Computer Science (CS) is among the fastest-growing fields. To fill the abundance of positions in Computer Science, early learning experiences should be implemented to promote interest in the field. This research aims to observe the impact of a design-based computer science treatment on 5th-grade students' interest in computer science careers. The treatment consisted of nine one-hour lessons in which the researcher introduced computer science content to students. At the end of the treatment, participants developed an application to study for a state-wide science assessment. To measure a change in students' career interests following the treatment, an adapted version of the STEM Career Interest Survey (STEM-CIS), grounded by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), was implemented using a pre-survey-post-survey design. Qualitative data was collected using focus groups to explain quantitative findings further. The samples' post-survey (39.62) mean was greater than the pre-survey mean (37.17), but the paired t-test was just above the statical significance level of 0.05, t(28)= -2.04, p =.051. There was a statistically significant increase for the survey items that align with the SCCT aspects Interest (t(30)= -2.30, p =.028) and Contextual Support (t(30)= -2.25, p =.032). The researcher identified several themes related to a positive perception toward the treatment and computer science and general during qualitative data analysis. These findings indicate a design-based computer science treatment can increase 5th-grade students' interest in computer science careers. / Doctor of Philosophy / Learning experiences influence an individual's career development. This dissertation observes the impact of a design-based computer science project in a 5th-grade classroom. The researcher implemented a pre-survey-post-survey design to measure change following the treatment. The researcher calculated the difference between survey means and ran a matched paired t-test to determine the statistical significance. The results of the paired t-test were not statistically significant. Still, the survey items that aligned with interest and contextual support had a statistically significant increase following the treatment. Additionally, the researcher conducted focus groups to collect qualitative data to explain quantitative findings further. Content analysis of the qualitative data revealed participants had a positive perception of the treatment and computer science in general. These results imply that a design-based computer science treatment can increase 5th-grade students' interest in computer science careers.

The world is facing significant challenges as a result of societal practices. Many of those challenges are agricultural in nature and include worldwide food insecurity, intensified greenhouse gas emissions resulting in climate change, major losses in biodiversity, substantial pressure on natural resources, and increasingly antimicrobial-resistant pests and diseases. To address these challenges, the workforce of the agricultural system must continue improving, collaborating, innovating, and transforming at a global scale. The diversity of agricultural challenges calls for a diverse workforce with science skills as well as cultural competencies. Agricultural educators and practitioners are consistently concerned with strengthening the relationship of youth and agricultural career choice. The field of agricultural education is also working to ensure that youth who choose agriculture have the knowledge, skills, and competencies necessary to address agricultural challenges. However, youth have steadily chosen careers outside of agriculture, leaving thousands of jobs available. Researchers have explored many reasons why youth may not choose agriculture, though few have considered aspects of identity or have explored factors that impact perceptions and thoughts of agriculture in depth. The overall purpose of this research was to explore how aspects of identity, including occupational identity status, inform agricultural career interest and choice; and to understand youth perceptions and thoughts of agriculture within a four-week agricultural education program. The purpose was achieved using research questions and objectives for each individual study. Data were collected using inventories, surveys, group interviews, and blog post assignments to describe participants. Data analysis included thematic analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. Findings show that the participants often had a more negative perception of agriculture prior to the program and expanded their view of agriculture after learning more about the industry. There are many factors that shape perceptions of agriculture, including identity characteristics, learning experiences, and contextual factors. The findings have implications for the field of agricultural education and the entire agricultural industry. At the conclusion of each study within this research, recommendations for agricultural educators, practitioners, and researchers were made. The recommendations include developing and implementing agricultural education programs that serve underrepresented populations in agriculture and conducting research to investigate ill-explored areas that emerged as findings from the research. / Doctor of Philosophy / The world is facing many problems in the agricultural industry. These problems relate to food, land, and climate – amongst others. These problems must be addressed; and to do so, there must be a workforce in the agriculture industry that is skilled and competent. Agricultural educators and practitioners are tasked with preparing the agricultural workforce and have a continuous mission to encourage youth to choose agricultural careers. A problem is that youth are largely not choosing agricultural careers, and many jobs in agriculture go unfilled. Researchers have explored reasons why youth largely choose careers in other industries; the reasons include different factors such as opinions of parents and the exposure to agricultural careers. This research explores additional reasons why youth may not choose a career in agriculture and explores previously known reasons in the context of the 2019 Virginia's Governor's School for Agriculture program. The overall purpose of this research is to explore additional reasons for career choice in agriculture, including aspects of identity. The overall purpose of this research was also to explore youths' perceptions and thoughts of agriculture in-depth. The purpose was achieved by asking a series of research questions and by stating a series of objectives. The research questions and objectives were addressed using data collection methods of group interviews, blog post assignments, inventories, and surveys. The data that was collected was analyzed using thematic analysis and descriptive statistical analysis. The findings from this research show that there are many reasons why youth who were participants of the 2019 Virginia's Governor's School for Agriculture program think about and perceive agriculture. The reasons relate to identity characteristics, learning experiences, and contextual factors. These reasons also influence how youth choose to be involved in agriculture. The findings have implications for the field of agricultural education and the entire agricultural industry. For each article within this research, recommendations for agricultural educators, practitioners, and researchers were made. These include expanding the reach of agricultural education and further exploring findings that emerged from the research.

