Book Review: Fostering Self-Efficacy in Higher Education Students

What is self-efficacy, why is it worthy of attention in higher education, how are selfefficacy

beliefs linked to teaching and learning excellence and what is “excellence”

anyway? These are some points of discussion found in the first few pages of Laura

Ritchie’s book, directing the reader towards strategies in later chapters that are drawn

from real-life situations aimed at helping the practitioner recognise and apply principles

for building strong self-efficacy beliefs in their students. The author argues that the

impact of self-efficacy on learning is “fundamental to everything” (p. vii); she writes

from her years of teaching and research in higher education, and as a recipient of a UK

National Teaching Fellow award.