The 21st century is an age when knowledge changes rapidly, and lifelong learning becomes an obligation. In this period, some of the essential skills that individuals need to acquire to adapt to the rapidly changing information flow are higher order reading skills. Higher order reading skills are skills that require conscious and critical reading and entail the use of metacognitive reading strategies. Students' use of metacognitive reading strategies in educational environments positively affects students' academic lives. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the level of metacognitive reading strategies use by students in technical vocational schools of higher education. In this regard, this study investigated the use of metacognitive reading strategies by the students through the relationship between reading strategies and gender, department, and self-efficacy beliefs. The research is in the general survey model, and data were collected from 269 randomly selected volunteering students who received distance education in a vocational college in the west of Turkey. The Metacognitive Reading Strategies Scale, the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale, and a personal information form were used as data collection tools. As a result of the study, it was concluded that the students used metacognitive reading strategies at a moderate level. While there was a significant difference in pragmatic reading strategies in favor of female students compared to males, there was no difference in the averages according to grade levels. When the departments were considered, a differentiation occurred between the Child Development and Private Security students, which was in favor of the Child Development Department. According to the results of the correlation analysis, it was observed that there was a moderately significant relationship between self-efficacy beliefs and reading strategies. Under the given circumstances presented the study, it was proposed that reading strategies should be the subject of further research in higher education.

vocational school students, metacognitive reading strategies, pragmatic reading strategies, analytical reading strategies, academic self-efficacy belief