Educational and Career Confidence and Motivation Among Female and Male Undergraduates

Abstract

Changes in six measures of achievement-related motivation and confidence were tested in a longitudinal study of 138 women and 96 men during their first year at a mid-sized, midwestern public university. An interaction was found between gender and level of course enrollment during the year (p < .05). Full-time college enrollment was advantageous for the men but disadvantageous for the women as measured by the motivation and confidence variables. This interaction could not be explained by initial differences in the confidence and motivation variables or by differences in 18 other noncampus variables tested. An interaction was also found between acceptance of campus advisement and gender (p < .03). Both findings suggest that the men’s achievement-related motivation and confidence increased with greater assimilation into the campus environment, but that the women showed more positive changes when they were less well assimilated. Implications for differences in the campus experiences of men and women are discussed.