It is often assumed that graduating engineering students readily envision what it means to be an engineer and what type of work they will be doing as engineers in the future. How can one know if this is true? This research begins to answer these questions by aiming to understand undergraduate engineering students' perceptions of themselves as…

This article examines available measures of perceived teacher support and presents findings from two studies exploring the psychometric properties of the Teacher Support Scale (TSS). In Study 1, an exploratory factor analysis suggested a hierarchical structure with four first-order factors (Invested, Positive Regard, Expectations, and Accessible…

In an era of teacher shortages, what would motivate individuals to become teachers when the demands on teachers are greater than ever and there are plenty of alternative occupations from which to choose? This paper presents the findings of a study of student teachers' motivations to be primary teachers and their commitment to teaching after their…

Individual (gender and acculturation), microsystem (social support), exosystem (socioeconomic status), and macrosystem (racism) variables were examined as predictors of career decision-making self-efficacy in a sample of 85 Vietnamese adolescents in the Washington, D.C., area. English language acculturation and peer support accounted for unique…

This study examined the relationship between global self concept and the congruence between the individual's current occupation and the rating on the Strong Campbell Interest Inventory (SCII). Employed adults who sought career counseling completed the SCII and the Wallace Self Concept Scale. The subject's current occupation and SCII General…

Incorporates occupational choice into a model of wage determination and self-employment activities. The self-selection model stresses managerial ability and capital market imperfections in determining an individual's choice between wage and self-employment. Results show different earning structures and partly confirm the human capital model.…

To examine the interrelationships among undergraduate students' interests and values, their self-concepts, and their choice of an academic major, 298 college students (116 males, 182 females) completed a self-report questionnaire, the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values. An analysis of the results showed…

This study of 91 young adults, who had been identified as intellectually gifted as adolescents, found that out-of-school activities in adolescence were significant predictors of later vocational choice. Subjects whose adolescent out-of-school activities matched their adult occupations had a higher level of work accomplishment than other subjects.…

Presents statistics on the status of female faculty members in China. Reports that in 1987, women comprised just over nine percent of the faculty. Indicates that women are most prevalent in the medical sciences and agronomy but scarcest in engineering and law. Predicts that more women will enter higher education careers. (SG)

This paper outlines a technique for enhancing the effectiveness of careers thinking by identifying and challenging tacit beliefs about career success. These beliefs can be understood as social scripts, i.e. cognitive structures that simplify common decision scenarios. An important contribution of careers counselling is to enable clients to…

While the relationship between values and Holland personality types has been suggested, it has not been clearly established. A study was conducted to explore this relationship in a sample of 250 college freshmen and seniors. Subjects were classified by both Holland's Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI) and by college major. Subjects also…

Recent research suggests that occupational status is crucial in determining women's and men's occupational preferences. To examine individuals' reactions to occupations that varied in status and sex-typing, 184 college students (102 females, 82 males) rated items in the Career Expectations Booklet. Subjects indicated their affective reactions,…

A questionnaire was constructed for the purpose of investigating various aspects of the career choices made by graduate students. The research was to determine the underlying structure of the questionnaire and to compare the capability of nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) and linear factor analysis (FA) to reveal dimensions measured by the…

Reviews Lotus Coffman's 1911 survey showing surprising parity in men and women teachers' salaries. Women's inability or unwillingness to work after marriage resulted in distinctive male and female career paths in education. Women, relegated to their "real" careers as wives and mothers, did not remain teachers long enough to compete for…

Recent research on sex differences in career and achievement motivation have used one dimensional definitions for the constructs. To investigate sex differences in four dimensions of career motivation, one dimension of achievement motivation, and three clusters of antecedent factors for young women and men, 212 high school graduates (112 females,…