Gender differences in applying social cognitive career theory in engineering students

This study tested Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) in predicting engineering interest and major choice goals among male and female college students. Participants were 579 sophomore engineering students who completed measures of self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, interests, goals and social supports and barriers. Findings confirmed that the SCCT model produced a good fit to the data across gender. The findings also corroborated that women have less self-efficacy beliefs and interest than men. However, there are no statistically significant differences in measures relating to outcome expectations and goals. Moreover, women are more likely to perceive support, especially from peers and family, while men are more likely to perceive family barriers than women. For other supports and barriers there are no gender differences. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.     

Predicting occupational interests and choice aspirations in Portuguese high school students: A test of social cognitive career theory

The predictive utility of social cognitive career theory’s (SCCT) interest and choice models was examined in a sample of 600 Portuguese high school students. Participants completed measures of occupational self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, social supports and barriers, and choice consideration across the six Holland (1997) RIASEC types. The integrated interest-choice model fit the data well across Holland types and generally supported the hypotheses that self-efficacy and outcome expectations jointly predict interests, and that interests mediate the relations of self-efficacy and outcome expectations to choice consideration. Contrary to SCCT, however, social supports and barriers related to choice consideration indirectly, through self-efficacy, rather than directly. The implications of these findings for further research on the cross-cultural validity of SCCT are considered.     

Social cognitive career theory and the prediction of interests and choice goals in the computing disciplines

We tested the fit of the social cognitive choice model [Lent, R.W., Brown, S.D., & Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance [Monograph]. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45, 79-122] to the data across gender, educational level, and type of university among students in a variety of computing disciplines. Participants were 1208 students at 21 historically Black and 21 predominantly White universities. They completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals, and social supports and barriers with respect to computing majors. The SCCT model yielded adequate fit to the data across each of the grouping variables. Implications for future research on SCCT’s choice hypotheses in the context of science and engineering-related fields are discussed.     

Longitudinal test of the social cognitive model of choice in engineering students at historically Black universities

We tested the social cognitive model of choice (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) using a longitudinal design. Participants were 116 students taking beginning engineering courses at two historically Black universities. They completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals, and environmental supports and barriers near the end of two consecutive semesters. Path analyses indicated overall support for the choice model and, in particular, suggested that self-efficacy served as a temporal precursor of outcome expectations, interests, goals, and supports. Interests and self-efficacy were found to be reciprocally related but, contrary to expectations, supports and barriers did not account for unique variance in self-efficacy. Implications for future research on the choice model are discussed.     

The role of personality in adolescent career planning and exploration: A social cognitive perspective

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) recognises the importance of individual differences and contextual influences in the career decision-making process. In extending the SCCT choice model, this study tested the role of personality, social supports, and the SCCT variables of self-efficacy, outcome expectations and goals in explaining the career readiness actions of career planning and exploration. The authors surveyed 414 Australian high school students in Years 10, 11 and 12. Career exploration was associated with goals and social supports, whereas career planning was associated with self-efficacy, goals, personality and an interaction term for goals and social support that indicated that levels of planning were highest when social support and goals were highest. Implications for parents, teachers and guidance counsellors as well as recommendations for future research directions are discussed.     

Will I Fit in and Do Well? The Importance of Social Belongingness and Self-Efficacy for Explaining Gender Differences in Interest in STEM and HEED Majors

Throughout the world, the labor market is clearly gender segregated. More research is needed to explain women’s lower interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) majors and particularly to explain men’s lower interest in HEED (Health care, Elementary Education, and the Domestic spheres) majors. We tested self-efficacy (competence beliefs) and social belongingness expectations (fitting in socially) as mediators of gender differences in interest in STEM and HEED majors in a representative sample of 1327 Swedish high school students. Gender differences in interest in STEM majors strongly related to women’s lower self-efficacy for STEM careers and, to a lesser degree, to women’s lower social belongingness expectations with students in STEM majors. Social belongingness expectations also partly explained men’s lower interest in HEED majors, but self-efficacy was not an important mediator of gender differences in interest in HEED. These results imply that interventions designed to lessen gender segregation in the labor market need to focus more on the social belongingness of students in the gender minority. Further, to specifically increase women’s interest in STEM majors, we need to counteract gender stereotypical competence beliefs and assure women that they have what it takes to handle STEM careers.     

