Effects of an Undergraduate Career Class on Men's and Women's Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Vocational Identity

Abstract

The current study hypothesized that undergraduates enrolled in a career explorations course would report significant gains in career decision-making self-efficacy and vocational identity during a semester. A repeated measures MANOVA was used to assess 88 students' precourse and postcourse self-efficacy for five tasks related to career decision making. Results revealed that students reported significantly more adaptive self-efficacy beliefs following the career course. Furthermore, a time by gender interaction indicated the course was especially effective for increasing women's judgments of efficacy for career planning and problem solving. Subsequent analyses indicated that students also reported a stronger sense of vocational identity following the course. Results from this study contribute to current research and practice by revealing how interventions may affect undergraduates' career-related beliefs.