Measuring mathematical affect in an international context: influences on pre-university attainment and degree choice

In many contexts, mathematical self-efficacy is known to be an important and distinct predictor of mathematical attainment and the nature of further participation in the study of mathematics and mathematically based disciplines. This study reports on the results of cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of over 500 former International Baccalaureate (IB) students across 64 countries who had studied higher level pre-university mathematics. Two different sub-scales were employed in the online questionnaire measuring (i) mathematical self-efficacy on completion of the IB course (i.e. retrospectively) and (ii) mathematical self-concept at the time of completion of the survey (i.e. mainly during degree study) . These scales were found to be essentially unidimensional and to measure distinct but related constructs. In terms of predicting type of degree participation, important differences in patterns of influence were found relating to mathematical self-efficacy and attainment, although degree choice was not well-predicted in the modelling. Differences by gender and country are also reported, and the relationship between self-efficacy and self-concept is explored.