Contrasts Between Benefits Expected and Delivered Among MBA Inquirers,Students, and Graduates

ABSTRACT

A survey was conducted of three groups: prospective students, current students, and alumni. Prospective students were asked what benefits (career, on-the-job performance, and personal benefits) they expected to derive from their MBA education. Current students and alumni were asked what benefits they have derived from their education. The expectations of the prospective students were quite consistent with the experiences of the current students and alumni with respect to on-the-job performance and personal benefits, but the career benefits that prospective students anticipated far exceeded actual experiences. This study should help prospective students to have more realistic expectations and should help MBA-granting institutions to understand an important source of dissatisfaction.     

Parental influences and adolescent career behaviours in a collectivist cultural setting

Using social cognitive career theory, we examined the relationships between parental variables (parental career expectations, adolescent–parent career congruence) and adolescent career aspirations and career actions (planning, exploration) in a sample of Grade 10 Indonesian high school students. We found good support for a model that revealed various routes by which the two parental variables were associated with adolescent career aspirations and career actions, although the main influence of the parental variables was by way of self-efficacy. The findings demonstrate important roles for parental career expectations and adolescent–parent career congruence in adolescents’ career aspirations and actions.     

Influence of social cognitive and gender variables on technological academic interest among Spanish high-school students: testing social cognitive career theory

This study tested social cognitive career theory (SCCT) in the technological domain with 2,359 high-school students in Asturias (Spain). Path analyses were run to determine the influence of gender on the SCCT model and to explain the influence of personal (emotional state, gender-role attitudes), contextual (perceived social supports and barriers), and cognitive (self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations) variables on technological interest. The results almost entirely confirm the SCCT model for Spanish high-school students in both the boys’ and girls’ samples. Further, the results show that girls and boys do not differ significantly as far as the different variables are concerned.     

Individual predictors of adolescents’ vocational interest stabilities

The study investigated the predictive utility of interest profile differentiation, coherence, elevation, congruence, and vocational identity commitment and career maturity (career planning and exploration) on the 10-month interest stability of 292 Swiss eighth-grade students: profile, rank, and level stabilities were assessed. Controlling for socio-demographic and vocational interest type variables, measures of differentiated and coherent vocational interests were significant predictors of profile stability. Interest elevation predicted more rank and level stability. The career development variables explained only a non-significant additional amount of variance in the different stability measures.     

Predicting career development in hard-of-hearing adolescents in Australia

This article reports on a study investigating the career development of hard-of-hearing high school students attending regular classes with itinerant teacher support. We compared 65 hard-of-hearing students with a matched group of normally hearing peers on measures of career maturity, career indecision, perceived career barriers, and three variables associated with social cognitive career theory career decision-making self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals. In addition, the predictors of career maturity and career indecision were tested in both groups. Results indicated that (a) the two groups did not differ on measures of career maturity, (b) the SCCT variables were less predictive of career behaviors for the hard-of-hearing students than for the normally hearing students, and (c) perceived career barriers related to hearing loss predicted lower scores on career maturity attitude for the hard-of-hearing students. These findings are discussed in the context of career education and counseling interventions that may benefit young people who are hard of hearing.     

Personality traits and job exploration among Latino business students: An exploratory investigation

We examine the role of the Big Five personality traits in the job exploration process of Latino undergraduate business students to ascertain the personality traits and socio‐cognitive variables that lead to greater success of students in their job searches. We find that personalities such as extraversion and conscientiousness are positively associated with career self‐efficacy, career expectations, and interests in both academic and professional skills, which in turn positively influence job exploration behaviors. Additionally, we find that personalities such as agreeableness and neuroticism have a negative influence on career exploration behaviors. Our findings provide Latino business students with college vocational guidance that can help enhance their career confidence, job beliefs, and career interests in the job‐seeking process.     

