Date on Master's Thesis/Doctoral Dissertation

12-2012

Document Type

Doctoral Dissertation

Degree Name

Ph. D.

Department (Legacy)

College of Education and Human Development

Committee Chair

Cunningham, Nancy J.

Author's Keywords

African American identity; adolescent; career; self efficacy; perceived barriers; outcome expectations

Subject

African American teenage boys; Self-efficacy; Blacks--Race identity; Self-perception; Career development

Abstract

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) holds that self-efficacy and outcome expectations are primary predictors of career choice goals and actions, with contextual influences moderating those choices and actions. Racial identity research indicates that African American adolescents perceive more barriers than their White counterparts. The current study hypothesized that chronological age, racial identity attitudes, and the perception of barriers would be significant influences on self-efficacy and outcome expectations for African American adolescents. The study explored the research question using two separate stepwise regression analyses. The first analysis explored racial identity attitudes, age, and perceived barriers in relation to self efficacy. The second analysis utilized the same independent variables to assess their relationship to outcome expectations. Results of the first analysis found that 19% of the variance in career-related self-efficacy was explained by the variables age, the perception of barriers, and the racial identity attitude Internalization Multiculturalist Inclusive as measured by the Cross Racial Identity Scale (Worrell, Vandiver, & Cross, 2004). A significant model for the second analysis exploring the relationship of the independent variables to outcome expectations was not obtained. The racial identity attitude Immersion-Emersion Anti-White was the only variable related to career outcome expectations. Findings and implications for future research are discussed.

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