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

The study proposed a career readiness model with five career-related attributes of which the relationship between career maturity and gender role ideology was mediated by interdependent self-construal and career decision-making self-efficacy, while the relationship between locus of control and career maturity was mediated by career decision-making self-efficacy. The model was tested by path analysis, using a sample of 502 Chinese Secondary Four students in Hong Kong. The statistical results of the career readiness model suggested satisfactory goodness of fit, with 15% of the total variation in career maturity explained by the career-related attributes in combination. Gender role ideology had a direct positive effect on career maturity, with the indirect effect mediated by interdependent self-construal and career decisionmaking self-efficacy. Locus of control had a direct negative effect on career maturity and an indirect effect mediated by career decision-making self-efficacy. With the exception of the effects of gender role ideology on career decision-making selfefficacy and interdependent self-construal on career maturity, all the other hypothesized paths were supported by the data. After controlling the effects of the three background variables of gender, participation in career-related activities and participation in extra-curricular activities on the career readiness model, the estimated path coefficients of the five career-related attributes with the inclusion or exclusion of the background variables were statistically consistent.