Students' transition into higher education: The role of self-efficacy,regulation strategies,and academic achievements

Transition into higher education (HE) has received increased interest in recent years, since it represents a challenging period for students. The aim of this study was to further understand the associations between self-efficacy, academic achievements, and regulation in first-year university students during their transition into HE. The convenience sample consisted of 374 first-year university students (230 females, 61.5%), aged from 18 to 33 (M = 19.86, SD = 1.51) and recruited from an Italian university. Self-efficacy was assessed using the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire; regulation strategies were assessed with the Inventory of Learning Patterns of Students; and a self-reported grade point average was taken as an indicator of each student's academic performance. Result shows that students' self-efficacy was positively associated with self-regulation and negatively associated with a lack of regulation. Students with higher self-efficacy and self-regulation strategies had better academic performance. Female students performed better in academic activities and adopted more external regulation strategies. The findings represent an opportunity for university institutions to consider the interventions they provide to first-year students in order to facilitate the successful transition from secondary school; they also provide researchers with further knowledge about the effect of self-efficacy, and regulation strategies on students' adjustment to HE.     

A typology of career barriers

While most studies have focused primarily on the correlates of career barriers, research examining specific career barrier typology experienced among college students remains limited. Employing cluster analysis, this study explored the career barrier typology of 318 college students using the Korean college students’ Career Barrier Inventory (KCBI). The variables used in this study included ‘personality’ (hardiness, trait anxiety, locus of control, resilience, and optimism) and ‘career maturity attitude’. Two major conclusions were drawn. Firstly, cluster analysis of the KCBI identified four groups of participants; (a) a salient external career barrier group, (b) a well adjusted group, (c) a salient internal career barrier group, and (d) the worst career barrier group. Secondly, the results suggest discrepant differences of personality variables and career attitude maturity among the clustered groups. Limitations of the present study and suggestions for future research are also discussed.     

Gender Differences for Optimism, Self-esteem, Expectations and Goals in Predicting Career Planning and Exploration in Adolescents

An Australian sample (N=467) of high school students was administered scales tapping optimism, self-esteem, career expectations, career goals, career planning and career exploration. The study tested a career mediational model based on social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and cognitive–motivational–relational theory (CMR). It was hypothesized that the stable person inputs of optimism and self-esteem would predict career planning and career exploration through the variables of career expectations and career goals differentially for young males and females. For males, optimism and self-esteem influenced career expectations, sequentially predicting career goals, career planning and career exploration. A different pathway was identified for females, with optimism directly influencing career goals, which subsequently predicted career planning and career exploration. Self-esteem predicted career expectations, which then directly influenced career planning and career exploration by bypassing career goals. Results are discussed in the context of SCCT and CMR.     

A Cross-Sectional Study of Engineering Students’ Self-Efficacy by Gender, Ethnicity, Year, and Transfer Status

This is a cross-sectional study of 519 undergraduate engineering majors’ self-efficacy beliefs at a large, research extensive, Midwestern university. Engineering self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in his or her ability to successfully negotiate the academic hurdles of the engineering program. Engineering self-efficacy was obtained from four variables: self-efficacy 1, self-efficacy 2, engineering career outcome expectations, and coping self-efficacy. The four variables were analyzed using a repeated analysis of variance among levels of gender, ethnicity, years students had been enrolled in their engineering program, and transfer status. No significant differences in mean engineering self-efficacy scores were found by gender, ethnicity, and transfer status. However, significant interactions between gender and the subscales, ethnicity and the subscales, and transfer status and the subscales were found. Significant differences in mean engineering self-efficacy scores were found among years students had been enrolled in the program.     

High-School Teachers’ Attempts to Promote Self-Regulated Learning: “I may learn from you, yet how do I do it?”

This study examined how urban high-school students responded to increased academic expectations. The intervention included increased expectations for reading and writing, collaboration, and the completion of multi-day assignments. Twenty-four students (8 lower, 8 average, and 8 higher performers) from 4 classrooms were interviewed across a 9-week period to evaluate their reactions to the increased expectations. While students approached lessons with learning versus performance orientations, they were unsuccessful because they could not transfer classroom successes to their outside of school studying efforts. Their difficulties were related to a lack of strategies, a failure to manage distractions, or an inability to monitor studying behaviors. Discussion focuses on the difficulties among students based on performance levels and on the challenges of increasing academic expectations within a climate of high-stakes testing.     

Do parental attitudes toward and expectations for their children's education and future jobs matter for their children's school achievement?

