This study investigated the relationship of dysfunctional career thoughts, optimism, and spirituality on Bahamian women (n=212) diagnosed with breast cancer. Also, it examined how optimism mediates the relationship between spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts. The diagnosis of breast cancer impacts women physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually, financially, and in their career development. Career developmental plans and decisions are continuously being made. However, plans may become altered and decisions more difficult to make when a woman is diagnosed with breast cancer as she considers returning to work. The high survival rate of breast cancer patients indicates women may continue to work after their treatment. Limited information is known about possible changes in their dysfunctional career thoughts. This research investigated the degree to which optimism mediates the relationship between spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts among a sample of Bahamian women diagnosed with breast cancer. Negative thoughts formed in career content are called dysfunctional career thoughts (Lenz, Sampson, Peterson, & Reardon, 2012). Career thoughts are "...outcomes of one's thinking about assumptions, attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, feelings, plan and/or strategies related to career problem solving and decision making" (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996, p. 2). The dysfunctional thinking causes one to block informing processing, reduces options, and distorts perception of options. The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship among career thoughts, optimism, and spirituality. The goal is to identify low or high dysfunctional career thoughts. In addition, studies suggest that being optimistic (Matthew & Cook, 2009) and spiritual (Hackney & Sanders, 2003) are two positive coping strategies for women diagnosed with breast cancer. This study seeks to explore these two potential mediating factors on dysfunctional career thoughts of women with this diagnosis. This study is important because of the high incidence rate of breast cancer in the Bahamas. Bahamian women have the highest recorded percentage of the recorded BRCA1 gene (BReast CAncer 1; a primary genetic marker for breast cancer) in the world (Donenberg et al., 2011). Breast cancer remains a public health issue that may affect the life and productivity of Bahamian women. The relationship of dysfunctional career thoughts, optimism and spirituality of Bahamian women diagnosed with breast cancer was explored. Younger Bahamian women were noted to have experienced higher levels of dysfunctional career thoughts. While, marital status was statistically related with dysfunctional career thoughts, no pair wise differences were noted among the variables after a Tukey test. This means the level of dysfunctional career thoughts was not affected by women's marital status (married, not married, & divorced). Ethnicity and education did not play a role in their dysfunctional career thoughts but with employment pre-diagnosed of breast cancer. Results revealed women who were not employed pre diagnosis experienced higher dysfunctional career thoughts than women who were employed pre diagnosis. Other pre-diagnosis variables such as salary and occupation pre diagnosis show no statistically significant difference in terms of dysfunctional career thoughts. These variables did not affect the Bahamian women's dysfunctional career thoughts. In addition to pre-diagnosis variables being examined in this study post diagnosis variables such as employment, occupation, and salary were also explored. Final analyses indicate post diagnosis employment, occupation, and salary show no statistically significant difference in terms of dysfunctional career thoughts. These post diagnosis variables did not affect the Bahamian women's dysfunctional career thoughts. Although, post diagnosis employment was not statistical significant to dysfunctional career thoughts, some significance was noted. Women diagnosed with breast cancer 2007 or earlier accounted for 58% of the participants in this present study. We need to highlight that there was an 11% decrease in post-diagnosis employment which was higher than the unemployment rate (7.9%) in the Bahamas at that time (Central Intelligence Agency, 2013). Therefore, this present study shows a significant effect rather than a statistical significant effect with Bahamian women's employment plans post diagnosis that indirectly affect their dysfunctional career thoughts. The stages of breast cancer show no statistically significant difference in terms of the subscales of dysfunctional career thoughts such as Decision Making Confusion (DMC), Commitment Anxiety (CA), and External Conflict (EC). This means the stages of breast cancer did not influence the different subscales of dysfunctional career thoughts. Spirituality had a positive moderate relationship with the level of optimism. As women's spirituality level increases their optimism level also increased. Although optimism did not show a statistical difference with dysfunctional career thoughts, spirituality demonstrated a negative weak relationship with dysfunctional career thoughts. This inverse relationship indicates as their spirituality level decreases their dysfunctional career thoughts increases. Path analysis results explored the mediation among optimism, spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts. Optimism was not noted to be a mediating variable that works together to positively affect spirituality and dysfunctional career thoughts. The impact of these results may be significant not only to the Bahamian population because of the first time study, but also in helping breast cancer survivors examine further career decisions even after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