Career development is a component of the work of both school counselors and counselor educators. A review of the literature found no existing comparison of between-rural differences in career self-efficacy and college outcome expectation when considering students from rural fringe, rural distant, and rural remote communities. Utilizing Social Cognitive Career Theory and Critical Pedagogy of Place as guiding theoretical frameworks, this study sought to examine between-rural differences in self-efficacy and outcome expectation. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to analyze data collected from rural college students attending a large Appalachian research university. Regression and path analysis were used to make causal inferences from the data. The mixed-method exploratory study utilized a convergent design where qualitative data was concurrently collected and analyzed to provide context to the quantitative findings. The findings show that while no statistically significant between-group differences existed with outcome expectation, rural remote students had lower self-efficacy scores than other rural students, particularly relating to social skills. Large group social skills and social adjustment to college could be valuable areas of intervention for school counselors and higher education administrators looking to improve college outcomes for rural remote students. / Doctor of Philosophy / Career and college preparation are key components to the work of school counselors and higher education administrators. While a review of the literature shows that the career development needs of rural students are different than their non-rural peers, there has been no examination of the differences that exist between rural groups. This study looked at differences in career development among rural students who had grown up in various levels of remoteness. Both qualitative and quantitative methods were used to determine if any differences exist and what those differences are. The results showed that students from more remote areas had lower levels of confidence in their ability to succeed academically in college. Additionally, social skills were a common theme when exploring what areas of transition were difficult for rural students.

Collaborations to produce innovative models that link postsecondary education to workforce development initiatives have increased as multiple stakeholders respond to the call to develop a diverse, well-prepared STEM workforce. University and industry stakeholders in engineering agree that collaborating to share expertise and implement programs that aim to support the school-to-workforce transition for engineering graduates is critical. However, in light of existing efforts, a more nuanced view of university-industry partnerships from the student participant perspective is needed to provide data to engineering educators and professionals to support effective partnership design and use of resources. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to understand how experiences in the Co-op Development Program (CDP) influence student participants’ subsequent career decision-making with respect to pursuing engineering industry positions. Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT), this study examined the role that cooperative education experiences have on how students view and act on the potential employment opportunities that university and industry partners anticipate. Semi-structured interviews with eight former CDP participants, employed in industry at the time of the study, served as the primary data source. Additionally, program related documents, a profile questionnaire, and a conference proceeding were utilized to provide in-depth context of the CDP. Results indicate that all participants voiced a desire to work in the aerospace industry to explore short-term interests or to accomplish longer-term career entry goals. Furthermore, participants most frequently discussed experiences that required them to employ a sense of selfagency to complete work tasks (e.g., guiding themselves through uncertainty, observations of the environments, and interactions with engineering professionals) as learning experiences. Finally, participants primarily connected their learning experiences to their beliefs about what work looks like as a full-time engineer, their abilities to perform in an engineering role, and perceptions of fit across different engineering roles and workplaces. Major contributions of this study include extending the analytic generalizability of Social Cognitive Career Theory, creating operationalized definitions of learning experiences, and linking those experiences to students’ beliefs of the engineering industry pathway / Ph. D. / Persistent calls to the field of engineering education to help develop diverse, well-prepared engineers for the STEM workforce have fostered collaborations across university and industry stakeholders. As stakeholders focus efforts on supporting student persistence at several critical junctures, there has been a renewed interest in supporting the school-to-workforce transition for engineering graduates. With calls to develop a more tech-savvy workforce, innovative approaches to supporting and preparing students to enter the workforce have become even more necessary; thus it is important to understand how university- industry partnerships generate experiences that contribute to students' eventual workforce entry. The structure of the Co-op Development Program and the perspective of eight former CDP participants addressed how learning experiences shaped the career decisions of engineering participants immediately following graduation. A qualitative single case study approach was used and Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) guided the study. Major contributions of this study include extending the analytic generalizability of Social Cognitive Career Theory, creating operationalized definitions of learning experiences embedded within that framework, and linking those experiences to how students’ beliefs were shaped on their pathway to an early career within engineering industry. The themes identified in this study can help CDP managers and university stakeholders better support co-op participants and potentially allocate resources that will serve as the basis for future co-op design recommendations. Stakeholders may also use findings to promote the role of university and industry partnerships in supporting the student workforce transition. Future researchers may extend the study design across multiple cases and leverage recommendations for qualitative and quantitative investigations to address some of the limitations embedded within this research design and further contribute to the discussion of preparing students for professional work environments through university-industry partnerships. Ultimately, findings of this study give voice to the student partner in university-industry partnerships as themes identified in this study help CDP managers and university stakeholders to establish interventions and serve as the basis for future co-op design recommendations.