The traditional discourse in the scholarship on cultural capital theory has focused on how exclusive participation in elite status culture by students from higher socioeconomic status families benefits their learning in schools, the effects of which are most evident in linguistic subject areas such as reading achievement. However, some scholars have argued that cultural capital is not restricted to elite status culture but could include parental familiarity with school evaluation standards and job market requirements, and that the effects could transcend languages to include performance domains with more objective evaluation that are susceptible to school influences (e.g. mathematics and science). The present study systematically examines this position using data involving 96,591 15‐year‐old students from 3602 schools in eight countries who participated in the Programme for International Student Assessment 2012. Results of three‐level hierarchical linear modelling showed positive relationships between seven cultural capital variables and student mathematics achievement. The cultural variables comprised: home educational resources; parental educational attainment and occupational status; parental expectations of their children's educational attainment, future career in mathematics and school; and parental valuing of mathematics. In particular, the three parental expectations variables had substantively larger effect sizes on student achievement than the other cultural capital variables. The results demonstrated that parental familiarity with school evaluation standards and future job requirements, especially as measured by parental expectations, may constitute cultural capital that privileges student mathematics achievement in schools.     

Exploring sex differences in science enrolment intentions: An application of the General Model of Academic Choice

In many countries there remain substantial sex differences in enrolments in elective science courses, despite concerted efforts in recent years to alleviate them. This paper explores the reasons for these differences by comparing models of male and female enrolment intentions in elective courses in biology, chemistry and physics. The models are based on responses from approximately 450 students from 5 Australian high schools. First, a theoretical model, the Science Enrolment Model, was derived from Eccles and colleagues’ General Model of Academic Choice. Students’ responses were then used to develop empirical models of enrolment intentions in the three elective courses. Analyses for the models were conducted using the LISREL “mean structures” extension. Sex differences in the dependent variables in the models were then attributed to the relevant sets of independent variables. Substantial sex differences were identified in measures of perceived career value, interest and performance expectations in all three models which explained between 70% and 82% of the sex differences in enrolment intentions.     

Perceptions of Classroom Environment,School Types,Gender and Learning Styles of Secondary School Students

Assessment of students’ perceptions of classroom environment and their learning styles provided a framework within which to study factors related to perceptions of students in learning. Two instruments, the Individualized Classroom Environment Questionnaire (ICEQ) and the Learning Style Inventory 1985 (LSI), were administered in Singapore to a stratified random sample of 1733 Secondary 4 students (equivalent to Grade 10) from nine secondary schools (good, average and below average schools). The study showed that school type (the category of schools that the students come from), had the most influence on the students’ perceptions of both actual and preferred classroom environment. Gender had an influence too, but mainly on perceptions of actual classroom environment. Learning styles of students had the least influence.     

What motivates high-school students to pursue STEM careers? The influence of public attitudes towards science and technology in comparative perspective

This study examines the degree of association between students’ STEM occupational expectations and between-country differences in public attitudes toward science and technology (S&T). This study focuses on public attitudes among two different populations: students and adults. Three-level Hierarchical Generalised Linear Models are employed to analyse large-scale international data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Results reveal that public attitudes toward S&T are positively associated with students’ expectations around pursuing STEM careers. Further analyses reveal that the positive association between public attitudes toward S&T and STEM career expectations remains consistent across gender, but that this association varies across performance levels. The positive association between public attitudes toward S&T and STEM career expectations is stronger for low achievers in science than for high achievers. These results advance the scholarly understanding of the ways in which social factors may be associated with students’ choices in pursuing STEM occupations.     

The relationship between high school students' perceptions of teaching as a career and selected background characteristics: Implications for attracting students of color to teaching

This study sought to determine: What influence do background characteristics of high school students have on their perceptions of teaching as a career choice? The independent variables, or background characteristics, were ethnicity, gender, the work status of parents, and grade level. Of particular interest was the extent to which African Americans were receptive to teaching as a career choice. The dependent variable of the study was students' perceptions of teaching as a career. Students perceptions were ascertained from their responses to an instrument administered to over 800 high school students. The inventory sought students' attitudes regarding: (a) the extent to which they valued teaching as a career; (b) the importance they assigned to teaching relative to other professions; (c) the influence of significant others in encouraging them to go into teaching; and (d) their desire to meet the prerequisites to becoming a teacher. Although the findings were in general those to be expected, some surprising ones were also observed.     

