This study examined the characteristics of self-reported career beliefs among community college students. Specific hypotheses proposed a relationship between career beliefs and level of career decidedness, level of vocational identity, and gender. The dependent variables, career beliefs, consisted of thirteen factor-variables derived from successive principle-components analysis of 49 items from the Career Beliefs Inventory (Krumboltz, 1988). / Subjects (N = 686) were divided into "treatment groups" according to their levels of career decidedness and vocational identity based on their scores on the Occupational Alternatives Question (Zener & Schneulle, 1972) and the Vocational Identity Scale of My Vocational Situation (Holland, Daiger & Power, 1980) respectively. Significant multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) effects were found for career decidedness, vocational identity, gender, and for the interaction of vocational identity and gender. / Subsequent univariate analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated that subjects with low career decidedness were more likely to believe that external forces are responsible for their career decision making, and tended to be comfortable with their level of career indecision, compared to persons with moderate or high levels of career decidedness. Subjects with moderate career decidedness believed that college is necessary for a good job. / Subjects with high vocational identity were significantly more uncomfortable with career indecision, and more likely to believe in striving their best, even if success was uncertain. Subjects with low vocational identity believed in setting low goals and minimizing their efforts to avoid failure. The latter also tended to exaggerate the importance of events, and to externalize responsibility for their career decision making. / Male subjects believed that a college education is not essential to their career success, while females believed that college is a critical requirement for attaining a good job. Finally, in this study, females with high vocational identity were less likely to be employed as compared to males, or to females with low vocational identity. / The study suggests that career counselors should be concerned with the private rules and beliefs which may affect client career choices. Specific limitations and implications for future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 51-12, Section: A, page: 4025. / Major Professor: James P. Sampson, Jr. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1990.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78355 |
| Contributors | Ryan-Jones, Rebecca Elizabeth., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 216 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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