Gail Hackett

A self-efficacy approach to the career development of women

An approach to the conceptualization and facilitation of womens career development based on A. Banduras (Social learning theory. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1977; Psychological Review, 1977, 84, 191–215) self-efficacy theory is presented. The model presented postulates that largely as a result of socialization experiences, women lack strong expectations of personal efficacy in relationship to many career-related behaviors and, thus, fail to fully realize their capabilities and talents in career pursuits. Sex differences in the access to and availability of four sources of information important to the development of strong expectations of personal efficacy are reviewed and discussed in relationship to womens career decisions and achievements. The utility of the proposed model for integrating existing knowledge of womens career development, for generating productive avenues of inquiry, and for guiding intervention efforts is discussed. The conceptual framework provided is seen as having implications for the career development of men as well as women, but the focus herein is on its potential for contributing to knowledge of the career development of women.

Contextual Supports and Barriers to Career Choice: A Social Cognitive Analysis

Summary The foregoing review of the career barriers literaturepresents a mixed picture. On the one hand, students andworkers do perceive barriers to their career progress; but onthe other hand, barrier ratings are often found to besomewhat modest in size and have not been shown to beconsistently related to important career outcome or processvariables in the mostly student samples in which they havebeen studied. This is not to say that barriers are notconsequential for many Individuals. Indeed, they are likelyto be especially salient for those who have been victimizedby various forms of oppression. However, several concep-tual and methodological issues—such as the manner inwhich barriers have been defined, failure to consider thecontext and temporal specificity of barriers, noncorrespon-dence between barriers and outcome criteria (in terms ofcontent and developmental task), infrequent attention tomediating and moderating variables, understudy of nonstu-dent samples, and use of designs that do not explorepotential causal effects of barriers—may have partly ob-scured the impact of perceived barriers and the mechanismsthrough which they affect career behavior.Despite these considerations, recent career barriers re-search has constructed an important conceptual and method-ological foundation for further inquiry, and the program-matic research of Swanson, McWhirter, and Luzzo and theircolleagues has been particularly pivotal. In the remainder ofthis article, we attempt to build on this foundation, offering amodest set of suggestions for future research on careerbarriers and their conceptual partner, career supports. Thesesuggestions are premised on the need to clarify or elaboratecertain aspects of SCCT having relevance for the conceptu-alization and assessment of contextual variables.

The relationship of career-related self-efficacy expectations to perceived career options in college women and men.

The present study was designed to investigate the applicability of Banduras self-efficacy theory to the process of career decision making and, in particular, to investigate the possible importance of self-efficacy expectations in the explanation of womens continued underrepresentation in many professional and managerial occupations. Subjects, 134 female and 101 male undergraduates, were asked to indicate their perceptions of their capabilities to successfully complete the educational requirements and job duties of each of 10 traditionally female and 10 traditionally male occupations. In addition, subjects indicated their degree of interest in and extent of consideration of each occupation. Finally, American College Test Math and English subtest scores were obtained. Results indicated significant and consistent sex differences in selfefficacy with regard to traditional versus nontraditional (for females) occupations: Males reported equivalent self-efficacy with regard to the two classes of occupations, females reported significantly higher levels of self-efficacy with regard to traditional occupations and significantly lower levels of self-efficacy with regard to nontraditiona l occupations. Further, self-efficacy expectations were related to both the type and number of occupations considered and to expressed interest in traditional and nontraditional occupations. Implications for further investigation of the utility of self-efficacy theory to the understanding of vocational behavior and for the applications of the model to career counseling are discussed.

The relationship of mathematics self-efficacy expectations to the selection of science-based college majors

Abstract The major purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship of mathematics self-efficacy expectations to the selection of science-based majors in college males and females. Based on results obtained from a pilot sample of college students, an instrument assessing mathematics self-efficacy expectations was developed. The items used in the mathematics self-efficacy scale included everyday math tasks, math problems, and math-based college courses. Subjects, 153 female and 109 male undergraduates, completed the mathematics self-efficacy scale, the Bem Sex Role Inventory, an adapted version of the Fennema-Sherman Mathematics Attitudes Scales, and a questionnaire concerning their college major choices. Results indicated that mathematics self-efficacy expectations were significantly related to the extent to which students selected science-based college majors, thus supporting the postulated role of cognitive mediational factors in educational and career choice behavior. In addition, the math-related self-efficacy expectations of college males were significantly stronger than were those of college females. Implications of the findings for the process of educational and career decision-making are discussed.

Career self-efficacy: Empirical status and future directions

Abstract Banduras self-efficacy theory, stemming from a social cognitive model of behavior, has been gaining empirical attention in the career literature. This paper reviews emerging findings applying self-efficacy theory to career-relevant behaviors; examines a number of conceptual and methodological issues arising from this work; and offers several directions for future research and theory on the career self-efficacy construct. Self-efficacy appears to offer promise in understanding certain career entry behaviors, such as college major choices and academic performance, though there has been little work relating self-efficacy to career development beyond college or exploring causal connections between self-efficacy and career behaviors. An expanded base for research on career self-efficacy is advocated.

Role of Mathematics Self-Efficacy in the Choice of Math- Related Majors of College Women and Men: A Path Analysis

The purpose of the present study was to test the hypothesis that mathematicsrelated self-efficacy mediates the effects of gender and mathematical preparation and achievement on math relatedness of college major choice. The responses of 117 undergraduates to a series of inventories and questionnaires yielded seven variables descriptive of the math-related career choice process; a causal model of the interrelationships of these variables was constructed from predictions based on self-efficacy theory. A path analysis and consequent refinement of the model resulted in a final path model that was congruent with a self-efficacy approach to womens career development. Unexpected results and implications of the model are discussed. The increasing realization on the part of counseling psychologists that our knowledge of womens vocational behavior and career development is inadequate (Fitzgerald & Crites, 1980; Osipow, 1983; Vetter, 1978) has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in the empirical literature devoted to this topic. Still missing, however, is a synthesizing framework, a relevant theoretical conceptualization of womens career development which is capable of integrating existing knowledge and guiding future research and intervention efforts. In an attempt to fill this conceptual void, Hackett and Betz (1981) have outlined a self-efficacy approach to womens career development. This approach stresses the

Self-Efficacy and Career Choice and Development

There are few other decisions that exert as profound an influence on people’s lives as the choice of a field of work, or career. Not only do most people spend considerably more time on the job than in any other single activity (save, arguably, sleep), but also choice of occupation significantly affects lifestyle, and work adjustment is intimately associated with mental health and even physical well-being (Levi, 1990; Osipow, 1986). Despite the relative neglect of work/career issues in the field of psychology at large, researchers in the area of vocational psychology have been studying career choice and work adjustment for decades, and a number of theoretical models of career choice and development have been generated (Hackett & Lent, 1992).

A causal model of the educational plans and career expectations of Mexican American High School Girls

A structural model predicting the educational and career expectations of 282 Mexican American high school girls was developed and then tested on samples of 247 Mexican American boys and 228 European American girls. Predictors included socioeconomic status, acculturation, academic achievement, instrumentality, expressiveness, gender role attitudes, parental and teacher support, family and career commitment, and perceptions of barriers. Results indicated that the initial model was plausible in the sample of Mexican American girls. Findings from the multiple-groups analyses provided evidence supporting the primacy of cultural influences over gender in predicting the educational and career expectations of Mexican American girls.

Career Self-Efficacy Theory: Back to the Future

This article begins by reviewing the scientific origins of research on career self-efficacy, highlighting its original development as a means of understanding the career development of women and discussing its development through the years into what is now, along with its extension as social cognitive career theory, a widely applicable major approach to the understanding and facilitation of the career development process. Concerns about current research efforts are discussed. The first is the tendency of researchers to overlook the fact that the concept of self-efficacy must be linked to a specific behavioral domain to have meaning. As a corollary, measures of self-efficacy expectations must be developed with careful and exact specification of the behavioral domain in question. Detailed suggestions are provided for the construction of such measures. A second major concern is the lack of familiarity of many researchers with the theory that underlies this work, in particular, Bandura’s theory and its elaborations. The article praises the extensive research attention given to these exceedingly useful theories (self-efficacy and social cognitive) and suggests that more careful attention to the theoretical underpinnings and issues of conceptualization and measurement would be beneficial.

The Effects of Mathematics Task Performance on Math Self-Efficacy and Task Interest.

Abstract This study explores the effects of task performance i.e., success or failure, on level and strength of task self-efficacy, task interest, and self-evaluations of performance. One hundred twenty subjects were randomly assigned to a success or failure condition and attempted to solve a series of easy or difficult incomplete number series. Results indicated that changes in self-efficacy expectations as a result of task success or failure were in accordance with predictions from self-efficacy theory; subjects decreased their ratings of self-efficacy and interest as a result of the failure experience and the same ratings increased as a result of the success experience. A significant repeated measures × gender interaction was found for self-efficacy strength, with women rating themselves significantly lower than men on the first post-test. Finally, women in the success condition were significantly more likely than men to rate luck as the cause of their successful performance, while women in the failure condition were significantly more dissatisfied than men with their performance. Implications of these results for counseling and future research are discussed.