Counseling, Higher Education & Special Education Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2757
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Item REVISITING THE BOTTLENECK HYPOTHESIS: EXAMINING THE CONTRIBUTION OF SEXUAL IDENTITY DEVELOPMENT TO THE CAREER EXPLORATION AND DECISION-MAKING OF SEXUAL MINORITY COLLEGE STUDENTS(2021) Morris, Taylor Robin; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Cheryl Hetherington (1991) proposed that sexual minority (LGBQ) college students’ sexual identity development conflicts with their career development, creating a “bottleneck” of limited time and psychological energy to contribute to both processes (which may be referred to as the bottleneck hypothesis). A small body of literature has supported this hypothesis but given both methodological limitations in the prior research and societal shifts regarding sexual minority individuals, a reexamination is warranted. This study used a social cognitive career theory framework to investigate whether sexual minority college students have greater difficulties in the career exploration and decision-making process than heterosexual students and whether indicators of both psychological and social aspects of sexual identity development explain unique variance in several career decision-making outcomes. The sample consisted of N = 512 undergraduate students who completed an online survey (n = 225 sexual minority and n = 287 heterosexual). Results showed no significant differences in the mean scores of the two groups on career decision-making process and outcome variables, such as career decision-making anxiety and level of career decidedness. The same sets of social cognitive predictors also accounted for significant variance in career-related exploratory goals, career decision-making anxiety, and career decidedness in both groups of students. One group-specific difference was, however, observed at the level of individual social cognitive predictors: the presence of social support for career decision-making uniquely predicted exploratory goals in the heterosexual sample but not in the sexual minority sample. In addition, a few indicators of sexual identity development explained unique variance in the career exploration and decisional outcomes beyond the social cognitive predictors. Notably, sexual minority students reporting higher levels of identity concealment held relatively fewer career-related exploratory goals. The study’s implications for Hetherington’s (1991) hypothesis of a bottleneck effect and for future research on sexual minority students’ career exploration and decision-making are discussed.Item HETEROSEXIST HARASSMENT AND SOCIAL COGNITIVE VARIABLES AS PREDICTORS OF SEXUAL MINORITY COLLEGE STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC SATISFACTION AND PERSISTENCE INTENTIONS(2017) Morris, Taylor Robin; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Sexual minorities face experiences of heterosexist harassment in the college environment, which may contribute to decreased academic well-being. Thus, the present study investigated whether social cognitive variables and heterosexist harassment predict sexual minority college students’ academic satisfaction and intentions to persist. The sample consisted of 731 undergraduate students who completed an online survey. Social cognitive variables were hypothesized to predict academic satisfaction, as specified by the social cognitive model of academic satisfaction, with heterosexist harassment operating as a barrier. Results suggested that the social cognitive model provided good fit to the data. Heterosexist harassment was found to be associated indirectly with academic satisfaction via perceptions of lower environmental support and it was found to negatively predict intentions to persist. Implications of the results are that heterosexism may play a role in sexual minority students’ academic development and that social cognitive career theory may offer a useful framework for interventions.Item Job Search Behaviors of Graduating College Seniors: A Test of the Social Cognitive Model of Career Self-Management(2014) Lim, Robert Hiem; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Due to a changing employment climate and structure, individuals must become more proactive in the management of their careers (Hesketh, 2001; Russell, 2001). It has become increasingly important to know how to manage career transitions, especially between periods of non-employment and employment. Lent and Brown (2013) proposed a Career Self-Management model that examines the active process of managing one's own career. The purpose of this study is to test the Career Self-Management model by examining the roles that job search support, job search self-efficacy, job search outcome expectations, job search intentions, and conscientiousness play in the prediction of job search behaviors of graduating college seniors (N = 240). The study was conducted at two time points, about three months apart, to account for temporal precedence in the prediction of job search behavior. Multiple mediating effects were tested using bootstrapping. The model accounted for 23% of the variance in the prediction of job search behavior, and only job search intention was a direct predictor of job search behavior. Job search intention was found to mediate the relationship between job search self-efficacy and job search behavior. Job search self-efficacy and job search intention also mediated the relationships of job search support and conscientious to job search behavior. Recommendations for future research and implications for counseling practice are discussedItem DETERMINING THE VARIABLES THAT CONTRIBUTE TO JOB TENURE FOR PEOPLE WITH PSYCHIATRIC DISABILITIES PARTICIPATING IN AN EVIDENCED-BASED SUPPORTED EMPLOYMENT PROGRAM(2012) Ethridge, Glacia; Fabian, Ellen S; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Despite the implementation of supported employment programs and the assistance from supported employment specialists, people with disabilities continue to have lower employment rates than their non-disabled counterparts. Persons with psychiatric disabilities continue to have lower employment rates than people with visual disabilities and people with hearing disabilities. The purposes of this secondary analysis research study were to identify factors that distinguished those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who obtained employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program from those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who did not obtain employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program and to identify the variables that contributed to job tenure of people with psychiatric disabilities participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. Participants were clients who participated in the Back to Work Program at St. Luke's House and were enrolled in the study for 27.5 months. Univariate and bivariate analyses revealed that the only factor that distinguished those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who obtained employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program from those individuals with psychiatric disabilities who did not obtain employment while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment was social security benefits. No variables were found to contribute to the job tenure for clients with psychiatric disabilities participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. Due to the low enrollment rate, additional descriptive analyses were used and found interesting patterns for employment and job tenure for clients with psychiatric disabilities participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. This study introduced the Social Cognitive Career Theory as a proposed framework to understanding employment for persons with psychiatric disabilities and their job tenures while participating in an evidenced-based supported employment program. Attachment to the labor market was used to expand how job tenure was measured. Limitations to the study, implications for Rehabilitation Counselors and Rehabilitation Counselor Educators, and future research suggestions were provided.