Social Cognitive Predictors of the Career Goals of Korean American Students

Limited empirical study of the career development of Asian Americans in general and Korean Americans in particular has been conducted. The authors present the results of a theory-based exploration of the career goals of Korean American university students in which ethnic identity, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and career interests were used to predict goal intentions for science and nonscience careers. Outcome expectations and career interests predicted a moderate amount of variance in science career goal intentions and a moderate to large amount of variance in nonscience career goal intentions. Korean American students' career goal development seems similar to that of American college students. Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing minority groups in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007). According to the U.S. Census Bureau (2007), 13.5 million Asian Americans live in the United States, which represents 4.7% of the total population, and by 2050, Asian Americans are projected to constitute 9.0% of the U.S. population. This ethnic group has expressed a great need for career counseling services (Leong, 1995); however, research on Asian American career choice and behavior is limited (Leong, 1991; Leong & Serafica, 1995). Most career development research has been conducted on the majority population (Cook, Heppner, & O'Brien, 2002). A need exists for basic research describing the career development of Asian American populations. Two well-documented facts exist regarding the career development of Asian Americans. First, many Asian Americans have family histories of workplace hostility and discrimination (Lessinger, 1995; Yoon, 1993). From the beginning of their migration to the United States, Asian Ameri- cans have tended to hold menial, dangerous, and low-status occupations, regardless of their educational backgrounds (Lessinger, 1995; Yoon, 1993). Historically, Asian immigrants settled for lesser positions that did not correspond with their educational levels because of language barriers, prejudice, and discrimination (Lessinger, 1995; Yoon, 1993). Second, Asian Americans are likely to enter science and technical fields (National Science Foundation [NSF], Division of Science Resources Statistics [SRS], 2003). In comparison with the White majority, Asian Americans have earned a higher percentage of bachelor's degrees in computer science, biological science, and engineering and a lower percentage of bachelor's degrees in agricultural and social sciences (NSF, SRS, 2003). Asian Americans attained 32% and 21% of all bachelor's degrees in computer science and engineering, respectively, in 2001-2002 (NSF, SRS, 2003). This trend is even more prominent at the graduate level: Asian Americans attained 76% and 51% of computer science and engineering master's degrees, respectively, in 2001-2002 (NSF, SRS, 2003). Furthermore, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are more likely than are White Americans to work in professional occupations such as manager, executive, physician, lawyer, architect, engineer, and scientist (Reeves & Bennett, 2003). Thus, a strong tendency exists for Asian Americans to earn degrees and enter careers in the science and engineering fields. Although basic descriptive information regarding occupational histories in the United States and current career preferences is available, researchers face three deficits in the information regarding Asian American career development. First, Asian American is a demographic designation referring to immigrants from all Asian countries. For example, the U.S. Census Bureau (2000) tracks 24 distinct Asian heritages from the Far East (e.g., Japan), Southeast Asia (e.g., Cambodia), and Indian subcontinent (e.g., Sri Lanka) as well as some ethnic groups (e.g., Hmong). Asian Americans are not a homogeneous national or ethnic group. Research using the general designation of Asian American may not reveal unique ethnic and cultural influences on career development and choice (Song & Glick, 2004). …