Testing social cognitive interest and choice hypotheses across Holland types in Italian high school students

Several hypotheses emanating from social cognitive career theory (SCCT) were tested. Participants (796 Italian high school students) completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, social supports and barriers, and choice consideration related to occupations representing Holland’s (1997) six RIASEC types. Findings indicated general support, across Holland types, for the hypotheses that self-efficacy and outcome expectations jointly predict interests, and that interests mediate the relations of self-efficacy and outcome expectations to choice consideration. However, the specific nature of the mediation effect (i.e., full versus partial) varied somewhat across the RIASEC types. In addition, contrary to SCCT’s predictions, social supports and barriers related to choice consideration mostly indirectly (through self-efficacy) rather than directly. We consider the implications of these findings for further research on SCCT’s choice and environmental hypotheses.     

Modeling college women's perceptions of elite leadership positions with Social Cognitive Career Theory

The utility of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) for predicting college women's interests and goals for positions of elite leadership was examined with 156 undergraduate women at a public university. They completed measures of elite leadership self-efficacy expectations, outcome expectations, interests, and goals. Results supported SCCT as a theoretical framework for understanding internal factors that may contribute to women's elite leadership interests and goals. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations for elite leadership positions related positively to interests and goals for such positions, and self-efficacy and outcome expectations each contributed unique variance to the prediction of elite leadership interests. Outcome expectations partially mediated the relation between elite leadership self-efficacy and interests, interests partially mediated the relation between elite leadership outcome expectations and goals, and the combination of elite leadership interests and outcome expectations completely mediated the relation between self-efficacy for elite leadership positions and elite leadership goals.     

A longitudinal test of social cognitive career theory's academic persistence model among Latino/a and White men and women engineering students

This study tested Social Cognitive Career Theory's (SCCT) academic persistent model among engineering students from a longitudinal perspective and examined whether relations among the variables in the model differed between Whites and Latinos/as and between men and women engineering majors. Three hundred fifty engineering student participants (172 Latino/as; 155 Whites; 23 mixed race) who were attending a Hispanic-serving institution in the Southwest completed measures of math/science ACT, college GPA, engineering self-efficacy, engineering goals, and persistence. The academic persistence model within the engineering domain provided an excellent fit to the data. Significant group differences between women and men were found; however, there were no group differences across ethnicity. Implication for further research and interventions based on SCCT's academic persistence model are discussed in relation to academic persistence in engineering for women and Latinos/as.     

Women Engineering Students: Competence Perceptions and Achievement Goals in the Freshman Engineering Course

Research suggests that women engineering students in the United States typically have lower competence perceptions than their male classmates. According to achievement goal theory, low competence perceptions are associated with avoidance achievement goals which involve a preoccupation with avoiding failure rather than a focus on approaching success. The current study was conducted to see if women in a freshmen engineering course would rate their competence lower than their male classmates and if they would be more likely to adopt avoidance achievement goals. Further, would lower competence perceptions (i.e., perceived ability, self-efficacy) and avoidance goals have negative effects on grades and interest in the freshman engineering course? A sample of 117 first-semester engineering students from a U.S. Midwestern University completed surveys several times during the semester. Data were also collected from a sample of 82 first-semester students enrolled in an introductory psychology course for comparison purposes. Women in the freshman engineering course reported lower competence perceptions and higher levels of avoidance achievement goals than did men in the engineering course and than men and women in the psychology course. However, there were no significant gender differences in course grades or interest in the engineering course. Further analyses revealed indirect effects of gender on grades and interest in the engineering course through the competence perceptions. The indirect effects were negative suggesting lower values for women in engineering. The avoidance achievement goals were not influential in the indirect effects. The implications of these finding for the persistence of women in engineering are discussed.     