One of the challenges facing community colleges in the United States is the looming retirements of executive/senior-level leadership, particularly the president, on a wide scale. This study explored the career aspirations of executive-level leaders within the community college using Social Cognitive Career Theory as the conceptual framework. Within the context of a three-person collaborative dissertation project, a mixed methods case study approach was utilized for the research design. It first examined the perceived and preferred organizational culture(s) by administering the Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI). Building upon results of the OCAI, interviews with executive-level leaders explored how personal and institutional factors impact their aspirations of to ascend to the community college presidency. The findings of the research indicate that affecting change, being asked, and the desire to help are personal factors of influence that motivate executive-level leaders to seek the role of community college president. On the other hand, age, family, and potential work-life imbalance might dissuade executive-level leaders from seeking this role. The study reveals that organizational culture (the “culture of caring”) and leadership development are positive factors of institutional influence. Institutional factors that dissuade executive-level leaders from seeking the community college presidency are politics, the state of the institution being led, and the unknown. This study advances the field of educational leadership in that a number of personal and institutional factors are adduced that influence the aspirations of executive-level leaders to progress to the community college presidency. The findings identify the need for research across multiple institutions and the need to expand Social Cognitive Career Theory to include personal-cognitive barriers of race and gender.

In the United States, African American women remain underrepresented in senior leadership positions in many workforce sectors, including the federal sector. Despite this challenge, a few African American women have successfully attained senior leadership responsibilities in a public health service agency. Using intersectionality and social cognitive career theory as the theoretical frameworks, the purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of African American women leaders in their career advancement to senior leadership positions in a health service agency of the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States. The research questions explored the experiences and perceptions of these women leaders and ways the intersection of race and gender contributed to their leadership experiences. A qualitative research design using a transcendental phenomenological approach was the chosen method. Data were collected through semistructured interviews with eight African American women leaders at the General Schedule Grade 15 and Senior Executive Service levels. Data were analyzed using the van Kaam method modified by Moustakas. Results indicated that while African American women leaders faced challenges and barriers, strategies exist to enhance career advancement. The results from this study may support social change by elevating understanding of the experiences and perspectives whereby strategies for increasing the career advancement of aspiring African American women leaders can be identified. When organizational leaders become more culturally competent, they can implement approaches that promote diversity within the senior leadership positions, which can have an overall effect on meeting the needs of a diverse population.

