Abstract
Popular and news media sources may play a key role in influencing undergraduate choice of major, yet their unique impact has not been investigated. Most research has focused on the influence of unmediated salient referents, such as parents, on students' major choices. Therefore, we developed a scale to examine the role of media professionals and celebrities (mediated salient referents) and unmediated salient referents on career selection. Overall, we investigated the ways media exposure, technology use, mediated salient referents, and unmediated salient referents influenced variations in the likelihood students choose the media-related major of journalism through a survey of communication undergraduates (N = 2,401). Results showed mediated referents and news consumption positively predicted the choice of journalism as a major, while unmediated referents influenced students' selection of other communication-related majors.
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