An investigation of African-American women's prestige domain interests and choice goals using Social Cognitive Career Theory

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown & Hackett, 1994) provides a framework for understanding career development, taking into account background and contextual variables using a social cognitive perspective. Given SCCT's focus on both personal and contextual factors, it has been widely applied to understanding the career development of ethnic minorities and women. This study extends the SCCT framework by testing the SCCT career choice model with variables defined along the prestige dimension, in a sample of 198 African-American college women. Path analysis results supported SCCT propositions for the relations of prestige self-efficacy and prestige outcome expectations with prestige of vocational interests, and of prestige outcome expectations and prestige of vocational interests with prestige of choice goals. The relation of prestige self-efficacy to prestige of choice goals was fully mediated by prestige of vocational interests; the relation between prestige outcome expectations and prestige of choice goals was partially mediated by prestige of vocational interests. Contrary to SCCT, the hypothesized relation of prestige self-efficacy to prestige outcome expectations was non-significant. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the utility of SCCT in explaining the development of prestige-related career interests and choice goals among African-American women.     

Racial ideology in predicting social cognitive career variables for Black undergraduates

This exploratory study expanded Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) by incorporating the personal variable of racial ideology (Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, & Smith, 1997). The association of racial ideology (i.e., nationalist, humanist, assimilationist, and oppressed minority) to self-efficacy variables, outcome expectations, career interests, and perceived career barriers was examined for 141 Black undergraduates enrolled at a historically Black university. Regression analyses evidenced support for two of the four racial ideologies (nationalist and assimilationist), both independently and in combination, in predicting career self-efficacy, outcome expectations, career interests, and perceived career barriers. Support was also found for the general applicability of SCCT with Black undergraduates at a historically Black university in that interests were most predictive of career consideration. Future research directions applied to the SCCT model are discussed and practice implications for Black college students are considered.     

Differences between African American and European American first-year college students in the relationship between self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and academic achievement

First-year African American and European American college students were surveyed to examine ethnic differences in how their social cognitive beliefs (self-efficacy and outcome expectations) influenced their academic achievement. It was hypothesized that outcome expectations may better explain academic achievement for African Americans due to the fact that they may perceive that external factors such as discrimination may influence their academic outcomes. Because European Americans are less likely to anticipate discrimination, they are more likely to believe that their outcomes would be the result of their own behavior. Higher levels of self-efficacy were related to better academic achievement for both ethnic groups. However, African Americans with negative outcome expectations (e.g. my education will not lead to a well paying job) had better achievement than those with more positive outcome expectations. This pattern was not found for European Americans. Potential explanations for the relationship between outcome expectations and academic achievement for African Americans such as racial socialization for preparation for bias are discussed and implications for interventions are addressed.     

Gender Differences in Pain Perception: The Mediating Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs

The purpose of this study was to assess the extent to which the gender differences in response to the cold pressor test (CPT) are mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. One hundred twelve college undergraduates (69 women and 43 men) engaged in CPT and completed self-report measures of demographic information, physical self-efficacy (i.e., expectations about one's overall physical capabilities), and task-specific self-efficacy (i.e., beliefs about one's ability to cope successfully with the upcoming CPT). In addition, participants provided subjective ratings of pain intensity every 30 s during CPT and were evaluated for tolerance during CPT (up to 4 min). Consistent with past research, men reported lower average subjective ratings of pain intensity and showed higher tolerance for CPT. Path analyses indicated that associations between gender and pain perception were fully mediated by self-efficacy beliefs. Men reported greater physical self-efficacy and task-specific self-efficacy than women did. In turn, higher task-specific self-efficacy ratings predicted increases in tolerance for pain and lower ratings of average pain intensity. Findings indicate that self-efficacy beliefs are one factor that accounts for gender differences in responses to painful stimulation. Future researchers should evaluate conditions under which heightened self-efficacy may be beneficial and harmful, and they should employ experimental designs that incorporate opportunities for use of both communal–interpersonal and individualistic coping strategies in light of possible gender differences in preferred approaches to coping with pain.     

职业认知、社会支持对农民择业倾向的影响

以社会认知职业理论（SCCT）为框架,建立了职业认知（职业自我效能、职业结果预期）和社会支持（积极支持和消极支持）对农民职业兴趣和择业倾向影响的假设模型。在深度访谈和对419名农民试测的基础上,编制了基于霍兰德RIASEC职业分类的测量问卷。采用结构方程技术对628名农民的正式测试结果进行测量模型和结构模型的建构与检验。研究结果验证了SCCT有关职业兴趣和职业选择的核心假设。在环境变量方面,社会支持主要通过职业自我效能对农民的择业倾向产生间接的影响,其中E型和C型的自我效能在积极支持和择业倾向间起完全中介的作用,C型的自我效能在消极支持和择业倾向间起部分中介的作用。这些结果为改善农民就业状态的途径提供了一定的参考,也为SCCT的中国化研究和跨文化整合提供了一些实证依据     

