Academic Self-Efficacy, Dropping Out, and the Significance of Inequality

Increased academic self-efficacy can facilitate educational progress and success as well as minimize the risk of dropping out for adolescents. However, there are sex, racial, and ethnic disparities associated with the risk of dropping out of high school. What remains unknown is if increased academic self-efficacy can minimize sex, racial, and ethnic disparities linked to the risk of adolescents dropping out. This study utilizes data from the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 and incorporates multilevel modeling techniques to examine the impact of academic self-efficacy on dropping out. The results indicate that racial and ethnic minorities have relatively lower levels of academic self-efficacy; however, increased academic self-efficacy can ameliorate sex, racial, and ethnic dropout disparities. The implications of the evident sex, racial, and ethnic disparities in the relationship between academic self-efficacy and dropping out are discussed.