Role of Self-Efficacy in Promoting Indigenous Knowledge Among University Students

Abstract

Indigenous knowledge represents a repository of traditional wisdom practices, cultural heritage and ecological insights that have been passed through one generation to another. Despite its importance in sustainable development and community identity, it is often undervalued in modern academic environment, where western ways of thinking and knowledge dominate. Therefore, in the preservation and promotion of indigenous knowledge, universities and students play an important role. For students their self-efficacy is one of the main components that affects their engagement with indigenous knowledge self-efficacy refers to the individual’s belief in own abilities to achieve any specific task. This study explored the role of self-efficacy in promotion of indigenous knowledge. For this purpose, a survey based descriptive research design was adopted and university students from Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Uttarakhand were selected as the sample. Tool developed by the researcher was used to collect the data from the selected sample. Data were analysed by using SPSS and Excel Software. This study highlights the attitude of university students towards self-efficacy and indigenous knowledge. Also, the study revealed moderate positive correlation between self-efficacy and indigenous knowledge. Furthermore, the study provides a meaningful insight for academic institutions, students educators, policy makers and curriculum developers to design such practises that align with students’ self-efficacy as well as indigenous knowledge