Relatively little is known about the extent to which current theories of career development pertain to Latinos/as in general, and Latino/a adolescents in particular (Arbona, 1995 and Fouad, 1995). Some authors have found support for the potential usefulness of the social-cognitive model of career development with Latina adolescents (Flores and O’Brien, 2002, McWhirter, 1997 and McWhirter et al., 1998). This study examined the relationship between ethnic identity and two social-cognitive variables (e.g., career decision-making self-efficacy and career outcome expectations) in a sample of ninth grade Latino/a students.
Ethnic identity describes individual differences in “feelings of ethnic belonging and pride, a secure sense of group membership, and positive attitudes toward one’s ethnic group” (Phinney & Alipuria, 1996, p. 142). Arbona, 1995, Arbona, 1996 and Fouad and Arbona, 1994 notes that ethnic identity formation is a critical developmental task for Latino/a adolescents, one with vital implications for vocational identity, insofar as the latter is presumed to be based on an integrated sense of self (Arbona, 1995, Fouad and Arbona, 1994, Holland, 1985, Super, 1957, Super, 1990 and Super et al., 1996). Given a societal context of racial and ethnic discrimination, it has also been observed that ethnic identity may be a particularly salient domain of overall ego identity for Latinos/as (Arbona, 1995, Phinney, 1990 and Smith, 1991). Consequently, Arbona (1995) suggests that one way that career development theories might better illuminate the experience of Latino/a adolescents would be to “examine to what extent the process of ethnic identity formation becomes a developmental task in itself that affects the process of resolving more directly vocational tasks” (p. 49).
It has also been observed that career-related self-efficacy may prove an important element in formulating a model of career development for Latinos/as (Arbona, 1995 and Fouad, 1995). The construct of self-efficacy (i.e., belief in one’s abilities in a specific domain) has its origins in Bandura, 1986 and Bandura, 1997 social learning theory. It was used initially by vocational theorists to examine women’s career development (e.g., Hackett & Betz, 1981) and more recently as an integral component of social-cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994 and Lent et al., 2002). SCCT highlights the ways in which beliefs as well as socio-cultural context influence the development of vocational interests, career choice, and job performance. Researchers working from this perspective have examined how social factors such as race, culture, and gender influence career self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies, which in turn, are thought to influence career interests, goals, and ultimately, career behavior (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2002).
One of the seminal contributions of SCCT (Lent et al., 1994 and Lent et al., 2002) has been to interpose the constructs of self-efficacy and outcome expectations between personal identity and the development of interests. From this perspective, interests are not simply expressions of personality. Rather, personal inclinations may be transformed into vocational interests if (and only if) people believe they can do something (self-efficacy) and believe they will be successful (outcome expectations). The authors suggest in their model of interest development that within-person variables may directly influence both self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and in addition, that self-efficacy beliefs will directly influence outcome expectations (therefore, potentially mediating the effects of personal factors on outcome expectations). A number of studies (e.g., Fouad and Smith, 1996 and Gainor and Lent, 1998) have found support for the hypothesized effect of such personal factors on self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and of self-efficacy on outcome expectations, though none to date have included the construct of ethnic identity as a personal identity variable.
According to the SCCT model, culture or race may affect career development at a number of different points. For instance, race or culture may influence the kinds of learning experiences to which a young person has (or is encouraged to seek) access, which affect the development of career self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectancies. Contemporary theories of racial and ethnic identity allow for a range of individual differences in psychological orientation to race and ethnicity. Thus, Helms and Piper (1994) suggested that racial identity might affect the development of career interests indirectly through an individual’s assessment of the racial climate of particular career paths. Depending on his or her racial identity status, an individual might (or might not) perceive a particular occupation’s racial climate as posing a barrier.
SCCT authors have recently emphasized the importance of considering the influence of sources of strength or support in career development (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2000). This line of inquiry considers the ways in which parent or teacher support, for instance, might strengthen a particular student’s self-efficacy and outcome expectations. From an SCCT perspective, ethnic identity can be viewed as the result of the interaction of personal factors (i.e., person-inputs) with one’s social context (i.e., contextual affordances). Understood in this way, ethnic identity may be considered a potential source of strength, influencing both self-efficacy (directly) and outcome expectancies (directly, and indirectly though self-efficacy). A growing body of literature has noted the applicability of some aspects of SCCT to the vocational experiences of Latina adolescents (Flores and O’Brien, 2002, McWhirter, 1997 and McWhirter et al., 1998). Gloria and Hird (1999) reported a relationship between ethnic identity and career decision-making self-efficacy for ethnic minority college students.
This study explored how ethnic identity might influence self-efficacy and outcome expectations in ways consistent with the SCCT model of interest development. First, it was expected that higher levels of the person input variable of ethnic identity would be related directly to both higher career decision-making self-efficacy and higher levels of career outcome expectations. Second, it was further expected that, career decision-making self-efficacy would relate positively to outcome expectations, consequently mediating the relationship of ethnic identity to outcome expectations. A path model was used to test the fit of the hypothesized relationships. Alternative models were also considered.
