Occupational knowledge in college students: Examining relations to career certainty, career decision-making self-efficacy, and interest congruence

Several career decision-making models describe an ongoing career decision evaluation process in which career decisions are constantly being re-assessed as individuals gain occupational information and self-awareness. However, the relation between career decision certainty and knowledge of one\u27s chosen career has not yet been adequately examined; in part due to the difficult nature of assessing the latter construct in large samples. The present study objectively measured occupational knowledge in 316 college students; specifically regarding the career each student had reportedly been considering. Objective occupational knowledge of participants\u27 chosen careers significantly related to interest congruence only, and neither variable significantly contributed to variance in career certainty. Results indicated career decision-making self-efficacy partially drives participation in career exploration activities and perceived occupational knowledge, and all three variables in turn contributed to the prediction of career certainty through direct and/or indirect effects. This study was the first to objectively assess college students\u27 knowledge of the careers they were actively pursuing, and the first to examine that construct along with other important career decision-making variables. Implications and future research directions are discussed

Career Decision-Making within the College Social Microcosm: Social Value Determinants, Self-Enhancement Bias, and Psychological Needs

Social Cognitive Career Theory posits a career decision-making model conceptualized within the person’s larger social context, defined by supports and barriers (Lent et al., 2000). The present investigation combined social and vocational psychology in order to examine the college social microcosm and its relations to career decision-making. Study 1 (N = 433) presented participants with two fictional student vignettes to examine whether the college social microcosm is comprised of interpersonal social phenomena found in other sociocultural settings, such as stereotypes and biases. Results revealed that a student certain about his/her academic major was judged significantly more positively than a student who was uncertain. The medium effect of this difference (d = 0.71) provides strong evidence that negative social bias is occurring in the college environment. Unexpectedly, the certain student was also judged more negatively. This effect was driven by participants high in subjective career distress; they rated the certain student more negatively than the uncertain student. Self-enhancement motives may have contributed to these results. Study 2 compared effects of two experimental manipulations of social exclusion (career-based, n = 46; personal, n = 46) to career-based inclusion (n = 56) on Williams’ (2009) basic psychological needs (belonging, sense of control, state-self-esteem, and meaning in life) and subsequent effects on career decision-making self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations, per Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2000). Both types of exclusion led to significantly lower levels of belonging, sense of control, state self-esteem, and meaning in life compared to career-based inclusion. Belonging, sense of control, and meaning in life made significant contributions to both vocational variables; however, exclusion/inclusion status did not significantly influence the vocational variables. There were no differences between type of social exclusion. Conclusions and implications are discussed

Parental Autonomy Support and Career Well-Being: Mediating Effects of Perceived Academic Competence and Volitional Autonomy

Self-determination theory (SDT) was used to explain the relation of parental autonomy support for making their own decisions and career well-being (i.e., more academic major satisfaction and less subjective career distress). Perceived academic competence and perceived volitional autonomy were posited to mediate the relation of mother’s and father’s autonomy support and career well-being in 113 university students. Perceived academic competence mediated the relation of father’s support and both indicators of career well-being. Perceived volitional autonomy mediated the relation of mother’s support and both indicators of career well-being. A bootstrap procedure yielded significant mediation effects of mother’s and father’s autonomy support on career well-being. Results are discussed in terms of SDT and career well-being

Graduating with a Science Major: The Roles of First-Year Science Interests and Educational Aspirations

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to determine whether the degree of science interests and educational aspirations in students’ first year of university would significantly differentiate those students who graduated with a science major from those students who did not graduate with a science major. Moreover, the authors expected that educational aspirations would moderate the relation between science interests and graduating with/without a science major. First-year college students in introductory science courses were surveyed in their first semester and then again upon graduation. These 166 students’ science interests and educational aspirations were assessed at Time 1; their educational major was assessed upon graduation. The findings supported both hypotheses. Science interests and educational aspirations significantly differentiated whether or not students graduated with science majors. Moreover, the interaction of science interests and educational aspirations also significantly differentiated whether or not students graduated with a science major. In short, students who graduated with science majors, compared to their counterparts who graduated with nonscience majors, had significantly higher interests only when they also had higher educational aspirations

Identification of a BRCA2-Specific modifier locus at 6p24 related to breast cancer risk

Common genetic variants contribute to the observed variation in breast cancer risk for BRCA2 mutation carriers; those known to date have all been found through population-based genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To comprehensively identify breast cancer risk modifying loci for BRCA2 mutation carriers, we conducted a deep replication of an ongoing GWAS discovery study. Using the ranked P-values of the breast cancer associations with the imputed genotype of 1.4 M SNPs, 19,029 SNPs were selected and designed for inclusion on a custom Illumina array that included a total of 211,155 SNPs as part of a multi-consortial project. DNA samples from 3,881 breast cancer affected and 4,330 unaffected BRCA2 mutation carriers from 47 studies belonging to the Consortium of Investigators of Modifiers of BRCA1/2 were genotyped and available for analysis. We replicated previously reported breast cancer susceptibility alleles in these BRCA2 mutation carriers and for several regions (including FGFR2, MAP3K1, CDKN2A/B, and PTHLH) identified SNPs that have stronger evidence of association than those previously published. We also identified a novel susceptibility allele at 6p24 that was inversely associated with risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers (rs9348512; per allele HR = 0.85, 95% CI 0.80-0.90, P = 3.9×10−8). This SNP was not associated with breast cancer risk either in the general population or in BRCA1 mutation carriers. The locus lies within a region containing TFAP2A, which encodes a transcriptional activation protein that interacts with several tumor suppressor genes. This report identifies the first breast cancer risk locus specific to a BRCA2 mutation background. This comprehensive update of novel and previously reported breast cancer susceptibility loci contributes to the establishment of a panel of SNPs that modify breast cancer risk in BRCA2 mutation carriers. This panel may have clinical utility for women with BRCA2 mutations weighing options for medical prevention of breast cancer