AUTHOR=Akçay Püren 

TITLE=The mediating role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between university students' heutagogical competencies and lifelong learning tendencies

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Education

VOLUME=Volume 10 - 2025

YEAR=2025

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2025.1719199

DOI=10.3389/feduc.2025.1719199

ISSN=2504-284X

ABSTRACT=IntroductionThis study investigates the role of academic self-efficacy in the relationship between university students' heutagogical skills and their lifelong learning tendencies. Positioned as the missing link long sought in the literature, the study highlights how academic self-efficacy facilitates the transition from heutagogical competence to lifelong learning, offering a significant contribution to existing mediation research.MethodsData were collected from 545 students enrolled at a private university in Istanbul during the 2024–2025 academic year. The analyses were conducted using structural equation modeling. The measurement tools included the Lifelong Learning Attitude Scale, the Self-Determined Learning (Heutagogy) Skills Scale, and the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale.ResultsThe findings revealed that Heutagogical Competence significantly predicts Lifelong Learning Tendency both directly and indirectly through Academic Self-Efficacy, demonstrating a partial mediation effect. Academic Self-Efficacy functions as an important mechanism linking heutagogical competence to lifelong learning, while Heutagogical Competence also maintains its direct influence.DiscussionThese results indicate that supporting students' academic self-efficacy is crucial for strengthening heutagogy–based learning processes in educational environments. The study contributes to the literature by uncovering a new mechanism within the heutagogical competence-academic self-efficacy–lifelong learning pathway and clarifying that this mediation is partial rather than complete.