Intercultural learning and adolescents’ global competence: The mediating effect of self-efficacy

School intercultural learning plays a crucial role in fostering students’ global competence. However, the mechanism underlying the relationship remains unclear. To address this gap, this study draws upon a sample of 211,554 students from 26 economies to examine the potential mediating role of self-efficacy in the association between intercultural learning and students’ global competence. The findings reveal a significant mediating effect of self-efficacy, operating at both the individual and school levels, on the relationship between intercultural learning and students’ global competence. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the mediating effect of individual self-efficacy remains statistically significant regardless of the perceived discriminatory school climate. In contrast, the mediating effect of aggregated self-efficacy is contingent upon the level of discriminatory school climate, significant only under the condition of low discriminatory school climate and non-significant under high discriminatory school climate. Further implications for stakeholders, limitations, and directions for future research are discussed. • Intercultural learning contributes to global competence through self-efficacy. • Self-efficacy’s mediation effects are significant at individual and school levels. • Discriminatory school climate does not moderate the mediation effect of individual self-efficacy. • Discriminatory school climate can weaken the mediating role of aggregated self-efficacy.