Antecedents of career stability after college graduation.

Abstract

With a particular emphasis on career stability after college graduation, the present study addresses the process of occupational attainment focusing on the following three career groups: persisters in science/engineering careers, transfer from science/engineering to business fields, and persisters in business careers. Based on the developmental perspective of vocational behavior and the social learning theory of career decision making, an individual's career stability is conceived of as an outcome of interplay among socioeconomic status, cognitive abilities, vocational interests, work values, college performance, and occupational aspirations. Three basic questions are explored in this study. First, to what degree are the antecedent variables associated with the dependent variable? Second, how do the antecedent variables differ in predicting career stability in the three groups? and third, what are the causal relationships among the antecedent variables? To address these questions, a series of hypotheses and a conceptual model were developed to test. Using the public use file of the Project TALENT data, the present study focuses on 189 subjects who attained at least a bachelor's degree in science/engineering or business fields. Basically three kinds of research methodologies were employed to examine the three research questions. The methodologies are analysis of variance (MANOVA), multiple nominal scale analysis (MNA), and linear structural relationships (LISREL). The findings largely supported the hypotheses and the premises of the study. The conceptual framework was well supported for the two persister groups, but not for the transfer group. In predicting the career group membership, inner psychological tendencies such as occupational aspirations, vocational interests, and work values turn out to be more important than the other variables. The results are discussed noting the limitation of the study. Theoretical and practical implications drawn from the research are suggested. Finally, directions for future research are suggested.