Collective contributions to career efficacy in adolescents: A cross-cultural study

This study extended the concept of collective efficacy to supplement the variable of career self-efficacy to predict vocational exploration and commitment among adolescents. We developed a Collective Contributions to Career Efficacy Scale (CCCE) to measure adolescents' perceived contributions from parents, teachers, and peers on their career-related matters. A total of 1175 high school students from Hong Kong, Shanghai and Michigan participated in the study by completing the CCCE, the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSE-SF), and the Vocational Exploration and Commitment Subscale (VEC). Using multi-sample Structural Equation Modeling, we found that the effect of CCCE on VEC was mediated by CDSE. Although we found cultural differences in the overall level of the vocational measures among the Hong Kong, Shanghai, and American students, the mediation model was confirmed in all three groups of students.     

Interrelationship of career choice competencies and Career Choice Attitudes of ninth-grade pupils: Testing hypotheses derived from Crites' model of career maturity

This paper presents the results of a study designed to determine whether or not the two dimensions of Career Choice Attitudes and Career Choice Competencies are interrelated as hypothesized in the Crites (1965, 1973a) model of career maturity. To test six associational hypotheses derived from the Crites model, three different career maturity instruments which provide a total of 10 separate scores were administered to a sample of ninth-grade pupils (N = 90). The 10 scores were intercorrelated and factor analyzed. Fairly strong support was found for four of the six hypotheses. The correlation between the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale and the variables classified as career choice competencies were found to be higher than predicted by the model. The factor analysis yielded two factors, one defined by the Career Maturity Inventory Attitude Scale, the Information and Decision-Making Scale of the Career Development Inventory, and the six subtests of the Cognitive Vocational Maturity Test; the other factor was defined by the Planning Orientation and Resources for Exploration Scales of the Career Development Inventory.     

Career adaptation: The relation of adaptability to goal orientation,proactive personality,and career optimism

This study examines the psychometric properties of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS) and its relation to adaptivity (i.e., learning goal orientation, proactive personality, and career optimism) among Australian university students (N = 555). Results demonstrated adequate levels of test–retest reliability (r = .61 to .76) and internal consistency (α = .83 to .94) for the CAAS full scale and subscales over a 4-week interval between measurements. Confirmatory factor analysis also supported the multidimensional and hierarchical model of career adaptability resources. The factor structure generally corresponded with that obtained from other CAAS international validation, thus, expanding its cross-national measurement equivalence. In addition, correlation results supported the predicted positive association between career adaptability and adaptivity in the form of learning goal orientation, proactive personality, and career optimism. Taken together, the present findings confirm the psychometric utility of CAAS in the Australian context and substantiate the proposition that higher personal adaptive readiness relates to better career adaptability among young people.     

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale: Convergent validity of subscale scores

This study examined the convergent validity of scores from the four subscales in the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale. The differential relation of each subscale to theoretically-related constructs was examined in a sample of 332 graduating university students. The results were as predicted. Career concern related highest to future time perspective; career control related highest to both locus of control and core self-evaluations as well as inversely to neuroticism; career curiosity related highest to proactive personality; and career confidence related highest to generalized self-efficacy. The only relation that was not as predicted involved self-esteem, which was predicted to relate highest to confidence. It related higher to career control (r = .42) and career concern (r = .41).     

Expatriate career intentions: Links to career adaptability and cultural intelligence

Given the increasing rate of global mobility, it is important to have a greater understanding of the factors that influence intentions for expatriate careers. Guided by the Career Construction Theory and Intelligence Theory, this study takes the view that self-initiated expatriation as a form of global mobility is an adaptive vocational behavior driven by an individual's self-regulatory capacity to thrive in another country and work to build one's career. This study posits that individuals who want to work overseas rely mainly on their adaptive resources to develop their careers. Additionally, career adaptability, as a self-regulatory competency, is posited to be reinforced by an individual's intercultural capability (i.e., cultural intelligence). To test these assertions, data were collected in a sample of university students (n = 514) in the Philippines, a country reported to have high rates of overseas migration for economic and career-related reasons. Career adaptability was found to be positively and significantly related to overseas career intentions. In addition, cultural intelligence was found to moderate the said relationship. These results offer the groundwork for understanding the earlier stages of expatriate careers and, in particular, how the intention to have a career in another country is developed and influenced by the interaction between the self-regulatory characteristics and intercultural capability of individuals.     

