adolescents’ perce parents’ career aspirations for their

FAMILY FACTORS AND CAREER ASPIRATIONS OF CHINESE ADOLESCENTS

by

JIAXIN WEN

(Under the Direction of Jay W. Rojewski)

ABSTRACT

Career aspiration is an important variable for understanding an individual’s career-related

behavior in matters such as choosing appropriate education pathways, making relevant career-

related choices, and perceiving the social forces affecting the availability and nature of specific

career opportunities. Despite increasing study of family influences on the career aspirations of

adolescents in the U.S., little research has been conducted with native Chinese adolescents’

career aspirations. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between career

aspirations and selected family factors. The Career-Related Parental Support Scale (CRPSS;

Turner, Alliman-Brissett, Lapan, Udipi, & Ergun, 2003) measured adolescents’ perceptions of

parental support for their educational and vocational development. Career aspirations were

measured by an open-ended question included in the demographic questionnaire. A majority of

participants, middle school students in one Chinese city, aspired to high prestige occupations.

Results indicated that parents’ career aspirations for their children contributed the most to

explaining the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents. Other family factors provided little or

no additional explanation of adolescents’ career aspirations once the influence of parents’

aspirations for their children were determined. Findings also indicate a need to provide career

education programs for both students and parents in public school systems in China.

INDEX WORDS: Career aspirations; Chinese adolescents; Family factors; Social Cognitive

Career Theory; Parents’ career aspiration for children


by

JIAXIN WEN

BA, Central China Normal University, China, 2008

M.Ed., The University of Georgia, 2010

A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The University of Georgia in Partial

Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

ATHENS, GEORGIA

2015

© 2015

Jiaxin Wen

All Rights Reserved


by

JIAXIN WEN

Major Professor: Jay W. Rojewski

Committee: Roger Hill

In Heok Lee

John Mativo

Electronic Version Approved:

Suzanne Barbour

Dean of the Graduate School

The University of Georgia

August 2015

iv

ACKNOLEDGEMENTS

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to those who helped me during the writing of

this doctoral dissertation.

First of all, I extend my deepest appreciation to my major professor and advisor, Dr. Jay

W. Rojewski. Thank you for accepting me to be your student and allowing me to achieve this

attainment. Without your support and guidance, I certainly would not have completed this

dissertation. Your authentic and excellent feedback always enlightened me. With your

instruction and encouragement, I have gradually developed the academic writing and research

ability. You are a distinguished scholar, an excellent mentor, and a sincere friend.

I also would like to thank all of my committee members. Dr. Hill, you were the first

person I knew in our department. I clearly remembered you had helped me to find where to

submit my application documents for admission in Rivers Crossing. And to make things even

better, you had become one of my committee members. Your outstanding perspectives and

suggestions had helped to improve the quality of my work. Dr. Lee, your excellent guidance on

research method are always appreciated. Also, perhaps because we both are from Asian, I

enjoyed talking and sharing lots of things with you. You are a great listener and supporter. Dr.

Mativo, I so appreciated the discussions we had on research and life. You have offered me

professional guidance and knowledge. I also remember the wonderful time with your family

during Thanksgiving break.

Finally, I must thank my parents for their sacrifice and I cannot even find words to

express. I love you, mom and dad. I am proud of you!

v

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ vii

LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... viii

CHAPTER

1 INTRODUCTION .........................................................................................................1

Rationale ..................................................................................................................1

Purpose of Study ......................................................................................................3

Research Questions ..................................................................................................4

Theoretical Framework ............................................................................................4

Importance of Study .................................................................................................7

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE ........................................................................................9

Career Aspirations ...................................................................................................9

Role of Family in Chinese Society ........................................................................12

Theories of Family Influence on Career Aspirations .............................................18

Family Influence on Career Aspirations in the Chinese Context ..........................30

3 METHOD ....................................................................................................................32

Purpose of the Study ..............................................................................................32

Research Questions ................................................................................................32

Research Design.....................................................................................................33

Sample....................................................................................................................34

vi

Instrument ..............................................................................................................37

Procedure ...............................................................................................................41

Data Analysis .........................................................................................................42

4 RESULTS ....................................................................................................................49

Purpose of Study ....................................................................................................49

Demographic Information ......................................................................................49

Analysis of Research Questions.............................................................................53

5 DISCUSSION ..............................................................................................................62

Summary of the Study ...........................................................................................62

Conclusion .............................................................................................................69

REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................79

APPENDICES

A STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE ..................................................................................96

B TIMELINE .................................................................................................................102

C IRB APPROVAL FORM ..........................................................................................104

vii

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1: Variables and Their Measurements for the Regression Analysis ....................................47

Table 2: Data Analyses for Research Questions ............................................................................48

Table 3: Demographic Information ...............................................................................................50

Table 4: Additional Demographic Information .............................................................................52

Table 5: Predictor Descriptors .......................................................................................................56

Table 6: Predictor Correlation Matrix............................................................................................57

Table 7: All-Possible Subsets Analyses for Regression ................................................................59

Table 8: Results for Determining Predictor Relative Importance .................................................61

viii

LIST OF FIGURES

Page

Figure 1: How basic career interests develop over time ................................................................26

Figure 2: Model of person, contextual and experiential factors affecting career-related choices

behavior..........................................................................................................................26

Figure 3: Task performance model ................................................................................................27

Figure 4: Model of work satisfaction .............................................................................................28

Figure 5: Scatterplot of standardized residuals and unstandardized predicted values. ..................43

Figure 6: QQ Plot of sample data ..................................................................................................45

1

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Rationale

Career aspiration is an important variable for understanding an individual’s career-related

behavior in matters such as choosing appropriate education pathways, making relevant career-

related choices, and perceiving the social forces affecting the availability and nature of specific

career opportunities (Rojewski, 2005). Career aspirations refer to an individual’s “expressed

career-related goals or choices” under ideal conditions (Rojewski, 2005, p. 132). From a

developmental perspective, aspirations are seen as an important determinant that shapes a variety

of life roles that individuals play over the course of a life span and that interact to influence the

development of a person’s self-concept (Super, 1990). Career aspirations have been shown to be

related to a wide range of personal and situational variables, including gender (Gottfredson,

2005; Rojewski & Yang, 1997; Wahl & Blackhurst, 2000), locus of control (Gottfredson, 2005;

Rojewski & Yang, 1997), race/ethnicity (Howard et al., 2011), socioeconomic status (Lee &

Rojewski, 2009; Mau & Bikos, 2000; Rojewski & Yang, 1997; Schuette, Ponton, & Charlton,

2012), educational aspirations and attainments (Marjoribanks, 2002; Mau & Bikos, 2000), and

social support (Wall, Covell, & MacIntyre, 1999).

Career aspirations are also believed to be a determinant in the choice of course work and

educational goals that shape an individual’s pursuit of a future career (Rojewski, 2005). From a

theoretical standpoint, the development of career aspirations and the career choice process can be

explained by a combination of multiple background variables such as personal or psychological

2

factors and sociological or environmental influences (Rojewski & Yang, 1997). Social cognitive

career theory incorporates self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals with personal,

contextual, and learning factors to explain academic and career choices and attainment (Lent,

Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 1996).

Limited literature has examined the influence of family factors on adolescents’ career

aspirations. However, the research that does exact indicates that parents have a significant

influence on children’s career aspirations and serve as influential role models for young people

considering future career directions (Ainsworth, 1989; Bowlby, 1976; Bratcher, 1982; Hotchkiss

& Borow, 1996; Schultheiss, 2007; Watt, 2008). Bratcher (1982) suggested that families develop

certain operating principles or rules that allow for constancy and predictability in daily life.

Family principles and rules also give family members a kind of character that allows family

members to develop a way of thinking about themselves collectively as a family. Children are

very likely to choose a career that is compatible with their family’s principles and rules.

Attachment theory is described as a lasting psychological connectedness between human

beings (Bowlby, 1976) and has been used to study parent-child relational influences on career

development (Blustein, Walbridge, Friedlander, & Palladino, 1991; Ketterson & Blustein, 1997;

Lee & Hughey, 2001). The attachment literature emphasizes the significance of close

relationships with parents in advancing children’s exploration into new life roles and situations.

The influence of parents on their children’s career aspirations varies across culture.

Parents are by far the biggest factor influencing decisions of Chinese students (Kaplan, Liu, &

Kaplan, 2001; Louie, 2001; Mau & Bikos, 2000). One reason for this high degree of influence is

in the collectivist culture found in China, where obedience and family obligations are strongly

emphasized. Parents are expected to be highly involved in and responsible for the decision-

3

making and care of their children throughout their lives. Children, in turn, are expected to consult

with parents and other family members on important decisions. From Chinese parents’

perspective, continuous monitoring, training, and guiding children is an essential part of being

effective and exemplary parents (Okagaki & Bojczyk, 2002). Intensive guidance and restrictive

training of one’s children are perceived as an expression of parental concern, duty, and love

(Chao & Tseng, 2002; Yee, DeBaryshe, Yuen, Kim, & McCubbin, 2007). Asian children are

socialized to respect and follow the guidance of their parents, as well as fulfill a range of

financial, instrumental, and caregiving obligations (Chao & Tseng, 2002).

