Predictors of Occupational Choice among Rural Youth: Implications for Career Education and Development Programming.

A survey of rural secondary school students examined the formation of adolescent occupational identity by identifying predictors of students' ideal jobs. Data were collected from 612 of the approximately 750 students in grades 7-12 in a rural Pennsylvania school district. Predictors of choice of ideal job, by descending influence, were gender, average grades, knowledge about a job and its opportunities, and father's occupation. However, these factors explained only 18.7 percent of variance in ideal job scores. Results confirm that American adolescents often have unrealistic occupational aspirations in that the job opportunities likely to be available to them do not match their expressed interests. More students in this study were enrolled in college preparatory programs than were likely to go to college and were therefore unlikely to meet their educational and occupational goals. Other findings were that students' expected salaries were much higher than the norm for the local labor market, female students identified less with traditional female occupations than they did 25-30 years ago, students from advantaged backgrounds aspired to higher-status jobs than those from disadvantaged homes, and academically talented students selected higher-status ideal jobs than did students with lower grades. Recommendations include initiating job awareness and exploration at an earlier age, providing data on labor market trends to all students, developing goal setting skills as part of the regular curriculum, requiring students to investigate characteristics of all major job categories, engaging students in experiential activities exploring job opportunities, and providing educational components to compensate for selective information delivery that results from socioeconomic conditions. Contains 27 references. (TD) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** PREDICTORS OF OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE AMONG RURAL YOUTH: IMPLICATIONS FOR CAREER EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. Dr. Carol A. Conroy Assistant Professor Department of Education Cornell University Introduction "PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MAT IAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY art9/ A. n rox TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC). " How a young person views the world of work and how he/she may fit into it affect preparation for entry into the labor market. This view forms from the complex interaction of many factors and can be described as the ideal and expected work role for the individual. Identification of determinants of this occupational identity would provide useful information for the planning and implementation of kindergarten through adult career education and development programs. This study examined occupational identity formation by identifying predictors of participating students' ideal jobs. It was part of a larger study designed to describe the factors which influence entry into and subsequent movement within the labor force (Conroy, 1996). The rationale for linking labor mobility studies to futuristic education policy and programming is based on several key issues. Few jobs are being created that require low skills levels. In fact, most new jobs (60%) will actually require some level of technical training beyond high school (Gray, 1996; Daggett, 1995), linking the needs of the workforce to the educational system more than ever. Models of successful training programs assume equal entry position and advancement potential, for both youth and adult participants. Many times the background factors related to gender, race, and other socialization, which should help shape an individualized training program, are ignored in favor of a generic program based on employer needs for specific skills. Counselors and instructors often assume that students, especially those that are disadvantaged, know more than they really do about jobs and careers, information taken for granted in their middle-class frame-of-reference (Heebner, 1995). Low self-confidence and expectations of others often lead to a lack of "cultural capital" (Claus, 1990), ultimately resulting in an inability to identify interests and use skills to find a satisfying job (Heebner, 1995). Choices made by young peoplewhat courses to take in high school, whether to attend college, what to studyaffect who they are and what they do (Adelman, 1994). Making the wrong will reduce possibilities for job success BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 and/or upward mobility over the life course (Topel & Ward, 1992) by limiting the career-line paths which emerge from initial job placement (Spilerman, 1977). This limitation impacts not only the evolution of earnings and status, but also the ability to network, maximize job satisfaction, and exercise voluntary job mobility. Most career education and development programming focuses on job awareness and exploration activities. Historically, the belief has been that awareness provides information to initiate interest which can then be explored (Herr, 1972; Super & Bohn, 1970). Awareness activities typically occur prior to or during seventh and eighth grades, but exploration usually does not occur until ninth or tenth grades, and is almost exclusively offered to vocational students in the form of career and career-cluster rotations during the first year of vocational school attendance. Unfortunately, this approach is flawed in that it does not address career development needs of college preparatory students and it occurs too late in the educational process for the vocational students for whom it was designed. Many career education programs also ignore the factors which influence interest and choice, factors which exert their influence many years prior to enrollment in those programs. All of the social, family, and personal experiences of an adolescent interact to form his/her image of a "future self. " These images can be both positive and negative; they evolve from integration and evaluation of specific self-attributes and self-assessment of performance in various domains. In other words, adolescents tend to think about the future in terms of aspirations based on what they like to do, emerging from awareness of what they do well (Harter, 1990). Thus, adolescents form their occupational identities through complex interactions of background and environmental factors which merge with the political and social structures of the labor market. Theoretical Framework To be effective, career education programs must be broad-based, centered on experiential learning, and integrated into the total educational program. The individual student must participate in activities to discover his/her talents, relate those talents to the world of work, and refine them for successful use in employment. In fact, educational professionals have long believed that orientation to work and assistance in career choice may be more valid determinants of employment success than specific skills training (USDHEW, 1968). The purpose of career education and development extends beyond the usual goal of helping individuals choose an occupation or a career. From a broad perspective, career education should result in meaningful and satisfying work for an individual. Career education programs should make realistic choices possible for students by increasing their base of knowledge on which to make decisions.