Career exploration via cooperative education and lifespan occupational choice

Career exploration by Antioch College students who graduated between 1946 and 1955 (N=73) was studied to determine relationships between the occupational categories of cooperative education jobs taken in college (obtained from a campus archive) and subsequent work histories (obtained from surveying the graduates at about 70 years). Five hypotheses were tested. Results supported four of the hypotheses, with partial support for the fifth. Co-op jobs taken by the sample represented each of 23 occupational classifications, and most graduates took post-graduate jobs in occupational functions and contexts they had explored as co-op students. High levels of individuality in use of the co-op program and in career paths were found. Four co-op-to-career patterns were described, based on the degree to which functions and contexts were explored during college and career; a case study was included to exemplify each pattern. Gender differences were revealed in the patterns, but not the group data. Job context was particularly important in defining these patterns. Implications for research and practice were discussed tentatively, however given the lack of a control group, characteristics of the study sample, and particularities of the historical era studied, the ability to generalize beyond the study sample is limited.     

Comparing two career adaptability measures for career construction theory: Relations with boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes

We examined the constructs underlying the Career Maturity Inventory-Adaptability Form (CMI-C) and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS). Data from 852 university students indicated that the second-order factors for both scales correlate .43, suggesting that they measure different yet related constructs. All three subscales of the CMI-C correlate most with the “concern” subscale of the CAAS rather than with the corresponding subscale. It appears that the CMI-C is a measure of particular career adaptability for choosing a career whereas the CAAS is a global measure of career adaptability for dealing with all of the tasks of vocational development across the life span. Regression analyses show that the CMI-C does not add to the prediction of boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes over the CAAS. Relationships between the CMI-C and CAAS with entrepreneurial, professional, and leadership career motivation profiles showed that the CAAS is more strongly related to boundaryless mindset and protean career attitudes, while the CMI-C appears to relate to more traditional (professional and leadership) career motivations.     

Career adaptability as a mediator between personality and career engagement

The current study examined the role of career adaptability as a mediator between personality dimensions and career engagement. This investigation was conducted using a sample of university students (N = 201) who completed the Zuckerman–Kuhlman–Aluja Personality Questionnaire, the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Persian Form, and the Career Engagement Scale. Career adaptability dimensions related positively with activity, negatively with neuroticism, and positively with career engagement. The results indicated that career adaptability dimensions partially mediated the relationships between activity (work compulsion, general activity, restlessness, and work energy) and career engagement, whereas they were a full mediator between neuroticism (anxiety, depression, dependency, and low self-esteem) and career engagement. Among career adaptability dimensions, curiosity fully mediated the effect of sensation seeking on career engagement. These findings suggest that career adaptability is a dynamic mechanism that helps to regulate the relationship between specific dispositional traits and career adapting behaviors.     

Career adaptability in Lithuania: A test of psychometric properties and a theoretical model

The Career Adapt-Abilities Scale-Lithuanian Form consists of four six-item subscales measuring concern, control, curiosity, and confidence. These are thought to be the main dimensions of career adaptability reflecting individual psychosocial resources to cope with occupational transitions, developmental tasks, and work traumas. Two studies were administered in a sample (N  =  767) of Lithuanian high school students. The results showed factor structure to be identical to that of the CAAS-International Form. Moreover, good to excellent scale internal consistency coefficients were obtained. With a slight exception, MIMIC model analysis revealed no major effects of demographic variables upon the CAAS factor or factor indicator scores. Concurrent validity analysis showed career adaptability, as measured by the CAAS-Lithuanian Form, to be significantly related to career aspirations, to the frequency of career exploration behaviors and to career decidedness. Finally, as hypothesized by the career construction model of adaptation, career exploration behaviors mediated the link between career adaptability and decidedness.     