Career aspirations, meaning an individual’s career-related ambitions or desires under

perfect circumstances, have shown to be strong predictors of occupational attainment (Rojewski,

2005). In spite of the pressure and control from parents, Chinese adolescents still have their own

dreams. One dream is what they want to be and do in the future, which is the origin of career

aspirations. This research examined the relationship between adolescents’ career aspirations and

family factors in China.

Purpose of Study

Parents have a significant influence on their children’s career aspirations (Schultheiss,

2007) and serve as influential role models for young people when considering future career

directions (Watt, 2008). While Chinese adolescents may actually experience heightened

influence from parents because of cultural expectations, limited information exists. Thus, it is

essential to consider the impact of family factors such as family composition (traditional, single

parent, non-traditional), parents’ occupations, family income, parents’ education, registered

permanent residence (urban, rural), parent-child conversation time, parental support, and parents’

career aspirations for their children on Chinese adolescents. Students in one of six middle

4

schools in Haicheng, a city in China, were studied. The dependent variable, career aspirations,

refers to an individual’s work-related ambitions and desires under ideal conditions (Lent, 2005).

Research Questions

This study attempted to answer the following questions:

1. What are the career aspirations of adolescents in a northeast China urban area?

2. What is the best set of family factors to explain the career aspirations of Chinese

adolescents?

3. Is the R2adj*

(explained variance) of selected variables significantly greater than

chance?

4. Which family factors are most important for explaining the career aspirations of

Chinese adolescents?

Theoretical Framework

SCCT provides a conceptual framework for understanding how people develop career-

related interests, make occupational choices, and achieve career success and stability. Social

Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994, 2000) appears to be most

relevant in explaining the influence of family factors on the career aspirations of Chinese

adolescents. to this study. The foundation for SCCT lies in Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive

theory, which emphasizes the complex way in which people, their behavior, and the environment

mutually influence one another. SCCT emphasizes people’s capacity to direct their own

vocational behavior and also acknowledges the many personal and environmental influences

(e.g., sociostructural barriers and supports, culture, disability status) that serve to strengthen,

weaken, or even override vocational behavior (Lent, 2005).

5

SCCT explains three essential cognitive concepts that regulate the career decision-

making process; self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals. The key concept is self-

efficacy. Bandura (1986) described self-efficacy beliefs as people’s judgments of their

capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designed types of

performances” (p. 139). In the social cognitive view, self-efficacy is not a unitary trait, like self-

esteem (i.e., general feelings of self-worth); rather, self-efficacy is conceived as a dynamic set of

self-beliefs that are linked to specific performance domains and activities (Lent, 2005). Self-

efficacy beliefs give answers to questions pertaining to whether we can perform specific tasks

(e.g., Can I pass the mathematics exam?). Outcome expectations refer to beliefs about the

outcomes of performing particular behaviors (e.g., What is likely to happen if I go to graduate

school?) (Lent, 2005). Personal goals are an individual’s intention to engage in a particular

activity or to produce a particular outcome (e.g., How much and how well do I want to do this?)

(Bandura, 1986). Personal goals help individuals organize their behavior and guide their actions.

To some extent, career aspirations and personal goals share common function. In this study,

career aspirations are considered as personal goals.

Following Super’s (1990) tradition of dividing career development into a series of

segmental processes, the social cognitive framework conceptualizes career-related interest,

choice, performance, and work satisfaction within four interlocking models (Lent et al., 1996).

These four models were developed as a means to understand (a) the development of academic

and career interests, (b) the formation of educational and vocational choices, (c) the nature and

results of performance in academic and career spheres, and (d) work and life satisfaction.

The SCCT choice model is concerned with a number of other important person and

contextual variables such as gender, race/ethnicity, physical health/disability, and socioeconomic

6

status, and are assumed to be related to social cognitive variables and the career development

process. In this study, the SCCT model of career choice was applied to Chinese adolescents to

provide a theoretical framework for organizing and explaining variables like family influence

and career aspirations. This study focused on contextual factors’ (e.g., family factors) direct

influences on choice or personal goals (i.e., career aspirations).