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<p>Nursing is one of the most important professions in the United States but it has historically endured high levels of shortage and turnover (Apker, Propp, & Ford, 2009; Fox & Abrahamson, 2009). A nurse’s organizational climate and culture have been shown to impact a number of job outcomes including intention to leave the organization (Aiken & Patrician, 2000), and therefore is of interest to both scholars and practitioners alike. One way to understand the context in which nurses work is through organizational identification because people make sense of their own identities in part through the organizations to which they belong (Kuhn & Nelson, 2002). However, because individuals have various identities which can reinforce but at times conflict with each other (Scott et al., 1999) and the strength of these identities can dictate outcomes such as performance (Trybou, Gemmel, Pauwels, Henninck, & Clays, 2013), it is necessary to explore how nurses connect to different identities and social collectives (e.g., team, organization, and occupation/profession) within their work. Further, these connections with the multiplicities of identifications may help explain the decisions that guide nurses’ career trajectories as well as how the perceived identity of a nurse guides individuals to choose a career in nursing. This project seeks to understand how nurses talk about their jobs and how communicating with other nurses influences their career trajectory and decision to stay in or leave their organization or the nursing profession altogether. </p><p>This project draws upon both social identity theory and self-categorization theory to help explain how nurses communicate and situate themselves among others in their workplaces. Social identity theory and self-categorization theory are suited for this study’s social constructionist approach and the topic of this research because they explain how the strength and multiplicities of identification within an organization are constructed and shaped by communication with others. Data collection methods for this study consist of in-depth interviews with nurses of specific licensures, posts collected online from a nurse discussion forum, and a questionnaire of nurse forum participants. This study applies a mixed methods approach consisting of qualitative and quantitative analyses. In doing so, this project contributes in several ways including extending our understanding of (1) the connections between the multiplicities of identification; (2) how nurses construct meaning in their jobs to guide career decisions; (3) the nature of nurses’ interactions in online spaces; (4) nurse career decisions; and (5) nurses’ perceptions of the nursing profession before entering the profession.</p>

Whereas research related to the experience of faculty of color is increasing, little attention has been focused on Chinese faculty's career experience in the United States. The purpose of this study was: (1) to identify and describe factors which influence Chinese faculty decisions to apply for, accept, and remain in faculty positions at a Research Extensive University in Texas; and (2) to determine the challenges and support Chinese faculty have experienced with respect to promotion, tenure and recognition at a Research Extensive University in Texas. To address the purpose of the study, four research questions were used as guidance for collecting and analyzing the data. The purposive sample consisted of sixteen Chinese faculty members (four female and twelve male) across different disciplines, ranks and genders, from seven different colleges at the studied university. All participants are first generation Americans who obtained at least a bachelor's degree in China, received their doctoral degree or postdoctoral training in the United States, and found faculty positions in the United States. This study used a qualitative research design with in-depth interviews, observations and document reviews as the major tools for data collection. Constant comparative method was adopted to analyze data. Major findings concluded that factors such as traditional Chinese culture, family influence, the ability to access American academic freedom, advanced research environments, flexibility and job security, have significant influences in determining Chinese faculty decisions to work within academia in the United States. Additionally, Chinese faculty tended to regard individual barriers (i.e. challenges in mastery of English language, a lack of teaching experience, no undergraduate educational background in the United States, an unfamiliarity with the American culture, and insufficient communications skills in general) rather than institutionalized barriers (i.e. occupational discrimination, stereotypes and prejudice) as primary factors that impeded their professional development. Furthermore, Chinese women faculty experienced racial and gender issues in their lives and faced more challenges than their male counterparts in developing their career in the United States. The researcher hoped that this study could contribute to the scant literature on Chinese faculty's career experiences in the United States, shed some light on understanding what factors influenced their career development, and provide some implications for practice and recommendations for further research.

