ERIC Number: EJ1006844
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013-Aug
Pages: 9
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0001-8791
EISSN: N/A
Social Cognitive Predictors of Adjustment to Engineering Majors across Gender and Race/Ethnicity
Lent, Robert W.; Miller, Matthew J.; Smith, Paige E.; Watford, Bevlee A.; Lim, Robert H.; Hui, Kayi; Morrison, M. Ashley; Wilkins, Gregory; Williams, Kevin
Journal of Vocational Behavior, v83 n1 p22-30 Aug 2013
We tested a social cognitive model of academic adjustment in a sample of 1377 students enrolled in engineering schools at two predominantly White and two historically Black state universities. The model brought together central elements of social cognitive career theory's (SCCT) segmental models of educational/vocational satisfaction, interest, choice, and performance/persistence (Lent & Brown, 2006; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). The model was specifically designed to examine the interplay between interest and satisfaction in predicting students' intentions to remain in engineering majors. The integrative model offered good fit to the data both in the larger sample and in sub-samples of women, men, and racial/ethnic majority and minority students. The relation of interests to intended persistence was fully mediated by satisfaction. The findings both extend research on SCCT and suggest linkages to theories of person-environment fit. Implications for further research and practice on academic adjustment and persistence in STEM fields are considered. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Majors (Students), Academic Persistence, Engineering Education, Minority Group Students, Race, Engineering, Job Satisfaction, Career Development, STEM Education, State Universities, Social Cognition, Predictor Variables, Student Adjustment, Black Colleges, Career Choice, School Choice, Ethnicity, White Students, Institutional Characteristics, Racial Differences, Gender Differences
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A