Effects of parental expectations and cultural-values orientation on career decision-making difficulties of Chinese University students

This study examined the effects of cultural-values conflict and parental expectations on the career decision-making difficulties of university students in three cities in China (Beijing, Wuhan, and Hong Kong, N = 1342). The Multidimensional Scales of Individual Traditionality and Modernity (Yang, Yu, & Ye, 1989) were used as a measure of cultural-values conflict and cultural orientation. The Living-Up-to Parental Expectation Inventory (Wang & Heppner, 2002) was used to measure parental expectations. The Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (Gati & Saka, 2001) was used as a dependent measure. It was found that levels of cultural-value conflict were associated with higher levels of career decision-making difficulties for students in the Chinese Mainland cities but not for students in Hong Kong. Perceived parental expectations and perceived self-performance in the expected areas were found to be predictive of career decision-making difficulties. Cultural-value orientation, especially endorsement of Chinese traditional values, was found to moderate the relationship between parental expectation and career decision-making difficulties. Theoretical, research and practical implications of findings were discussed.     

Career decision-making profiles and career decision-making difficulties: A cross-cultural comparison among US,Israeli, and Chinese samples

Assessing individuals' career decision-making difficulties and career decision-making profile (style) allows counselors to help them make better career decisions. The present study focused on the associations between the Career Decision-Making Profiles (CDMP) questionnaire and the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) in four large samples: American adults (N = 601), Israeli young adults (N = 623), American students (N = 915), and Chinese students (N = 929). The pattern of associations between the 12 CDMP dimensions and the 10 CDDQ scales was generally replicated across the four samples, and indicated that certain CDMP dimensions were associated with career decision-making difficulties. Additionally, in all four samples, the higher an individual's career decision-making adaptability, as derived from the CDMP, the fewer difficulties he or she encountered prior to and during the career decision-making process. However, a few unique patterns of associations between the CDMP and the CDDQ emerged in some samples.     

大学生职业生涯规划能力问卷的编制

为了更有效地培养大学生的职业生涯规划能力,更有针对性地进行职业辅导,该研究在国内外关于职业生涯规划能力相关研究的基础上,采用文献法、访谈法和问卷法,探索出在校大学生的职业生涯规划能力的结构,编制出《大学生职业生涯规划能力问卷》;测验结果显示问卷具有良好的项目特性,信度和效度测量指标均达到比较满意的水平。     

exploring the relationship between intrapersonal intelligence and university students' career confusion: implications for counseling,academic success,and school‐to‐career transition

The author describes the relationship between self‐knowledge and career confusion among university students and discusses strategies to enhance career and academic planning. The multiple intelligences profiles of typical university students are compared with those of 82 students enrolled in 3 sequential semesters of a course titled Career Exploration at a large midwestern U.S. university. Low intrapersonal intelligence scores were found to be a significant characteristic of undergraduates with moderate and high levels of career confusion. Implications for counseling to promote successful school‐to‐career transitions are discussed.     

Emotional and personality-related aspects of persistent career decision-making difficulties

This study focused on examining the persistent aspects of career decision-making difficulties, using the Emotional and Personality-related Career decision-making Difficulties scale (EPCD; [Saka, N., Gati, I., & Kelly, K.R. (in press). Emotional and personality-related aspects of career decision-making difficulties. Journal of Career Assessment]). The contribution of four personality measures—general indecisiveness, self-esteem, trait anxiety, and identity status—to the prediction of persistent career decision-making difficulties was tested on 747 students, using a longitudinal design. Results indicated that individuals with high EPCD scores at the beginning of the academic school year had less confidence in their choice and were less close to making a decision about the major into which they wanted to be admitted at the end of the year. The moderate correlations between the EPCD score and the four personality measures supported the validity of the EPCD. Implications for counseling and future research 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.     

