandro. Perceived self-efficacy in the academic behavior of female university students. Form. Univ. [online]. 2012, vol.5, n.2, pp. 17-26. ISSN 0718-5006.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-50062012000200003.

A study has been done to characterize female students who choose one of the degrees offered by the Universidad Autónoma de Chihuahua in Mexico, in terms of the perceived self-efficacy in their academic performance. The sample consisted of 902 female freshmen college students from seven disciplines with a mean age of 18.1 years. The research method adopted has a quantitative focus with a descriptive design employing a survey. The results show that the profiles of self-efficacy in academic behavior is very similar between students of different disciplines, and that the behavior related to communication skills represents an area of opportunity for improvement in incoming college students. Also, it was observed that the profiles of current, desired and achievable efficacy are related: the higher the perceived self-efficacy, greater desire and more chances of being effective. This allows concluding that if any of them can be improved, the other two will also do it.

Palabras clave : self-efficacy; academic behavior; academic performance; female students.