The aim of the current study is to investigate the some potential factors that contribute to career indecision of university students. In accordance with that, a mediational causal model based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) was proposed to test / a) the direct and indirect relationships of locus of control, perceived parental attitudes, career decision-making self-efficacy, and career outcome expectations with career indecision and b) to what extend the combination of these variables explain career indecision. The sample of the study was composed of 723 (338 female, 383 male, 2 unspecified) university students. Demographic Information Form, Career Decision Scale, Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale Short-Form, Career Outcome Expectations Scale, Parental Attitudes Scale, and Rotter

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The 2017-2018 Research and Graduate Affairs Committee (RGAC) was given three charges aimed at helping academic pharmacy address barriers that must be overcome by both students and schools to attract, retain, and support the development of a diverse, well-rounded, and successful graduate student population. These charges were (1) identifying teaching methodologies, tools and opportunities that graduate programs can introduce into curriculum to overcome barriers to success of today's and tomorrow's learners; (2) developing a strategy for achieving member support of the 2016-2017 recommended graduate competencies by identifying gaps in and existing examples of courses or opportunities that achieve competency-based pharmacy graduate education; and (3) identifying potential strategies to address identified barriers to pursuing graduate education, especially among under-represented student populations. This report describes attitudes toward and opportunities related to competency-based education in graduation education in colleges and schools of pharmacy, identifies types of tools schools could use to enhance training towards the competency framework developed by the 2016-2017 RGAC, particularly with regards to the so-called power skills, and outlines a role for AACP in facilitating this training. This report also considers a number of barriers, both perceived and real, that potential students encounter when considering graduate training and suggests strategies to understand the impact of and mitigate these barriers. To strengthen competency-based graduate education, the RGAC puts forth two recommendations that AACP develop a toolkit supporting the training of power skills and that AACP should develop or curate programs or tools to support the use of individual development plans (IDPs). The RGAC also puts forth a suggestion to schools that IDPs be implemented for all students. In considering the barriers to pursuing graduate education, the Committee proposes one policy statement that AACP supports the training and development of an increasingly diverse population of researchers at pharmacy schools through active efforts to promote M.S. and Ph.D. education along with Pharm.D. education. Additionally, the Committee provides recommendations that AACP should expand its efforts in career tracking of graduate students to include collection and/or analysis of data that could inform the Academy's understanding of barriers to pursuing graduate education in pharmacy schools, the AACP Office of Institutional Research and Effectiveness should expand upon graduate program data described in the annual Profile of Pharmacy Students report, and finally that AACP should include graduate programs in efforts to increase diversity of students at pharmacy schools.

Technology field industry is lacking a presence of women as in most cases, men have the control on the top management positions. The problem is well-known globally. The gender mixed teams tend to perform better as different ways of thinking allow them to make better business decisions. In order to make improvements, it is important to look at convincing ways to attract young students, especially women to the industrial sector.  This study focuses on Social Cognitive Career Theory factors on technology field students in Sweden and a comparison of results between female students and other groups like male students and student of nursing degree. This country is the one on the top level with the highest percentage of graduating engineers who are women. But still, most of the graduating students are men. Understanding which factors influence major decision’s is extremely important to improve the situation.  The research focused on analysis of factors based on Social Cognitive Career Theory developed by Lent. The questionnaire was sent out to Swedish university students who chose to study technical degree or nursing, or teaching.  The statistical analysis partially confirmed SCCT regarding the influence of self-efficacy on interest and outcome expectations. It also confirmed that self-efficacy and interest are much more important for female students comparing to male students. However, the impact of interest and outcome expectations was found more important for men than for women. This study contributes to further discussions regarding not too many differences found between men and women in Sweden.

Deficits in career decision making self-efficacy, career decidedness, and academic motivation have contributed to prolonged cycles of poverty, an increase in the number of years it takes to complete an undergraduate degree, and an upsurge in the amount of financial debt incurred. Recurrently, students are saddled with large amounts of debt for a degree that was never attained. One group heavily affected by this phenomenon is African American urban adolescents (AAUA). This quantitative study used a social cognitive career theory framework and a repeated-measures research design to examine whether a significant change in scores occurred from Time 1 to Time 2 on the Career Decision Self- Efficacy Scale—Short Form (CDSE-SF), Career Decision Scale (CDS), and Academic Motivation Scale—High School (AMS-HS). African American adolescents attending an urban high school in a midwestern state participated. Students were surveyed before and after completing the Strong Interest Inventory and participating in an educational session designed to aid them in making career and educational choices. Paired-samples t tests revealed no significant changes in scores on the CDSE-SF, CDS, or AMS-HS. However, findings from Pearson correlations suggest that career self-efficacy is largely correlated with both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. This research contributes to social change by informing urban school districts and families of the need to deliver comprehensive career exploration programming for AAUA. This programming has the potential to aid students in making educational choices that align with their expected career paths, reduce their time to completion in postsecondary programs, and increase their potential for economic stability. Assessing