The help-seeking in career counseling

This study examined help-seeking in career counseling by investigating factors that influence students’ intention to consult a career counseling center. Nine hundred and eighteen participants were given the Attitudes toward Career Counseling Scale (ATCCS), an information brochure about the career counseling center; the Intention to Consult a Career Counseling Center Scale (ICCCS), and the Counselor Rating Form-Phrases (CFR-P). The initial value ascribed by the potential client to career counseling more than the attractiveness of career counseling predicted the intention to consult a career counseling center. Some significant differences between high school and university students emerged. The results provide further incentive to continue to study help-seeking in career counseling.     

The role of narrative in career construction theory

Career construction theory (CCT) (Savickas, 2005) approaches career counseling and career development from a constructivist and narrative perspective. As career theories move towards incorporating holistic approaches that take into consideration individuals' subjective experiences, narrative theory offers a means to draw out and clarify this story. Career construction theory, effectively integrates narrative and career conceptualizations to holistically create clarity in understanding what, how, and why individuals author their lives and careers in order to help individuals develop a cohesive identity, adapt within their environment, and construct the next chapter of their career story.     

Continuity in adolescent career preparation and its effects on adjustment

Career preparation represents a major developmental task of adolescence, which has not received sufficient attention in empirical research on career development. Thus, this study was designed to examine the structure, continuity, and change in adolescent career preparation and its relationships with adjustment. The data were collected from a diverse sample of 389 adolescents on four occasions beginning in Grade 11 in high school and ending 6 months after high school graduation. Using Structural Equations modeling, a four-wave, developmental model of adolescent career preparation indicated by career decidedness, planning, and confidence was shown to fit the empirical data very well. Career preparation was characterized by continuity and a consistent pattern of positive concurrent and prospective associations with various indicators of adjustment. The results of the study provide empirical support for the theoretical propositions about the adaptive role of adolescent career preparation, particularly in terms of its contribution to psychological well-being and social integration.     

Career identity and the complex mediating relationships between career preparatory actions and career progress markers

We tested a cross-sectional, moderated-mediation model of career identity in young adults (N = 667, 72.9% female, mean age = 20 years). In this model, career preparatory activities (career exploration and planning) were associated with perceptions of future employability and career distress. These relationships were mediated by career identity, and career identity was conditional upon level of career calling. We found that career exploration was associated with more career distress, while career planning was associated with less, and both career exploration and planning were associated with higher perceived employability. Career identity mediated between career exploration and planning and both outcomes, and these mediated relationships were stronger when career calling was higher. We interpreted the results from career construction, identity, and exploration perspectives; highlighted the applicability of these perspectives in the development of agency, career calling, and career identity; and made recommendations for testing other theory-based moderators.     

Career Adapt-Abilities Scale—Iran Form: Psychometric properties and relationships with career satisfaction and entrepreneurial intentions

This study examined the psychometric properties of a Persian translation of the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale (CAAS—Iran Form) and its relationships with career satisfaction, business opportunity identification, and entrepreneurial intentions. It was hypothesized that career adaptability relates positively to these three outcomes, even when controlling for demographic and employment characteristics. Data were provided by 204 workers from Iran. Results showed that the overall CAAS score and sub-dimension scores (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) were highly reliable. Moreover, confirmatory factor analyses indicated that the CAAS—Iran Form measures four distinct dimensions that can be combined into a higher-order career adaptability factor. Findings also demonstrated criterion-related validity of the scale with regard to career satisfaction and entrepreneurial intentions. In contrast, overall career adaptability was not significantly related to opportunity identification, while concern related positively, and control related negatively to opportunity identification. Overall, the CAAS—Iran Form has very good psychometric properties and predicts important career outcomes, suggesting that it can be used for career counseling and future research with Persian-speaking workers.