Abstract

• This paper intends to analyse the effect of self-leadership on academic performance, and to examine the mediating role of self-efficacy between self-leadership and academic performance of oriental studies students from Mandalay University of Distance Education (MUDE). The scope is limited to only second year and third year students who enrolled at MUDE for academic year 2024. The first year students are excluded due to early time to assess their academic performance, and the final year students are also neglected due to low benefits for them as lesson learn from this research findings: this semester is very near to finish their distance study. The two-stage sampling approach is applied. At the first stage, simple random sampling method is applied by randomly selecting one major specialization among fourteen major specializations offered at MUDE. The selected major specialization is oriental studies. There are 40 second year students and 15 third year students at this major in 2024 (total 55 students). At the second stage, the 38 students are randomply selected from 55 students (69% of total). The primary data are collected from them by questionnaire survey method. The structured questionnaires are distributed to them in classes, then collected their responses. From analyses, it is found that most of the students have high self-leadership skills, strong self-efficacy, and they have confidence in their effort to pass the exam or to gain good academic performance results. Their self-leadership skills have positive significant influence on academic performance. Moreover, their self-efficacy has positive significant mediating effect between self leadership and academic performance. From comparing the direct effect of self-leadership on academic performance and the indirect effect of self-leadership through self-efficacy on academic performance, the direct effect is larger than indirect effect. Thus, top management and teachers should consider developing curriculum and syllabuses for enhancing the self-leadership and self efficacy of students.