Food for Thought: An exploration of the relationship of Academic Confidence to Academic Sustenance in Australian undergraduate students.

An under-reported aspect of student confidence is the relationship between past academic experiences and levels of Academic Confidence. It was theorised that levels of Academic Confidence might be influenced by an element conceptualised as Academic Sustenance. Using the Sander and Sander’s Academic Behavioural Confidence (ABC) scale, a sample of Australian undergraduate first year university students were surveyed to determine an Overall Academic Confidence (OAC) score. Students with High OAC rankings reported academically sustaining experiences, which assisted in the development of Academic Sustenance, building their Academic Confidence and allowing them to deal with academic challenges more readily. Students who had limited academically sustaining experiences had lower levels of Overall Academic Confidence, which gave them a less optimistic view of their academic abilities. Academic Sustenance consists of four aspects: Encouragement, Drive, Grounding and Efficacy (EDGE). These appear to be non-hierarchical although the aspect of Encouragement was found to exert more developmental opportunities for building Academic Confidence through the influence of Academic Sustenance. Targeted support structures offered through university programs could offer progressive assistance for building Academic Confidence and cultivating Academic Sustenance, which could help more students to cultivate positivity and a more optimistic perception of their academic abilities.