Career decision making self-efficacy and outcome expectations in secondary student school-to-work transition

Career decision making self-efficacy and outcome expectations in secondary student school-to-work transition

• Chui, Yat Hung

2007

• N Students & Student Services
  • NJ Career Counselling & Placement

Academic Guidance Counseling Educational Psychology Vocational Education

• Hong Kong

• 1997.7 onwards

• Secondary Education

The purpose of this study is to explore the relationships among students' performance goals, vocational identity and career-exploration behaviours and to examine the effects of their personal attributes on these variables.
Based on the social cognitive view of the school-to-work transition proposed by Lent, Hackett and Brown (1999), the study presents a comprehensive conceptual framework for career counselling, with special emphasis on enhancing adolescents' career-exploration behaviours and work-related motivations and attitudes. The career readiness model proposed in this study deals with interactions among a number of variables that affect career decision-making self-efficacy, career decision-making outcome expectations, career decision-making intentions, career-exploration behaviour, vocational identity and performance goals. It explains and illustrates the paths and factors that play a significant part in the development of career readiness.
The target population was secondary fourth form and secondary sixth form students in Hong Kong. A total of 1216 students from 14 secondary schools participated in this study. Gender had a more significant impact on scores than the effects of different backgrounds. Male respondents generally had lower mean scores than female respondents in most variables. It was also found that the standard deviations of the male students' scores from were greater than those of female students. Apart from gender differences, there were no significant differences among students from various grade levels and streams of study. The results support the hypothesis that career decision-making self-efficacy in plays a significant role in career decision-making outcome expectations, career decision-making intentions, exploration behaviour, performance goals and vocational identity of secondary school students. Most of the structural paths in the model were found to be significant.
The study concludes that students' self-efficacy in career decision-making is a crucial factor, which, together with outcome expectations, significantly affects performance goals and exploration activities, and strengthens subsequent effort. Students develop an affinity for career-exploration and decision-making activities when they have sufficient self-efficacy and expect positive outcomes. They normally establish goals for sustaining or increasing their involvement in these activities and maintain high performance goals, which, turn, increase the likelihood of active engagement.
The study also shows that a strong intention to develop one's career decision-making capacities may significantly enhance exploration behaviour, which Phillips and Blustein (1994) have found to be a vital element of career readiness and job choice. Exploration behaviour is directly correlated to the development of realistic career expectations (Stumpf & Hartman, 1984) and it enables individuals to determine the suitability of certain work environments (Stumpf et al., 1983). The process of career exploration should therefore be essential preparation for students' job searching.
The findings of this study may be used to develop individual and group interventions that will nurture students' school-to-work transitions.

EdD

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-02, Section: A, page: 0584

• English

Dissertation Theses

• 9780549483830

https://bibliography.lib.eduhk.hk/en/bibs/9a527f97

2010-12-16