Holland's Secondary Constructs of Vocational Interests and Career Choice Readiness of Secondary Students

Abstract

Abstract. This study examined the relationship between the secondary constructs of Holland's (1997) theory of vocational interests and career choice readiness (career maturity) attitudes with 358 Swiss secondary students. The hypothesis was tested that the secondary constructs consistency, coherence, differentiation, and congruence are measures for the degree of vocational interest development. Thus, they should belong to the content domain in career choice readiness and should show meaningful relations to career-choice readiness attitudes. The hypothesis was confirmed for congruence, coherence, and differentiation. Interest-profile consistency showed no relation to career-choice readiness attitudes. Vocational identity emerged as a direct measure for career-choice readiness attitudes. Realism of career aspirations was related to career-choice readiness attitudes and coherence of career aspirations. Profile elevation was positively connected to more career planning and career exploration. Differences between gender, ethnicity, and school-types are presented. Implications for career counseling and assessment practice are discussed.

Development and Criterion Validity of Differentiated and Elevated Vocational Interests in Adolescence

“…Several studies also investigated group differences in interest differentiation and found that female college students and career clients have generally more differentiated interests than males (Fouad & Mohler, 2004;Miner, Osborne, & Jaeger, 1997), students in eleventh grade show more differentiated Differentiated and Elevated Interests 5 interests than students in eighth grade (Hall, Kelly, & Van Buren, 1995) or that adjudicated adolescents showed lower differentiation than a normative sample (Glaser, Calhoun, Bates, & Bradshaw, 2003). No general differences were found among ethnic groups or between students with an immigration background to native-born students (Fouad & Mohler, 2004;Hirschi & Läge, 2007).…”

Could Differentiation and Consistency of Interests Serve as Career Maturity Indicators of Elementary School Children?

“…Većina istraživanja ustanovila je vrlo niske ili neznačajne povezanosti profesionalne zrelosti s mjerama diferenciranosti i konzistentnosti profesionalnih interesa (Guthrie i Herman, 1982;Hirschi i Läge, 2007;Miner, Osborne i Jaeger, 1997). Miner i sur.…”

“…Nalazi o pozitivnoj povezanosti diferenciranosti profesionalnih interesa i profesionalne zrelosti podupiru Hollandovu teoriju (1985) i slažu se s nalazima nekih prijašnjih istraživanja (Erwin, 1982;Guthrie i Herman, 1982;Luzzo, 1995i Hirschi i Läge, 2007. Dobivene povezanosti profesionalne zrelosti i diferenciranosti vrlo su niske, što je bilo i očekivano.…”

“…Dobivene povezanosti profesionalne zrelosti i diferenciranosti vrlo su niske, što je bilo i očekivano. Prijašnje studije koje su ispitivale odnos diferenciranosti te mjera profesionalnog razvoja dobile su kao rezultat još niže povezanosti, koje gotovo nikad ne poprimaju vrijednosti veće od 0,1 (Hirschi i Läge, 2007). Također, istraživanja koja su ispitivala ovu povezanost provedena su na dobno heterogenim uzorcima učenika, čija je dob varirala pet ili više godina, što također može umjetno povećati promatranu povezanost.…”

“…Dobiveni rezultati ne podržavaju Hollandovu pretpostavku (1973) da je visoka razina profesionalne zrelosti očekivana kod pojedinca s visokim stupnjem konzistentnosti profesionalnih interesa. Međutim, naši su nalazi u skladu s nalazima nekih drugih autora, koji također ne dobivaju pozitivnu povezanost konzistentnosti i profesionalne zrelosti (Guthie i Herman, 1982;Ohler i sur., 1996), ali i drugih mjera profesionalnog razvoja, kao što je profesionalni identitet (Leung i sur., 1992) i spremnost na odabir zanimanja (Hirschi i Läge, 2007).…”