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Description:
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Due to the significant role that careers play in the lives of many individuals ,
understanding the career developmental process is of particular importance . Interests and
goals are key components in the process of career choice and implementation . Social
Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT ; Lent , Brown , & Hackett , 1994 ) proposes that under
optimal conditions , career interests give rise to congruent career choice goals ; goals , in
turn lead to actions directed at implementing the chosen goals . Among college students ,
having established goals that correspond to their interests has been associated with
desired career and academic outcomes , such as college achievement in terms of GPA
(Tracey & Robbins , 2006 ) and college major persistence (Allen & Robbins , 2008 ;
Schaefers , Epperson , & Nauta , 1997 ) .
Original hypotheses of SCCT state that contextual barriers have a direct relation
to goals . However , studies have shown that contextual barriers are more likely to relate to
goals indirectly through self -efficacy (Lent , Brown , Nota , et al . , 2003 ; Lent , Brown ,
Schmidt , et al . , 2003 ; Lent et al . , 2001 ; Smith , 2001 ) suggesting that SCCT may need
some modification (Lent , Brown , Nota , et al . , 2003 ; Lent et al . , 2001 ) . It has also been
proposed that self -efficacy related to coping with barriers , or coping efficacy , may
moderate the barrier -goal relation (Lent , Brown , and Hackett , 2000 ) . In other words ,
there may be a direct correlation between barriers and goals only when coping efficacy is
low . It has also been suggested that contextual barriers may moderate the relation of
interests to goals ; that is , the relation of interest to goals will be stronger when
perceived barriers are low .
The purpose of this study was to examine these moderation and mediated effects .
Specifically this study examined (1 ) if barriers moderate the relation of career interests
to career goals , (2 ) if coping efficacy moderates the relation of barriers to career goals ,
and (3 ) to what extent coping efficacy mediates the relation of barriers to career goals .
Hierarchical regression analyses were used to examine these effects in the relation of
interests , perceived barriers , and coping efficacy to academic and career goals .
Participants in the study were community college students . The following instruments
were used to assess the constructs of interest : (1 ) Perception of Barriers scale (Luzzo and
McWhirter , 2001 ) , (2 ) Coping with Barriers (CWB ) scale (Luzzo and McWhirter , 2001 ) ,
(3 ) a measure of career interest developed by Lent , Brown , Nota , et al . (2003 ) , (4 ) and a
measure of career consideration (goals ) developed by Lent et al . (2003 ) .
For the overall sample , coping efficacy was not found to moderate or mediate the
relation of educational barriers to choice goals . Also , educational barriers did not
moderate the interest /goal relation . However , there was a direct positive correlation
between educational barriers and academic goals for Holland’s Artistic , Social , and
Conventional themes . Because the primary analyses offered very few findings as
expected , exploratory analyses were conducted with career barriers and coping efficacy
that are specifically relevant for females and African Americans . Analyses with only the
African American females and with both African American and Caucasian females
revealed that coping efficacy did not have a moderating or mediating effect on the career
barrier / goal relation nor was there evidence for a moderating effect of career barriers on
the interest / goal relation . For the African American participants (both male and female )
no evidence was found for a mediating effect of coping efficacy on the career ethnic
discrimination barrier / goal relation . However , coping efficacy moderated the relation of
career ethnic discrimination barriers to choice goals only for the Social theme . Also ,
career ethnic discrimination barriers moderated the relation of interests to goals only for
the Enterprising theme . |