Purpose: Institutional efficacy is the confidence that an individual has in her ability to successfully perform a task, based on her perception of access to institutional means. Building on self efficacy theory, institutional efficacy focuses on how institutional responses affect attitudes and behaviors. This study begins to identify the construct institutional efficacy and its relation to the level of academic self-efficacy children (grades kindergarten through four) are likely to display depending on their perception of their ability to afford to attend college.

Methods: Participants included 26 primary students (grades kindergarten through four) in a University City public school in Missouri who were questioned in audiotaped in-depth interviews. This sample comprised self-selected participants in the I Can Save: Education and Savings Study. Thematic explorations included: (1) saving; (2) post-secondary education; (3) college costs; (4) college expectations; (5) educational engagement; and (6) academic self-efficacy. Using a Grounded Theory approach to data analysis, interviews were searched for thematic patterns within and across units. ATLAS-ti software was used to manage the data set and insure complete coding.

Results: Kids who perceived money as a barrier to college are more likely to disengage from school earlier. In addition, kids with lower socio-economic status aspire towards careers that do not require a 4-year college degree, while those of upper socio-economic status aspire towards careers requiring a 4-year college degree.

Implications: Over time, repeated failure to successfully perform and be rewarded for following “the rules,” is likely to prime the individual to view others as dishonest and perceive of institutions as corrupt. Moreover, in a society that glorifies individual ability to overcome obstacles, it is difficult not to perceive repeated failure as the result of a lack of individual capacity; a perception thereby lowering one's level of self-efficacy. As a result of institutional constraints on ability to achieve normative outcomes, the disadvantaged person is more susceptible to forming low levels of self-efficacy.