Denna studie syftar till att förklara samt karaktärisera personalvetarstudenters framtida yrkesval. Syftet preciseras med hjälp av två frågeställningar: Vilka karriärval strävar personalvetarstudenter mot? och Hur visar sig relationen mellan karriärval och personalvetares habitus? Studiens utgångspunkt grundar sig i teorier om habitus påverkan på karriärval. Habitus omfattar social kontext, familjebakgrund, erfarenheter, möjligheter och maktspel inom de sociala rummen. Studien utgår även från tidigare forskning inom det valda området vilka utgörs av studier och artiklar som belyser karriärvalets komplexitet och dess olika påverkansfaktorer.Studiens empiri bygger på ett urval av 101 personalvetarstudenter vid Uppsala Universitet. För att kunna besvara frågeställningar har en typologi över studenterna förankrats. Den baseras på studenternas handlingsmönster varpå två distinkta typer kunde utläsas: strategen och den luststyrda. Studiens resultat indikerar att personalvetarstudenter strävar främst mot att arbeta inom välkända, stora företag som inger hög status och ger möjlighet till meningsfulla- och stimulerande arbetsuppgifter. Respondenterna är generellt mer benägna att socialt reproduceras, i enlighet med deras familjebakgrund, än att utföra en vertikal- eller horisontell förflyttning. Slutligen påvisar resultatet att respondenternas karriärval är påverkade av deras habitus trots att detta ofta ter sig omedvetet.

This qualitative study is focused on young adult students’ experiences and perspectives of using websites for career information and guidance, and how that may impact their horizon of action in career decisions. Collection of data were made through interviews with college students from different faculties of Umeå University. All interviews were transcribed and compiled into various themes which were analysed with the perspectives of Digital literacy, Careership theory and the Chaos theory of careers. The result emergence the importance of students approaches on web-based information and their capacity of using it in their benefit. According to the student’s digital usage, which is categorized into simple and more advanced processes, perceives that digital literacy and personal characteristics may affect their use of career websites. The study concludes that internet is one of many social fields that influence the horizon of action and that the role of career websites depends on individual approaches and attitudes to several fields. For the work of career practitioners this study contributes with an insight about possibilities and risks that may come with student’s digital usage in career purpose. Therefore, this study also shows the requiring of further research in the area of career guidance and internet.

Teacher attrition, particularly in hard-to-staff urban schools, is a problem addressed by many researchers. Although this research often focuses on novice teachers, those with three or fewer years of experience, there is a growing body of literature that examines second stage teachers, those with between four and 20 years of experience. Like their novice colleagues, these second stage teachers are also at risk of leaving the profession, which can have negative consequences for students. While much of the research focuses on reasons why teachers leave the profession, there is a growing interest in understanding how teachers reach the decision to remain in the profession. Psychological theory and existing scholarship on the work lives of teachers provides one conceptual framework for exploring the topic of teacher retention. The theory of basic psychological needs explains that teachers, like employees in all other professions need to feel fulfillment of the needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness in their professional lives. This contributes to their sense of job satisfaction, or enjoyment, which then makes it more likely for them to remain in the profession. One potential way to help second stage teachers meet these needs and experience job satisfaction is through teacher leadership roles, such as mentoring. The current exploratory study used qualitative methods to interview urban second stage teacher leaders to learn how their experiences fulfill their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness, lead to a sense of job satisfaction, and influence their decision to remain in the profession. The participants in this study all had between four and 20 years of experience and all served in a leadership role as a mentor to pre-service teachers through an urban teacher residency program. They shared details and experiences of their professional lives from their decisions to become teachers in the urban school district, through their novice stage of teaching, and into their second stage of teaching, including the decision to take on the complicated leadership role of serving as a mentor to a pre-service teacher through a yearlong residency program. The participants shared experiences which indicated fulfillment of the three basic needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness. They also shared that they felt a sense of satisfaction both from their work as classroom teachers and their role as mentors. Although they experienced need fulfillment and job satisfaction, participants also shared sources of dissatisfaction, and many explained that they were contemplating leaving the profession, with some feeling that teaching is no longer a long-term career. One noteworthy finding is that participants expressed a desire for feeling like a professional, which played a large role in the career decisions they made.

