SELECTION PROCESSES AND VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: A MULTIMETHOD APPROACH

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SELECTION PROCESSES AND VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
A MULTI-METHOD APPROACH

• Melanie J. Zimmer-Gembeck
• School of Psychology, Griffith U
• Gold Coast, Australia
• Jeylan T. Mortimer
• Department of Sociology, Life Course Center and U
  of Minnesota

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Thanks.

• Mikki Holmes and Michael Shanahan for their
  interviews of study participants.
• This research was supported by a grant, Work
  Experience and Mental Health A Panel Study of
  Youth, from the National Institute of Child
  Health and Human Development (HD44138) and the
  National Institute of Mental Health (MH42843).
• And supplementary assistance from the College of
  Liberal Arts and the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute
  of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota.

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• Age 27 interview That was kind of long
  process. I didn't quite know what I wanted to do
  when I started college and it took me awhile to
  finish. I finished in about six years, but about
  half way through I got a job in the public
  educational system and really enjoyed that and
  thats what started to get me on the right path
  as far as thinking about what I wanted to do and
  I thought maybe a counselor and I thought a
  social worker and then finally thought about
  teaching...

But, on a prospective survey at ages 18, 24 and
25, she consistently responded that she wanted to
be a teacher!
OVERSELECTION
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• Age 27 interview I mean, realistically, I
  think that Ive never...thought about work much
  actually. I mean I never thought about a career
  in high school and I always thought it was crazy
  when people knew what they wanted to go to
  college for.

Andshe has had loads of different jobs from age
18 to 27.
UNDERSELECTION
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Overview

• Prospective data (age 18, 24 and 25) were used to
  classify individuals into 3 career aspiration
  groups overselection, underselection or
  one-change.
• Representatives from each group were interviewed
  at age 27.
• Themes related to selection, optimization and
  compensation (SOC) metatheory (Freund Baltes,
  1998), work commitment, and the stressful
  character of vocational development were compared
  across groups.

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Method Participants

• Longitudinal survey data from 787 individuals
  (N1000 in grade 9)
• grade 12 (about age 18 wave 4), age 24 (wave 9),
  and age 25 (wave 10)
• Structured interviews with 67 participants.

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Method Survey Measures, age 25

• Educational aspirations
• The highest level of education they planned to
  attain
• Career establishment, 3 response options
• it will probably continue as a long-term career
  (3)
• it provides skills or knowledge that will
  prepare me for my future work (2)
• it is not linked to my long-term career
  objectives or I dont know (1)
• Job satisfaction and income

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Method Survey Measures, age 18, 24, and 25

• Career/vocational aspirations
• Open response (homemaker an option)
• 3 groups formed
• Overselection same career aspirations in all
  waves (n 70).
• One-change occupational aspirations that changed
  after high school (between ages 18 and 24) but
  were consistent through the mid-twenties (age 24
  and 25) (n 131).
• Underselection different career aspirations at
  age 18 compared to 24, and at age 24 compared to
  age 25 (n 233).

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Background Theory Interpretation of
Qualitative Findings

• Used Overselection, One-Change, and
  Underselection categories (based on longitudinal
  survey data) to compare participants and to
  organize qualitative findings
• Theory that guided this classification system.
• Selection-Optimization-Compensation (SOC) theory
• Freund, Li and Baltes (1999, also Lerner et al.,
  2001) described potential life course
  difficulties of selecting too few
  (overselection) or too many
  (underselection) goals.

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Background Theory Interpretation of
Qualitative Findings

• SOC Theory
• Expected findings
• Overselection may not provide sufficient options
  given historical change, poor initial matches
  between choices and individual interests and
  skills, and other obstacles.
• Underselection may result in too little focus,
  impeding attainment of a level of mastery that
  enables occupational achievement.
• Other theories

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Results Comparison of Prospectively Identified
Career Aspiration Groups

• Demographics
• No gender or race/ethnic differences.
• Little difference in parent education or income.
• Educational aspirations / outcome
• At age 25, Overselection and One-Change were
  slightly advantaged in educational aspirations
  (trend).
• By age 25, Overselection and One-Change groups
  were somewhat advantaged in the education and
  career arenas
• Overselection and One-Change (gt30) were more
  likely to have graduated from university compared
  to underselection group (20).

