Age and Grade Differences in Career Development among Community College Students

Abstract

This study examined differences in career development characteristics between older and younger community college students, between freshmen and sophomores, and, in a post-hoc analysis, between male and female students. Two hundred seventy-three students in two different samples completed eight and eleven career development measures respectively. Multivariate analysis of variance tested significant age, grade level, and gender differences. The findings suggest that both older students and sophomores are more advanced in some career development skills and have higher career self-esteem and GPAs than younger students and freshmen. In both samples, women had higher GPAs, but there were no other consistent gender differences.