UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item The Role of Negative Outcome Expectations in Career Exploration and Decision-Making(2020) Ireland, Glenn W; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study had two objectives. First, responding to calls for improved measurement of outcome expectations in the domain of career exploration and decision-making (Fouad & Guillen, 2006), a measure of outcome expectations was developed that incorporates Bandura’s (1997) conceptualization of both positive and negative outcomes, as well as classes of physical, social, and self-evaluative effects. Second, the replicability of the scale’s factor structure and evidence of its validity were examined. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent & Brown, 2013) was used to explore the theoretical relationships between positive and negative outcome expectations, and other domain-specific variables, including (a) self-efficacy, (b) learning experiences, (c) social support, and (d) career exploration goals. In addition to exploring direct relationships proposed by the SCCT career self-management model, negative outcome expectations were also explored for their theorized moderation of the relations of self-efficacy to goals and positive outcome expectations to goals. Data were collected via an online survey in two separate samples of college students who were in the process of making initial career decisions. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the new outcome expectations measure indicated a 22-item, four-factor scale with distinct positive and negative factors. Subsequent measure and hypothesis testing analyses offered support for the convergent and discriminant validity of the scale in the samples, found that exploratory intentions was linked with both self-efficacy and positive outcome expectations, and indicated a potential moderator role for negative outcome expectations in these relationships.Item Learning Experiences in Career Exploration and Decision-Making: A Test of the Career Self-Management Model(2017) Ireland, Glenn Walter; Lent, Robert W; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The proposed study had two objectives. First, it refined a recently developed measure of five types of learning experiences that, according to social cognitive career theory (SCCT; Lent & Brown, 2013), inform self-efficacy and outcome expectations in the domain of career exploration and decision-making. Second, it used the new measure to test hypotheses that (a) career exploration and decision-making learning experiences predicted both career decision self-efficacy and outcome expectations, and (b) these learning experiences related to career exploration goals indirectly via self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Data were collected via an online survey from 215 college students in introductory psychology courses. Hypothesized relationships among the learning experiences, self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals were tested using hierarchical linear regression. Non-parametric bootstrapping was used to test mediation (indirect effects) hypotheses.Item GENDERED INVESTMENTS IN CAREER AND FAMILY: VALIDATING A MEASURE OF MOTHERHOOD SCHEMAS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN(2016) Savela, Alexandra; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)One persistent trend characterizing many work-family arrangements is the tendency for women to invest more heavily in the family sphere compared to men and to compromise career pursuits for their children or partner. Discovering which factors perpetuate these gender-stratified investments in work and family is necessary because, along with investing more in the family, women tend to be concentrated in low-paid, low-prestige occupations. Improving the ability to measure how young women perceive the motherhood role will allow researchers to advance the study of women’s career development. Accordingly, the present study tested, among undergraduate women, the factor structure and psychometric properties of the Meaning of Motherhood Scale, which assesses the ways in which mothers are expected to think, feel, and behave to be seen as “good” mothers. The study found that the Meaning of Motherhood Scale, originally developed with a sample of mothers, did not have the same structure in a sample of undergraduate women, non-mothers. Implications of this finding are discussed. Post-hoc analyses were implemented to explore the factor structure of the Meaning of Motherhood Scale with undergraduate women and a three-factor structure measuring Involvement, Flourishing, and Traditional expectations of mothers was found. Tentative implications of these post-hoc findings, future directions for research, and clinical implications are discussed.Item THE ROLE OF IMPLICIT SELF-CONCEPT IN PLANNING FOR CAREER AND FAMILY IN UNDERGRADUATE WOMEN(2015) Silberberg, Ayelet; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Married women are more likely to leave careers and take on domestic labor responsibilities than their partners. This contributes to gender inequality in the workforce. The current investigation sought to understand this phenomenon by examining factors contributing to career and family planning in college-aged women. A novel Implicit Associations Test (IAT) examined the degree to which implicit self-concept explains variance beyond explicit measures of gender in willingness to compromise career for family, and chore division expectations. Eighty-six undergraduate women completed the IAT and a computer survey. