Career indecision is a substantial challenge for multicultural adolescents in South Korea. This study investigated the role of acculturation stress in adolescents and their parents in multicultural families on career decisions in South Korea. Perceived career barriers by adolescents and career-related behaviors of their parents were included as…

Which occupation to pursue is one of the more consequential decisions people make and represents a key developmental task. Yet the underlying developmental processes associated with either individual or group differences in occupational choices are still not well understood. This study contributes toward filling this gap, focusing in particular on…

This article uses U.S. survey data (N = 15,847) to characterize the evolution of student interest in an astronomy career in the period between middle school and the beginning of college. We find that middle school students have a relatively high interest in astronomy, which sharply declines with every phase of their education. However, many of the…

Young adolescents, and the middle level educators who work with them, face many exciting but demanding challenges during this key period of development. According to stage-environment fit theory, the degree to which middle grades students perceive a good fit between their school environment and their needs impacts their academic and life outcomes.…

Within the framework of social cognitive career theory, social cognitive career variables, demographic variables, and the contextual variable, parent support, were examined to determine their predictive value for eighth-grade students' career exploration behavior. Results suggest that the social cognitive career variable, intentions/goals,…

National efforts to interest students in STEM careers are intensifying around the globe, due to a shortage of professionals to fill the growing demands in these fields. Although some US studies find high interest in STEM in K-12 students, longitudinal studies show a decline in interest following middle school. Many students, particularly females…

In recent years, there has been heightened awareness of the importance of early childhood education and high school as intervention points in the educational lives of America's children. Less attention has been paid to the importance of the upper elementary grades and middle school and the role they must play in the preparation of students for…

This study tested hypotheses of the Integrative Contextual Model of Career Development (R. T. Lapan, 2004a) by investigating the multivariate effects of 6 interrelated career development skills (career exploration, person-environment fit, goal setting, social/prosocial/work readiness, self-regulated learning, and the utilization of social…

Improving leadership development opportunities among those likely to ascend to the principalship is a particularly effective policy response to reform advocates. But the school district level requires a deeper understanding of the individual personality preferences and leadership styles of those preparing to apply for the next round of…

This study examined whether sociocontextual and sociocognitive variables explained the math/science goals of 409 Mexican American youth using a modified version of R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett's (1994) social cognitive career theory. Results from structural equation modeling indicated that the hypothesized model explained a significant…

The study in this article investigated how academic preparation, career development skills, parental assistance, and social/environmental barriers predicted inner-city adolescents' psychological preparation to transition into high school. Results showed that academic preparation, parents' instrumental assistance, adolescents' career development…

Postsecondary and work success is central to the economic and social wellbeing of a country. Fundamentally, college success is measured by persistence to degree attainment. Analogously, work success refers to effective performance of a job's required tasks. To succeed in college, one must be ready for college. A student who is ready for college is…