Dian Ratna Sawitri

The Adolescent–Parent Career Congruence Scale: Development and Initial Validation

Although there is a growing interest in the discrepancy between parents and their adolescent children in relation to career expectations, there is no existing, psychometrically sound scale that directly measures adolescent–parent career congruence or incongruence. This study reports the development and initial validation of the Adolescent–Parent Career Congruence Scale. Phase 1 utilized a review of literature, focus groups, and expert feedback to formulate 20 items. In Phase 2, with a sample of 550 students, item and exploratory factor analyses were employed to reduce the number of items to 12, which represented two reliable subscales. In Phase 3, with a second sample of 512 students, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the initial structure. In Phase 4, the construct validity was examined by correlating the total and subscale scores with measures of parental support, living-up-to parental expectations, and life satisfaction. The implications for use in research and practice are discussed.

Collectivism and Perceived Congruence With Parents as Antecedents to Career Aspirations A Social Cognitive Perspective

Cultural orientation and perceived career congruence with parents are potentially important influences on adolescent career development in collectivist contexts, but few studies have integrated these variables in a social cognitive-based model. We surveyed 337 Grade 10 students (53% girls, mean age = 15.9 years) from Central Java, Indonesia, and examined a model that consisted of vertical collectivism (VC) and horizontal collectivism (HC), perceived congruence with parents, self-efficacy, and career aspirations. After controlling for socioeconomic status and school achievement, HC was more strongly associated with perceived congruence with parents than VC, and VC and HC were indirectly associated with aspirations via congruence and self-efficacy. These two patterns of collectivism were directly and indirectly associated with self-efficacy via congruence, and perceived congruence was indirectly associated with aspirations via self-efficacy. This study underlined the effects of VC, HC, and perceived adolescent–parent career congruence on career decision-making self-efficacy and aspirations of adolescents from a collectivistic country.