Differences in Career Aspirations,Influences, and Motives as a Function of Class Standing: An Empirical Evaluation of Undergraduate Criminal Justice Majors

The purpose of this study was to determine whether career aspirations, influences, and motives differ by class standing (freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior). A cross-sectional analysis of surveys completed by 204 criminal justice majors revealed a negative correlation between class standing and student interest in a law enforcement career (i.e. freshman and sophomores showed greater interest in a law enforcement career than juniors and seniors). Further analysis indicated that television and movies had a greater impact on the career aspirations of underclassmen, whereas teachers and professors had a greater impact on the career aspirations of upperclassmen. Motivational factors did not differ by class standing, however: students, regardless of class standing, reported that helping others and the interesting nature of the subject matter were their two strongest motives for seeking a criminal justice career and wearing a uniform and power were the two weakest motives for seeking a criminal justice career.     

Expectations of higher education students: a comparison between the perception of student and teachers

Higher education institutions are ever more interested in the development of tools that enable them to evaluate and manage the expectations of their students with the purpose of attracting and keeping them satisfied. This research compares what the faculty believes the students expect from a higher education institution with the expectations of students entering higher education. A quantitative study was performed with students from a higher education institution through the application of a questionnaire covering 32 different expectations. The perceptions of the faculty were also collected through the same questionnaire, suitably adapted. The results of the investigation demonstrated differences in thinking between students and professors, with 19 variables representing student expectations that showed statistically significant mean differences. In 13 variables the students had greater expectations than the faculty believed, while for six variables the faculty indicated higher expectations than the students declared. Identifying the existence of this gap in knowledge will allow the higher education institution to adjust its services to the expectations of students, leading them to greater satisfaction.     

Interest in biology. Part I: A multidimensional construct

Interest in a school subject (e.g., biology) is conceptualized in terms of three components: topics, activities, and motives, each of which has several dimensions. In this study, seven instruments were developed and administered to grade-10 biology students in Israel. Factor analysis provided support for the conceptualization which underlies the development of the instruments. Topic dimensions included biochemical processes, nonhuman organisms, human biology, personal hygiene, and practical applications; the activity dimensions were experiential learning, reception learning, writing/summarizing and group discussion; motives included environmental issues, moral issues, examination success, personal independence, problem solving, and four career dimensions (research, high-status professions, lower-status careers, “woodsy-birdsy” careers). In an analysis described in Part II of this paper, the students were classified into four groups on the basis of their grade-11 subject enrollment intentions: H (high-level biology), L (low-level biology), P (physical science), and N (no science). Zero-order and multiple correlations were found between interest and other variables and membership/nonmembership of the four groups. Students in Group H were characterized by higher achievement in year-10 biology, higher levels of enjoyment of biology, career orientations towards research or high-status biology-based professions, greater interest in various biology topics, especially reproduction/cell division/genetics, and a greater tendency to regard the Bagrut (grade-12) examination as interesting. Students in Group N displayed lower levels of interest in various topics (especially the microscope, plants, and reproduction), were less motivated to solve problems, had poorer grades in biology (and chemistry), were less likely to perceive biology as useful, were less likely to regard the Bagrut examination as fair, and were less likely to be interested in social modes of learning. There were few associations between interest variables and membership in Groups L or P.     

Revisiting the big six and the big five among Hong Kong university students

The present study replicated investigation of the link between Holland’s six career interest types and Costa and McCrae’s big five personality traits in a Chinese context. A sample of 79 university students from Hong Kong evaluated their own abilities and responded to the Short‐Version Self‐Directed Search (SVSDS) and the NEO Five‐Factor Inventory. Results demonstrated external validity for the SVSDS, and suggested that even when students’ self‐rated abilities were taken into account, career interests and personality traits still significantly overlapped, although each construct made a unique contribution to the variance in the data. The specific ways in which the dimensions of career interests and personality traits were related to one another were generally consistent with those documented in the literature. The implications for educational research and educational practice in the Chinese context are discussed.