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Results Comparison of Prospectively Identified
Career Aspiration Groups

• Career establishment
• At age 25, no group difference.
• Job satisfaction and income
• At age 25, Overselection and One-Change slightly
  advantaged in job satisfaction (trend).
• No group difference in income.
• Note. A 4th group -- missing career aspirations
  at one wave were lower in career establishment,
  educational aspirations, educational attainment,
  and job satisfaction.

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Method Home Interview, age 27

• Questions organized by life periods
• Current work, and general and vocational
  interests.
• Back to interests in high school, especially in
  the career domain.
• Interests and future goals recalled from earlier
  periods of life (e.g., junior high school) were
  discussed briefly.
• Work experiences and interests between high
  school and the present.
• Current work and interests.
• Perceptions and feelings about the life
  trajectory, turning points, and a summary of the
  interview.

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Method Home Interview, age 27

• Length of interviews was about 1 hour.
• 57 in-person.
• Others by telephone.
• N 67.
• 63 female
• 80 Caucasian

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Results Prospective Overselection Group (n 13)

• 54 of this prospective Overselection group also
  classified as Overselection based on the
  interview transcript.
• Centrality of work 69 placed work as central to
  their lives. Yet, about 1/3 were questioning
  their career choice and engaging in new selection
  processes.
• I think in every job, obviously, people are
  unhappy and there are drawbacks. Maybe I just
  think that I would enjoy something else more, but
  I dont know what it would be. But then sometimes
  you think, could you give up having that badge
  and the gun and going out and telling people what
  to do and bossing people around?

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Results Prospective Overselection Group (n 13)

• Stress? 54 thought vocational selection
  processes had been stressful.
• Other issues Although their aspirations remained
  constant, a minority had to compensate as they
  were not able to achieve their goals.
• A turning point in my life. I guess, your big
  one is on my third MCAT, when I didnt get in to
  medical school. That was it. I pretty much
  decided Ive given that an honest shot. For now
  that door is closed. I dont ever say its closed
  forever, but I do say that door is closed for
  right now. Thats the biggest turning point in my
  life.

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Results Prospective Underselection Group (n 16)

• 63 of this prospective Underselection group also
  classified as Underselection based on the
  interview transcript.
• Centrality of work 56 described low commitment
  to work and 50 said it was just a way to make
  money nothing more.
• This group was likely to have other commitments
  (56 marriage, 50 children, 40 2 children).
  20 had not graduated from high school.
• ...I would rather be doing something more
  creative. Im really interested in photography
  and Im trying to break out into that in a side
  business.

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Results Prospective Underselection Group (n 16)

• Stress? One might think that career goals and
  selection would not be a priority for this group,
  but 50 thought vocational selection processes
  had been stressful.
• I think I put a lot of pressure on myself toto
  really feel, to be directed and have this really
  clear idea of what Im doing and where Im going
  and, and I never really have that, so I always
  kind of beat myself up about that. I feel like
  Ive just found mostly that things just kind of,
  I dont know they just kind of happen, like they
  just kind of fall in your lap and end up being
  what you need at the time.
• Other issues The underselection group mentioned
  many careers. Still, they often neglected to
  mention many choices they reported on their
  prospective surveys.

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Results Prospective One-Change Group (n 16)

• 63 of this prospective One-Change group
  classified as One-Change based on the interview
  transcript.
• Centrality of work 50 described low commitment
  to work. 60 married, 38 had children, 1
  interviewee had 2 children.
• Stress? A minority of this group (37) found
  the process of vocational development to be
  stressful.

