In this study we investigate the antecedents of career exploration. We apply the perspectives of Flum and Blustein [Flum, H., & Blustein, D. L. (2000). Reinvigorating the study of vocational exploration: A framework for research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 380–404] for the first time in Hong Kong, and we also test culture-specific factors in exploration. A quantitative research study was conducted with Chinese students from a university in Hong Kong over a period of up to six months to examine relationships between career exploration and its antecedent variables. Data were obtained from a cross-sectional sample of 271 students and a longitudinal sample of 101 students who participated in either a student internship or a series of career seminars. The results demonstrated that relational support and prior career exploration were related consistently to career exploration as hypothesized, but the claim that achievement motivation is an antecedent of exploration received only limited support. The framework of Flum and Blustein [Flum, H., & Blustein, D. L. (2000). Reinvigorating the study of vocational exploration: A framework for research. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 380–404] was found very relevant in our conceptualization and analysis of career exploration in the Hong Kong context. Implications of this study are discussed and suggestions are made to further extend career exploration research in Hong Kong and other Chinese societies.
The subject of career exploration interests both theorists and practitioners. It is now increasingly conceptualized broadly as a lifespan process underlying career learning and development (Blustein, 1997, Harrington and Hall, 2007 and Taveira et al., 2003), making it even more important to life-career development in the 21st Century. Building on previous research, Flum and Blustein (2000) put forward a comprehensive research framework of career exploration. They defined career exploration broadly as “including the appraisal of internal attributes and exploration of external options and constraints from relevant educational, vocational, and relational contexts” (p. 381). Career exploration is understood as “as a process with critical lifelong and adaptive functions” (p. 381) rather than a stage in career development or decision making, which includes cognitive and attitudinal components, as well as planned and unplanned activities.
Based on a view of “humans as having the capacity to self-construct and self-determine their lives, contingent naturally on the social and cultural factors, which can inhibit and/or facilitate the exploration process” (p. 399), Flum and Blustein (2000) employed the perspectives of identity formation and human motivation, as well as the explicit consideration of contextual and historical contexts to examine career exploration. Specifically, they adopted literature broadly from theories of ego-identity (Erikson, 1968; Berzonsky, 1992 and Marcia, 1966) and self determination (Deci & Ryan, 1985) to inform the process of career exploration. From their framework, those who are intrinsically motivated (as opposed to extrinsically motivated) and have achieved a self constructed (as opposed to conferred) identity tend to engage in self-determined or autonomous exploration. Moreover, career exploration is also framed by the immediate relational, cultural and historical contexts, which may inhibit or facilitate exploration, as well involving the meaning making process in exploration.
Flum and Blustein (2000) contributed significantly by extending the definition and scope of career exploration to reinvigorate the study of vocational exploration in the 21st Century. Given this context-rich, comprehensive approach, the model can potentially be applied in a different culture to explain autonomous exploration behavior by individual and contextual factors. The research framework (Flum & Blustein, 2000) outlines key perspectives and broad directions for future career exploration research and it provides plenty of room to test different variables in the domains of antecedents, process and consequences of career exploration. To the best of our knowledge, there is no major effort to test the relations among antecedents, process and outcomes in this framework of career exploration in Hong Kong and other Chinese societies. This is a first endeavor to test specific motivational and contextual factors of exploration in the Hong Kong context.
