Universität Tübingen
Supporting Adolescents' Career Choices: The Role of Motivational Beliefs and Relevance Interventions
Abstract
Career choices represent important decisions for adolescents that can have a large impact on their later lives. However, many adolescents face difficulties regarding their career choice, which is why it is important to support them with this decision. As students’ motivational beliefs are important predictors for their course and career choices, addressing these beliefs is one way to also foster their choices. Interventions focusing on students’ motivational beliefs, such as their perceived relevance of a subject for their later lives and careers, have been shown to successfully promote students’ course and career choices in the respective field. During such relevance interventions, students are encouraged to connect the course material to their own future careers, thereby reflecting on career-related questions. Thus, relevance interventions might be a promising way to foster students’ career-related choices and behavior more broadly, which, however, has not been investigated yet. Next to students’ motivational beliefs in the school context, their vocational interests are important precursors of their career choices. Bringing together insights on motivational beliefs, such as interests, regarding school subjects and interests regarding vocational activities might add to the knowledge about interest formation and subsequently deepen the understanding of adolescents’ career choices. This dissertation investigated how adolescents can be supported within their career choices. Three empirical studies were designed to examine several precursors of adolescents’ career choices and to investigate the potential of relevance interventions to support these choices. Study 1 brought together interest constructs from two different research backgrounds, namely vocational interests and subject interests. Their development during early adolescence was examined, with a focus on the structural differentiation both constructs usually undergo during this period. Using data from a large longitudinal sample of low and middle track school students from fifth to eighth grade (N=3473), the structural development of vocational interests and subject interests in math, German, and English was examined separately and their interrelations over time were analyzed. Results revealed that vocational interests became more differentiated over time and showed the postulated structure in large part in higher grades. By contrast, subject interests showed only slight changes over time. The associations between the two interest constructs partly corresponded to the assumed pattern. In Study 2, a relevance intervention was tested with respect to its potential to support adolescents’ career choices. It was a parent-based intervention with the aim of helping parents to support their children within their career orientation. Parents were involved in the intervention as they have been shown to be important sources of support for their children and can have a large influence on their motivational beliefs and choices. The intervention was operationalized through a website, where parents and students could find information on the relevance of math, German, and English for students’ later careers. In a cluster-randomized study with 357 eighth grade students of middle track schools, their motivational beliefs in the three subjects and their career orientation behavior as well as parents’ motivational beliefs and career support were assessed before and after the intervention. The intervention was found to have a negative effect on parents’ career support for their children as well as on their perceived importance of this support. No effects were found on other parent variables or on student variables. In Study 3, another relevance intervention was tested, which focused on the usefulness of math for students’ later lives and careers. It was a classroom-based intervention aiming to foster students’ motivational beliefs for math and to support their career choices. The intervention effects were evaluated in a cluster-randomized trial with 78 classes of ninth grade students of academic track schools (N=1744). Students’ motivational beliefs for math and physics, their vocational interests, career orientation and career aspirations were assessed before as well as 4 weeks and 3 months after the intervention. The results suggested that the intervention fostered students’ perceived importance of math and physics for their career aspirations as well as their investigative interests. Negative intervention effects on students’ realistic and enterprising interests were found. The intervention had no effects on students’ career orientation and career aspirations in the field of math and science. The findings of the three empirical studies are summarized and discussed with respect to the broader research context. Implications for future research and educational policy and practice are derived.
Author and committee
dc:creator, dc:contributor.*- Author
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- Piesch, Heide
Identifiers
dc:identifier.*- Identifier
- hdl:10900/93916