Preparing for the PMP exam: A quasi-experimental study on project management training and task management self-efficacy

Research has shown that self-efficacy is a person's perceived ability to accomplish a task or goal. A fundamental tenet of project management is to apply knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to meet the project objectives. The purpose of this study was to fill a gap in literature by establishing a causal association between self-efficacy and project management. A quasi-experimental study investigated 111 project managers enrolled in a Project Management Professional (PMP) exam preparation course hosted by Registered Education Providers certified by the Project Management Institute, to determine the extent project management training changed project manager's task management self-efficacy. The Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES) instrument developed by Schwarzer & Jerusalem was used based on a pre-test/post-test design. Project managers who self-selected to participate were manually administered the same survey before and after their training. The participants were grouped as a single pair (with no control group) and their data was analyzed based on their pre-test and post-test responses. SPSS was used to conduct a t-test to compare the means of the pre-test and post-test survey data. No demographic data was captured or analyzed. The results of this study rejected the null hypothesis indicating a significant difference in task management self-efficacy before and after project managers took a PMP exam prep training course. Discussion and implication of the results are presented along with recommendations for future research.