Causal models of Career Choice in two samples of college women

Abstract

This study represents an attempt to apply multivariate causal modeling techniques to the study of college women's career development. A model of career choice was tested in samples of female students from the University of California/Santa Barbara and the Ohio State University. In the model it was hypothesized that the independent variables Ability, Agentic Characteristics, Feminist Orientation, and Family Orientation affect the dependent variables Career Orientation, Mathematics Orientation, and Career Choice. Using the LISREL VI computer program, the initial model and three modified models were tested for fit in each college sample separately as well as a combined sample including all data. In the final model accepted as achieving the best fit to the combined sample data, the independent variables Ability and Agentic Characteristics were found to predict the dependent variable Career Choice; the independent variables Agentic Characteristics and Sex Role Attitudes were found to predict the dependent variable Career Orientation; the dependent variables Career Orientation and Career Choice were also found to reciprocally predict each other. Differences between the two college samples also were found and are described. Theoretical, empirical, and practical implications of the study are discussed, as well as methodological issues and limitations of the study. The promise of this line of inquiry into women's career development is noted.