Many college students hold ambitious goals for upward social mobility via post-college careers. However, in the current economic recession such optimistic expectations are not a given. The present study examines how college students' current social status and beliefs in causal factors for socioeconomic status (SES) attainment lead to diverging…

The purpose of this study was to test a model based on Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) that placed perceived social status as an antecedent of career-related learning experiences, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations. Gender was included in the present model and results indicated that gender related as expected to…

The present study applied Image Theory (Beach, 1990) to test how different components of a person's value image (i.e., perceived social status identity and conformity to masculine and feminine gender role norms) interact to influence trajectories toward high career aspirations (i.e., high value for status in one's work and aspirations for…

Links between family social background, teenage career aspirations, educational performance and adult social status attainment are well documented. Using a contextual developmental framework, this article extends previous research by examining the role of gender and teenage ambition value in shaping social status attainment and earnings in…

The transition from school to work is a central developmental task with long-term implications for the financial and social status of individuals. We argue that dynamic adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful outcome of the school to work transition, particularly in the context of the German vocational training system.…

The relation of social status to individuals' career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) and choice certainty was explored using a new, multifaceted measure of social status, the differential status identity scale (DSIS;, Brown, M. T., D'Agruma, H. D., Brown, A., Sia, A., Yamini-Diouf, Y., Porter, S., et al. (2002). Differential status identity:…

Becker's side bet theory (remaining in a job because of perceived costs of leaving) was tested using data from 327 working business students. Three factors were most consistent with the theory: bureaucratic organization, nonwork-related concerns, and adjustment to social position. Attachment to the organization was significantly linked to tangible…

Examines the independent and joint effects of variations in eye contact and social status on the way in which job applicants tend to be perceived in employment interviewing situations. The key dependent variable is the interviewer's perception of how well the applicant is suited for a job requiring self-confidence. (Author)

Reviews and rebuts seven common arguments that intelligence (g) is of little or no practical importance in employment. Illustrates in several ways the profound effect that differences in intelligence in a work force may have on the structure and functioning of whole societies. (Author/ABB)

This study report is primarily concerned with how social origin variables affect early educational and occupational orientations. The results indicate that mother's education has a greater effect than father's education. These young women hold very traditional status orientations. This study offers limited insight into the status attainment…

The social status of occupations has remained stable over a 49-year period beginning with Count's study that found occupations in a well-defined prestige order. This prestige hierarchy has obtained throughout several replicated studies, some of which controlled the variables of race, educational level and sex. (Author)

Evaluates a 10-item scale of perceived occupational opportunity, using data covering career decision making and labor entry, adolescence to young adulthood (N=630). The scale's external validity is explored using a structural equation model linking perceived opportunity to social origins, adolescent career plans, and early socioeconomic…

Examined the relationship between career status aspirations and strength of career orientation. Male (N=171) and female (N=192) 12th graders completed a Career Orientation Inventory and reported their most preferred occupational aspiration. Results indicated students with higher status professional aspirations manifested stronger career…

This study aims to test whether the amount of manual labor or the educational/intellectual requirements determines prestige in more traditional developing countries. Data from Afghan subjects were used for a critical decision between the two positions. Results show in nonindustrialized countries and industrialized countries, prestige covaries only…

Social determinants over the life course, including childhood family characteristics, were studied in predicting unsuccessful entrance into the labour market at the age of 31 years. Among men, unsuccessful entrance into the labour market was predicted prospectively by the mother's receptive attitude towards receiving social aid and contentment…