For noncollege-bound youth, swiftly finding a satisfying job upon exiting compulsory schooling might support adjustment. Yet, youths' own job perceptions have rarely been considered in school-to-work transition research. Sequence analysis of monthly occupational status over 4 years (ages 16-20) in a low socioeconomic status Canadian sample…

At the end of compulsory schooling, young adults decide on educational and occupational trajectories that impact their subsequent employability, health and even life expectancy. To understand the antecedents to these decisions, we follow a new approach that considers genetic contributions, which have largely been ignored before. Using genomewide…

Research based on the Eccles model of parent socialization demonstrated that parents are an important source of value and ability information for their children. Little is known, however, about the bidirectional effects between students' perceptions of their parents' beliefs and behaviors and the students' own domain-specific values. This study…

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…

Marginalized youth's development occurs in contexts rife with racialized, gendered, and socioeconomic social identity threats and barriers to social mobility. An emergent line of inquiry suggests critical action--a component of critical consciousness, defined as engaging in individual or collective social action to produce social change--may…

There is a lack of longitudinal research linking adolescent career aspirations to adult outcomes other than career and income attainment. Drawing on Nurmi's (2004) and Salmela-Aro, Aunola, and Nurmi's (2007) life-span model of motivation and using quantitative survey data at ages 16, 23, 33, 42, and 50 years, combined with retrospective interview…

Drawing on the expectancy-value model, stage-environment fit theory, and self-determination theory, this study examined the longitudinal associations between classroom characteristics, expectancies-values, high school course enrollment, and career aspirations in the domain of math. Data were collected on 3,048 youth who reported on their classroom…

In this international, longitudinal study, we explored gender differences in, and gendered relationships among, math-related motivations emphasized in the Eccles (Parsons) et al. (1983) expectancy-value framework, high school math participation, educational aspirations, and career plans. Participants were from Australia, Canada, and the United…

Globalized labor markets confront many adults, both employed and unemployed, with demands arising from career uncertainty that have the potential to jeopardize their occupational planning. This article investigated how individuals in different regions of Germany, which are characterized by different economic opportunities, negotiate such demands…

Relatively little is known about adolescents who hold uncertain aspirations, that is, those who do not know what they would like to do in the future regarding their educational or occupational plans. Drawing upon the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England born in 1989-1990, the authors tested a pathway model to investigate the antecedents…

Studies of career development highlight the importance of finding a good "fit" between individual values, needs, and abilities and the experiences and rewards to be found in particular occupations. Rapid economic change and labor market turbulence make career choice and development life-long processes. Still, early careers are particularly…

Two independent studies were conducted to extend previous research by examining the associations between task value priority patterns across school subjects and aspirations toward the physical and information technology- (IT-) related sciences. Study 1 measured task values of a sample of 10th graders in the United States (N = 249) across (a)…

This longitudinal study explored adolescents' future-oriented cognitions, current activities, and later educational attainment using data from 317 adolescents (55% female; mean age = 14.98 years, SD = 0.85) followed into early adulthood. Aspirations and expectations regarding work and education showed modest stability from year to year.…

Adolescents' future expectations are a potentially important precursor of adult attainment and may illuminate how males and females vary in schooling and work. Thus, this longitudinal study examined gender variation in developmental trajectories of educational and occupational expectations from adolescence to adulthood and in connection to…

Structural barriers constrain marginalized youths' development of work salience and vocational expectations. Sociopolitical development (SPD), the consciousness of, and motivation to reduce, sociopolitical inequality, may facilitate the negotiation of structural constraints. A structural model of SPD's impact on work salience and vocational…