Leveraging Social Support to Enhance Staff Self-Efficacy in University Settings

Résumé fourni par la source

This study examines the influence of social support on Action and Coping Self-Efficacy among non-teaching staff in Ugandan public universities, addressing a gap in the literature on multidimensional self-efficacy in non-Western higher education settings. Using a cross-sectional survey of 216 full-time administrative employees across ten Ugandan public universities, regression analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between social support and the two dimensions of self-efficacy. Results show that social support significantly enhances both Action Self-Efficacy and Coping Self-Efficacy, with employees perceiving higher levels of support from supervisors and colleagues reporting greater confidence in performing tasks and managing workplace stress and uncertainty. These findings confirm the applicability of Social Cognitive Theory in a developing country context and highlight social support as a key environmental factor shaping multidimensional self-efficacy among administrative staff. Practically, universities should promote mentoring, guidance, constructive feedback, and peer collaboration to strengthen employee confidence, performance, and adaptability. Structured support mechanisms and transparent communication can improve both task execution and coping abilities, ultimately enhancing institutional effectiveness. This study is among the first to empirically demonstrate the differential impact of social support on Action and Coping Self-Efficacy in a non-Western university context, extending Social Cognitive Theory by showing that environmental factors, specifically social support, shape multiple dimensions of self-efficacy in administrative staff.

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