The nation is facing a physician shortage, specifically in relation to primary care and in rural underserved areas. The most basic function of a medical school is to educate physicians to care for the national population. The purpose of this study was to examine the physician practicing characteristics of the graduates of East Tennessee State University Quillen College of Medicine including factors that influence graduates’ specialty choices and practice locations, especially those related to primary care. Secondary data for this study were collected from the college’s student database system and the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile. The study population included all living graduates with Doctor of Medicine (MD) degrees who graduated from 1998 through 2009 (n=678). Statistical procedures included Pearson Chi-square, logistic regression, independent t tests, ANOVA, and multiple linear regression. Data analyses revealed that the majority of graduates were between 24 and 29 years of age, male, white, non-Hispanic, and from metropolitan hometowns. Most had completed the generalist track and initially entered a primary care residency training program. The majority passed USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 on the first attempt. The USMLE Step 2-CK average was 212.50. The average cumulative GPA was 3.44. Graduates were nearly evenly divided between primary care and nonprimary care practice, with the majority practicing in metropolitan areas. Graduates who initially entered primary care residency training were more likely to practice primary care medicine than those who entered nonprimary care programs; however, fewer graduates were practicing primary care than had entered primary care residency training. Graduates who attended internal medicine residency training were less likely to be practicing primary care medicine than those who attended family medicine, pediatrics, or OB/GYN programs. Women and Rural Primary Care Track graduates were significantly more likely to practice primary care than were men and generalist track graduates, respectively. Nonprimary care physicians had significantly higher USMLE Step 2-CK scores than did primary care physicians (PCPs). PCPs practiced in more rural locales than non-PCPs. Family physician graduates tended to practice in more rural locales than OB/GYNs or pediatricians. Hometown location predicted practice location over and above medical school track.

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Career choice is governed by what individuals value and their perception of the realities that exist in a given field. Agriculture career education of gifted and talented students, therefore, must begin with an assessment of the values of the students, their assumptions regarding fields within the agriculture industry, and factors that influence their career decisions. This descriptive study summarized values and perceptions held by participants in the 2006 Virginia Governor's School for Agriculture (VGSA). Originally, the VGSA hosted 98 students; one student withdrew from the program. The results of the study confirmed that there is still much controversy and misunderstanding about agriculture and careers in the agriculture arena. The testing process included a survey of career values called the Values Scale. This instrument was developed by Dorothy Nevill and Donald Super and last updated in 1989. The 106-question survey measured 21 personal career values of participants. Follow-up data were collected gauging the students' thoughts on agriculture careers, agriculture companies, their individual career goals, and the influences that shaped their career decisions. The career values of the VGSA Class of 2006 were surprisingly similar to high school student data collected in 1989. There were slight decreases in the value placed on economic rewards and security, but many of the other values mirrored past national data. Most students (n=73) were able to name five agriculture careers with "farmer" garnering most of the responses; however, 29 students did not name a single agriculture company. A majority of the students (n=56) stated that they had made a career decision; however, most of these (n=32) also stated their career was not in the field of agriculture. Half of those having a career goal made their decision prior to their sophomore year in high school. Parents were named by the students as the greatest single influence on career decision among ten choices. School experiences, work experiences, and people who work in the field were also high among influences. Suggestions for further research include identifying effective methods of agricultural career exploration within VGSA and value comparisons between gifted students and the general student population. / Ph. D.