Evaluating FOCUS‐2's Effectiveness in Enhancing First‐Year College Students’ Social Cognitive Career Development

Abstract

The mentor and any other committee members who wish to review revisions will sign and date this document only when revisions have been completed. Please return this form to the Office of Graduate Studies, where it will be placed in the candidate's file and. submit a copy with your final dissertation to be bound as page number two. AbstractThis study examined the effectiveness of the computer-assisted career guidance system, FOCUS-2, on first-year college students' social cognitive career development.Specifically. career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) and assessment of attributions for career decision-making (AACDM) was assessed using repeated measures ANOVAs with a sample of 420 first-year college students. Results demonstrated that FOCUS-2 increased participants' confidence in their ability to make career decisions and altered their assessment of attributions to a less optimistic style for career decision-making.Results also revealed that the amount of time spent using FOCUS-2 was not significantly related to CDSE and AACDM. Furthermore, no gender differences were found for CDSE: however, women had adopted a more optimistic attributional style for career decision-making than men after using FOCUS-2. African American participants also reported significantly greater CDSE and more optimistic AACDM in comparison to Asian American participants after using FOCUS-2. Lastly, participants with declared majors had significantly greater CDSE than those participants who were undecided about their academic major, and those who indicated that they had a declared major, but were uncertain in their choice of major. There were no significant differences found for academic major and AACDM in this study. Implications for counseling and career professionals are discussed.

Vocational Psychology: Agency, Equity, and Well-Being

“…Both systems were associated with significant increases in career decision self-efficacy and decidedness about college majors. Positive changes in career decision self-efficacy and related outcomes (e.g., vocational identity) have been reported with other online (Tirpak & Schlosser 2013) and career course (Scott & Ciani 2008) interventions as well. (For a review of research on interventions and experimental studies relative to change in self-efficacy and other social cognitive constructs, see Sheu & Lent 2015.…”

Expectations, Experiences, and Career‐Related Outcomes of Computer‐Assisted Career Guidance Systems

“…Computer-assisted career guidance (CACG) systems help solve career problems (Copeland et al ., 2011;Sampson & Osborn, 2015) by enhancing self-awareness (Peterson et al ., 1994), increasing knowledge of information resources (Cerrito et al ., 2018;Peterson et al ., 1994), developing decision-making skills (Sampson, 1996), improving career decision-making self-efficacy (Maples & Luzzo, 2005;Tirpak & Schlosser, 2013), increasing career decidedness (Betz & Turner, 2011), building confidence in career decision problem-solving (Tirpak & Schlosser, 2013), and reducing career decision-making difficulties (Gati et al ., 2001) . CACG systems provide an interactive method of career planning that allows users to assess their strengths, interests, values, and personality to increase their self-knowledge and self-awareness (Peterson et al ., 1994) .…”

Federal Work‐Study Student Perceptions of Career Readiness

“…Colleges are extending resources to aid students' in their career decision‐making and planning, including interventions such as individual career counseling, computer‐based career planning systems, and career development courses (Hughes et al, 2013; Miller et al, 2018; Tirpak & Schlosser, 2013). These interventions allow students to explore potential careers, envision possible selves, and strengthen their career identities, all while attempting to reduce career indecision and dysfunctional career thinking (e.g., anxiety perpetuating career indecision; Osborn et al, 2007).…”

“…Colleges are extending resources to aid students' in their career decision-making and planning, including interventions such as individual career counseling, computer-based career planning systems, and career development courses (Hughes et al, 2013;Miller et al, 2018;Tirpak & Schlosser, 2013). These interventions allow students to explore potential careers, envision possible selves, and strengthen their career identities, all while attempting to reduce career indecision and dysfunctional career thinking (e.g., anxiety perpetuating career Patrick Akos, School of Education, A. Joshua Leonard, Office of Scholarships and Student Aid, and Amy Bugno, Kenan-Flagler Business School, all at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Patrick Akos, School of Education, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 105E Peabody Hall, CB 3500, Chapel Hill, NC 27599 (email: pakos@email.unc.edu). indecision; Osborn et al, 2007).…”