Self-efficacy as a predictor of commitment to the teaching profession: A meta-analysis

•We examine characteristics of self-efficacy measures for teachers.•We examine relationships between self-efficacy beliefs and commitment to teaching.•Conceptually accurate self-efficacy measures more highly correlated with commitment.•Conceptual accuracy and item specificity predict higher correlations to commitment.•Findings are consistent across internationally representative studies.

This meta-analysis examined research on the effects of preservice and inservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs on commitment to the teaching profession. Unlike previous studies on self-efficacy and commitment, this review systematically examines the effects found within the literature and highlights important theoretical and methodological issues. A total of 33 qualified studies were included in the final analysis, including 16,122 preservice and inservice teachers. Findings suggest that preservice and inservice teachers' self-efficacy beliefs influence their commitment to the teaching profession (ES = +0.32). However, these effects vary based upon the conceptual accuracy of the self-efficacy measure and the origin of data. Conceptually accurate self-efficacy measures resulted in significantly higher effect sizes. Additionally, the specificity of questionnaire items and conceptual accuracy of the self-efficacy measure positively predicted the relationships between self-efficacy beliefs and commitment to teaching. Implications for the measurement of self-efficacy and interpretation of preservice and inservice teacher self-efficacy beliefs are presented.