Career self-efficacy and career decision of African-American, Hispanic, and Anglo students enrolled in selected rural Texas high schools

Date

2006-08-16

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Publisher

Texas A&M University

Abstract

The study was designed to obtain information that would be of value to secondary school personnel who provide career counseling and guidance to high school students preparing for post-secondary education, training, and employment. The study attempted to determine if African-American, Anglo, and Hispanic students varied significantly on characteristics that could potentially inhibit career decision-making. The characteristics investigated included career indecision and self-efficacy. Participants included 74 sophomore and senior students from three rural high schools in South Central Texas. Two research questions were investigated to determine if there were significant differences among Anglo, African-American, and Hispanic students on measures of career indecision and self-efficacy. A third research question was investigated to determine if significant differences existed on measures of career indecision and self-efficacy by ethnicity, gender, and grade level, as well as for the interaction of ethnicity, gender, and grade level. A supplementary analysis of the three research questions was conducted including school as an independent variable. The Career Decision Scale and Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale were administered to the participants and the data were analyzed with ANOVA and MANOVA statistical tests. No significant differences were obtained for the three research questions. When the school variable was included in the data analysis, significant main effects differences were found for grade level on self-efficacy and for school on career indecision. The combination of ethnic groups, genders, and grade levels indicated significant differences for the interaction of gender and grade level on self-efficacy and for the interaction of ethnicity and gender on self-efficacy. Middle to high levels of career indecision were reported by 90% of the seniors and 79% of all students in the study. The researcher recommended that career interventions would be valuable to sophomores and seniors in helping them prepare for post-secondary career choices.

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