Applying social cognitive career theory to predict interests and choice goals in statistics among Spanish psychology students

This study investigated the usefulness of social cognitive career theory—SCCT (Lent, Brown, and Hackett, 1994) in predicting interests and goals relating to statistics among psychology students. The participants were 1036 Spanish students who completed measurements of statistics-related mastery experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests and goals/intentions. Structural equation modeling (including multi-group analysis) was used to test the fit of the hypothesized models to the data. Results indicated support for SCCT as a way to predict students' interests in statistics and their intentions of engaging in academic or professional activities where statistics is used. Collectively, the predictors accounted for 50% of the variance in interests and for 77% of the variance in goals. Implications both for future research on SCCT and for intervention in statistics education are discussed.     

Stemming the tide: Predicting women engineers' intentions to leave

This investigation adapts and extends the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by integrating it with central constructs from turnover theory. The extended model proposes that domain specific self-efficacy and outcome expectations predict job satisfaction and organizational commitment — the two key job attitudes that have been established as influential predictors of turnover cognitions and behaviors. Further, we proposed that one form of organizational supports, specifically developmental opportunities at work, are sources of self efficacy and outcome expectations, and that the relationship between organizational supports and job attitudes is mediated by self-efficacy and outcome expectations. The proposed model was tested on a national sample of 2,042 women engineers. Overall, the results provided support for our newly developed model. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Social cognitive predictors of the interests and choices of computing majors: Applicability to underrepresented students

In a replication and extension of earlier research, we examined the explanatory adequacy of the social cognitive choice model (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) in a sample of 1404 students majoring in a variety of computing disciplines at 23 historically Black and 27 predominantly White universities. Participants completed measures of self-efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals, and social supports and barriers relative to the pursuit of computing degrees. The social cognitive model generally provided adequate fit to the data across two academic year cohorts (2006, 2007), gender, institutional setting, racial/ethnic groups (European and African Americans), and educational level (beginning and advanced undergraduates). Outcome expectations, however, did not contribute uniquely to the predictive model. Implications for further research on social cognitive theory in the context of science and technology fields are discussed.     

Stemming the tide: Predicting women engineers' intentions to leave

This investigation adapts and extends the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by integrating it with central constructs from turnover theory. The extended model proposes that domain specific self-efficacy and outcome expectations predict job satisfaction and organizational commitment — the two key job attitudes that have been established as influential predictors of turnover cognitions and behaviors. Further, we proposed that one form of organizational supports, specifically developmental opportunities at work, are sources of self efficacy and outcome expectations, and that the relationship between organizational supports and job attitudes is mediated by self-efficacy and outcome expectations. The proposed model was tested on a national sample of 2,042 women engineers. Overall, the results provided support for our newly developed model. Implications for theory, research, and practice are discussed.     

Matching Abilities to Careers for Others and Self: Do Gender Stereotypes Matter to Students in Advanced Math and Science Classes?

Interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) careers falls off more quickly for young women than for young men over adolescence, and gender stereotypes may be partially to blame. Adolescents typically become more stereotypical in their career interests over time, yet they seem to become more flexible in applying stereotypes to others. Models of career interest propose that career decisions result from the alignment of self-perceived abilities with occupation-required skills and that gender stereotypes may influence this process. To investigate the discrepancy between applying stereotypes to self and others, we examined if these models can be applied to perceptions of others. Focusing on students from fifth grade through college enrolled in advanced STEM courses, we investigated how STEM occupational stereotypes, abilities, and efficacy affect expectations for others’ and own career interests. U.S. participants (n = 526) read vignettes describing a hypothetical male or female student who was talented in math/science or language arts/social studies and then rated the student’s interest in occupations requiring some of those academic skills. Participants’ self-efficacy, interest, and stereotypes for STEM occupations were also assessed. Findings suggest that ability beliefs, whether for oneself or another, are powerful predictors of occupational interest, and gender stereotypes play a secondary role. College students were more stereotypical in their ratings of others, but they did not manifest gender differences in their own STEM self-efficacy and occupational interests. Experiences in specialized STEM courses may explain why stereotypes are applied differentially to the self and others.