Ethnic identity and social cognitive determinants of Korean-American career choices in the science and non -science domains
Abstract
Research indicates that cultural and familial factors are important considerations in career counseling with ethnic minorities. However, few studies have examined the impact of these factors with specifically Asian-Americans or sub-groups of Asian Americans, i.e., Japanese-Americans, Korean-Americans, etc. This study investigates the influence of cognitive-person factors (self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations, and interests) and influence of socio-cultural factors (ethnic identity level and parental influence) on the science and non-science domains of Korean-American career choices within the context of social cognitive career theory. Ultimately, due to a lack of data, parental influence is not considered in this study, but it is discussed and pertinent literature is reviewed. The participants included 251 Korean-American undergraduate students from 17 different states. Separate hierarchical regression analyses were conducted for men and women in both the science and non-science career domains. Ethnic identity, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and interest were the predictor variables and career choice was the outcome variable. The study found that for both genders, the effects of all four predicting variables on career choices were significant in the science domain. In the non-science domain, self-efficacy and outcome expectations were significant for women, and outcome expectations and career interests were significant for men. Notably, outcome expectations were the strongest predictors to career choices for both genders and domains. Limitations of the present study and implications for the future studies and interventions were discussed.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Kelly, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Minority & ethnic groups|Sociology
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