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses found no relationship between the IAT and other variables. However, participants expected to perform more chores than ideally desired, and a positive relationship emerged between egalitarian gender role expectations and egalitarian ideal chore division. In post-hoc analyses, high expressivity related to egalitarian chore division expectations, and willingness to sacrifice career for children. Recommendations for future research and practice are discussed.Item A Meta-analytic Investigation of the Predictors of Educational and Vocational Goals for Latina/o Students(2011) Risco, Cristina Maria; O'Brien, Karen M; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Despite the growth of the U.S. Latina/o population, there exists a pattern of academic underachievement and low career attainment among Latina/o communities (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). In light of disparities in educational and vocational attainment, much has been written about the educational and career goal formation processes of Latina/o students. However, the empirical studies that address predictors of educational and vocational goals present a complex picture. To advance knowledge in this area, the current study provided a meta-analytic review of the correlates of educational and career goals for Latina/o students, accounting for the similarities and differences across 26 independent samples drawn from 25 studies. In conceptualizing the career development of Latina/o students, Social Cognitive Career Theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) was used as the foundation for examining the relations among the predictor and outcome variables of interest. Correlates of educational and vocational goals included career-relevant person variables (i.e., career-related self-efficacy), sociocultural person variables (i.e., acculturation and ethnic identity), and contextual variables (i.e., barriers and support). Specifically, an empirical synthesis was conducted of 87 correlations from 16 published studies (with 17 samples) and nine unpublished reports that examined predictors of Latina/o students' educational and vocational goals. Findings indicated that across various study and sample characteristics, effect sizes were small for all the correlates of interest with the exception of career-related self-efficacy (which evidenced a moderate effect size). Additionally, type of goal measure, developmental stage of sample, and study source provided adequate models of moderation. Type of goal measure was found to moderate the effects of career-related self-efficacy, perception of barriers, and support from an important adult on educational/vocational goals while developmental stage of the sample moderated the main effects of perception of barriers. Moreover, study source moderated the effects of career-related self-efficacy, support from an important adult, and support from peers. To end, the contributions of the current work highlighted limitations in the literature, generated directions for future research, and provided recommendations for intervention and prevention efforts with Latina/o communities.Item Congruence X Employment Tenure: A Study with Transitioning Youth with Disabilities(2010) Castan, Juliana Unis; Fabian, Ellen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This study examined the relationship between congruence (between individual's inventoried career interests and subsequent job) and employment tenure for transitioning youth with disabilities successfully closed in fiscal year 2008 by the Maryland State Vocational Rehabilitation Agency (DORS) - Region 6 (N = 51). The relationship between employment tenure and demographic variables (gender, ethnicity, education level, disability type, social security benefits status, and length in services) is also assessed. Data was obtained from DORS database, wage checks reports and file reviews. This study did not find support for the relationship between employment tenure and either congruence or demographic variables. Related findings include high frequency of low congruent jobs, and the majority of jobs in janitorial and service areas, part time and with hourly wage between $5.00 and $10.00.Item An Instrument Development Study of Men's Planning for Career and Family: Contributions of Parental Attachment and Gender Role Conflict(2008-05-02) Mereish, Ethan H.; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study first investigated the factor structure and assessed the psychometric properties of a scale that measures the degree to which future family responsibilities are considered by men when making career decisions. The study then examined the contributions of parental attachment and gender role conflict in predicting men's career and family planning. Participants included 205 college men. The findings suggested that two subscales comprise the measure: the Incorporating Future Family in Career Plans subscale (IFFCP; α = .80) and the Choosing a Career Independent of Future Family subscale (CCIFF; α = .80). Convergent validity was supported through a negative correlation among the IFFCP subscale and career aspirations. Discriminant validity was supported, in which the IFFCP subscale lacked a correlation and the CCIFF subscale had a low correlation with the career decision-making self-efficacy. Attachment to father positively predicted incorporating future family considerations in career planning, and gender role conflict in the success, power and competition domain positively predicted choosing a career independent of future family considerations.Item The Relation of Self Variables to Transfer Student Success as measured by Academic, Psychological, and Career Functioning(2006-04-17) Ling, Thomson Joseph; O'Brien, Karen M; Psychology; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Research has suggested that transfer students experience difficulty in many domains however limited research has examined the variables associated with transfer student success. The present study examined transfer student success using a sample of first-year transfer students at a large mid-Atlantic university. Independent variables examined were academic self-efficacy, career self-efficacy, and sense of belonging/social integration. Transfer student success was assessed through academic performance, psychological functioning, and career functioning. Using canonical correlation, two patterns of associations were found to explain transfer student functioning in a new institution. Implications of these two patterns of associations are discussed.