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Results Prospective One-Change Group (n 16)

• Other issues A focus on abstract higher order
  goals rather than particular job pursuits.
• Selected broad areas of interest that directed
  their pursuit of career that fit, rather than a
  specific occupation (e.g., police officer), as
  was more often reported by individuals in the
  overselection group.
• I never saw any of the options before they came.
  The options were opportunities that fit, they
  were right fits. I didnt have them picked out
  before. I didnt know I was going to do forestry
  before I did it. I didnt know I was going to do
  urban forestry until I did it. I didnt know I
  was going to...so they just fit. I found things
  that fit...I mean, I didnt know what I wanted to
  do, but I knew I didnt...I realized that, I
  didnt have anything to put in the box for
  career, so it worried me, but I was just actively
  seeking them out as they occurred, when I
  suddenly needed a career or needed to decide
  something I would choose and make the choices
  along the way.

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Results Prospective One-Change Group (n 16)

• As active or more active than the prospective
  Overselection group in selecting and constructing
  career paths
• Considered more options, but became committed to
  a career somewhat later in life.
• A few were more similar to the prospective
  Underselection group
• still considering options and exploring their
  interests to find/optimize their career
  trajectories.
• A few were more focused on making choices in
  other domains.
• This group perceived the least amount of distress
  about vocational development and career
  aspirations.

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Substantive Conclusions

• The interviews revealed more career advantages in
  the prospective Overselection and One-Change
  groups (especially the One-Change group) than in
  the Underselection group
• including more commitment to work, more focus on
  optimizing vocational pathways, and a less
  stressful SOC process.
• Processes of selection and optimization provided
  some orderliness to the career trajectories of
  the Overselection and One-Change groups.

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Substantive Conclusions

• Survey indicators of educational attainment and
  career establishment at age 25 did not reveal as
  many differences between the prospective
  Overselection, One-Change and Underselection
  groups as were expected.
• It may be that larger group differences will
  emerge as participants move into later periods of
  adulthood.
• The interviews, completed at age 27, revealed
  some of these potential future differences.

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Methodological Issue Agreement between
Prospectively and Retrospectively Identified
Career Aspiration Groups
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Methodological Conclusions

• Although there was moderate amount of consistency
  in classification
• Caution about drawing conclusions from one method
• Retrospective interview sometimes overemphasized
  continuity
• BUT sometimes illustrated more discontinuity and
  indecision
• Survey may not have provided enough flexibility
  in answers
• Consider asking about future plan for a course of
  study or further training rather than career
  aspirations

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Future Directions

• Why these individual differences?
• Dispositional traits?
• Environmental experiences?
• Are the findings question-, age-, and/or
  context-specific?
• Wiese et al. (2002) found that selection was of
  less importance than optimization among
  individuals age 25-36 living in Germany
• Selection of vocational goals did NOT seem to be
  a salient issue for a large proportion of young
  people during high school.
• Is this associated with less than optimal and
  less satisfying vocational pathways in later
  (e.g., middle) adulthood?

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Background Theory Interpretation of
Qualitative Findings

• Other theories
• Emphasize selection of goals and planning during
  adolescence / emerging adulthood
• Exploration as a process of gathering information
  about oneself and the environment in order to
  make vocational choices and to set career goals
  (e.g., Blustein, 1997 Clausen, 1991 Grotevant,
  1992).
• Expressions of vocational commitment include the
  number of occupational choices under
  consideration, the specificity and certainty of
  career plans, and the strength of commitment to
  occupational choices (Blustein, Pauling, DeMania,
  Faye, 1994 Vondracek Skorikov, 1997).
• Lent, Brown Hackett (1994) and Savickas (1999)
  also identify goal-setting and planning.

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Background Theory Interpretation of
Qualitative Findings

• Other theories
• Theories also describe processes of compensation
  that might occur when goals and commitments must
  be modified.
• Lerner, Freund, De Stefanis Habermas (2001)
• Identity formation was conceived of as a SOC
  process including goal selection, pursuit and
  maintenance/alteration, given limited time and
  energy.
• Selection of goals must occur because limited
  resources are available.
• Many theories assume much individual agency in
  vocational development.