The relationship between paternal education, self-esteem, resilience, future orientation, and career aspirations.

Buratin Khampirat,Geilson Lima Santana

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0243283

Abstract

Career aspirations are considered to be one of the most important motivation variables in the study of psychology and career development, as well as being connected to an individual’s career-related goals, intentions or options. The aims of this study were: (a) to develop and validate a model for predicting career aspirations, and (b) to investigate direct and indirect links between paternal education, self-esteem, resilience, future orientation, and career aspirations of university students. The participants were 445 students from two universities in Thailand. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed that the factor structure of four measurement models presented in the study was suitable and compatible. To achieve the intended research objectives, the empirical data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with decomposition analysis of total effects in direct and indirect effects. Results showed that paternal education, resilience, and future orientation have significant direct effects on students’ career aspirations, while self-esteem has an indirect effect. This suggests that self-esteem can help students develop their resilience, as well as promoting their development of a positive future orientation, which also helps foster a higher level of career aspiration. These results can be fundamental to supporting the continued use of the structural equation model in future research on career development.

Highlights

In the current competitive labor market, it is increasingly challenging for higher education institutions to produce graduates that are well prepared for employment [1]
Based on the concepts of career aspirations, theories in the field, and previous empirical studies, the conceptual framework developed in this study focused on the relationships between paternal education level, students’ psychological characteristics, and career aspirations as an outcome variable
The same applied to self-esteem, which was in a good range (M = 3.00, standard deviations (SD) = 0.30) on a 4-point scale

Summary

Introduction

In the current competitive labor market, it is increasingly challenging for higher education institutions to produce graduates that are well prepared for employment [1]. One of the most effective approaches to preparing students for employment is to create and develop career aspirations and career goals which motivate and inspire those students with regard to their employability and future careers [2, 3]. Career aspirations are defined as the desire and intention to pursue occupational goals through particular career development processes [4, 5], can encompass the benefits and significant determinants of both short-and long-term career goals and future career mobility [6].

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion