Development and Validation of the Teacher Career-Related Support Self-Efficacy (TCSSE) Questionnaire

Background: Career-related teacher support self-efficacy refers to the teacher’s confidence in his/her own ability to support students’ career choices. To our knowledge, there are neither studies that focus on this topic nor instruments to measure it. Therefore, the current study aimed at developing and validating an instrument to assess teacher career-related support self-efficacy (TCSSE). Methods: In a multi-step process, items were developed and three studies that involved Italian in-service teachers were conducted. In Study 1 (n = 232), the TCSSE was developed and exploratory factor analysis on the 51 initial items was performed. In Study 2 (n = 294), six factors—Get Ready, Empower Self, Get Curious, Empower Skills, Emotional Support and Instrumental Support (α = 0.885)—across 36 items were tested through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). In Study 3 (n = 100), the reliability of TCSSE was tested. Results: The EFA performed in Study 1 suggested a six-factor solution with 36 items. The results of Study 2 confirmed the six-factor structure (χ(2) (579) = 1387.965, p < 0.001, CFI = 0.964, TLI = 0.961, RMSEA = 0.069), the internal consistency (α = 0.863 for Get Ready, α = 0.857 for Empower Self; α = 0.864 for Get Curious; α = 0.909 for Empower Skills; α = 0.881 for Emotional Support; α = 0.885 for Instrumental Support) and validity of the TCSSE. Finally, in Study 3, the reliability of TCSSE was also confirmed. Conclusion: The TCSSE questionnaire can provide researchers and practitioners with a new and reliable measure to assess teacher career-related support self-efficacy. Suggestions for future studies and practice are also provided.