Predictors of Research Productivity and Science-Related Career Goals among Counseling Psychology Doctoral Students

Abstract

This cross-sectional study investigated predictors of research productivity and science-related career goals in a sample of 267 doctoral students (representing a response rate of 5S%) from 15 randomly selected APA-accredited counseling psychology doctoral programs. A structural equation modeling procedure revealed that career goals and research productivity could be predicted by Holland personality type, perceptions of the research training environment, interest in research, and research self-efficacy. Students' gender and year in the doctoral program also contributed to this causal model as additional predictor variables, providing a very good fit to the data The present findings contribute to theories of research training by presenting a comprehensive examination of the major factors previously investigated in the literature as predictors of research productivity and science-related career goals within the context of a structural equation model