In Chinese society, youths’ career aspirations are believed to be highly influenced by the

family. The connection between parents and children’s career aspirations can be understood by

two terms, guan and xiao.

The Chinese term guan translates approximately as training, control, and governance.

Chao (1996) indicated that Chinese parenting is guided by this construct, rather than Baumrind’s

(1967) typologies of parenting, such as authoritarian and authoritative parenting. Central to the

construct of guan is parents’ willingness to be directive, in contrast to Western parents’

facilitative style (Chao, 1996). To promote independent decision-making, parents in the U.S.

often maintain sufficient distance and support children in making decisions by themselves.

Control is seen as domination. However, parental control is not viewed negatively by Chinese

parents or youths. Control is seen as organizational and contributing to the harmonious function

of the family, rather than being restrictive and dominating (Lau & Cheung, 1987).

Chinese culture has displayed value-laden coherence, persistence, and robustness over

many centuries (Buttle, 1980; Cooper, 2003; Lu, 2002; Wang, 1992). One classic Chinese

cultural element is xiao (filial piety), meaning submission to the will of the father. Confucian

relational ethics encourage individuals, especially young persons to fulfill their parents’

aspirations and obey their wishes, to show respect to parental figures, and to maintain

7

interpersonal harmony through their choices and actions. “I study for my parents” is a very

common mentality and attitude among secondary school students in China (Zhang, 2008).

Importance of Study

Despite increasing study of family influences on the career aspirations of adolescents in

the U.S., little research has been conducted with native Chinese adolescents’ career aspirations.

Existing career development theories and constructs are embedded in Western culture. Chinese

adolescents career aspirations and experiences may not parallel those of students in Western

cultures (Mau & Bikos, 2000), and may be subject to different influences (i.e., parents’

expectation) compared with adolescents in the West ( Li & Wright, 2000). Leong and Hardin

(2002) urged researchers to examine the cross-cultural validity of career development models

and theories and to incorporate variables that are specific to each culture.

In the Chinese society, the importance of family are emphasized by traditional culture

and philosophy. For instance, the dominated philosophy, Confucianism, emphasized family is

important to maintain a harmonious society. While with the rapid development of economic

globalization and the promotion of China reform and opening policy, Chinese people’s view on

career is affected. About 30 years ago, people’s career was determined by the state. Government

provide jobs for citizens. The individual career aspirations was relatively meaningless. For young

generation, they are become more autonomy and free to choose own career. In fact, it may not be

really free. This study focus on the relationship between career aspirations and family factors.

The study considered family income, parents’ occupations, and parents’ education when

testing the relationships, as previous studies showed these variables to be associated with career

aspirations (Rojewski & Yang, 1997; Schuette et al., 2012; Wahl & Blackhurst, 2000).

Interactions between parents and children are a powerful influence on Children. Interactions can

8

be positive such as showing support and interest and communicating openly, or be negative such

as pushing and controlling (Way & Rossman, 1996). By sharing workplace and life stories and

expressing concern for their children’s future, parents serve as a context for interpreting the

realities of work (Kerka, 2000). So, parent-child conversation time, parental support, and

parents’ career aspirations for their children were examined in this study. As participants are

middle school students in China, the study also contributed to an understanding of career

development and child-parent relationships in this country.

9

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

This chapter explores literature relevant to career aspirations and the study of career

aspirations of Chinese adolescents. The first part of this review describes the foundations of

career aspirations in the U. S. and China. The second part discusses the role of family in Chinese

society. The third part summarizes theories used to explain family influences on career

aspirations. The last part discusses family influences on career aspiration of individuals in China.

Career Aspirations

Career aspirations refer to an individual’s “expressed career-related goals or choices” (p.

132) under ideal conditions (Rojewski, 2005). Career aspirations have been studied extensively

over the past half-century and are considered to be an important variable in understanding

individual self-concept, career-related behavior, perception of social forces that influence

available opportunities, and future educational and career-related choices and attainment. While

discussing career, people will often interchange the terms interests and aspirations, but a clear

distinction exists. Rojewski (2005) explained that aspirations represent an individual’s career-

related goals given ideal conditions, while interests reflect an individual’s emotional disposition

toward specific career options. Research has shown that career aspirations are equal to or better

than some interest inventories in predicting future occupational attainment (Schoon & Parsons,

2002; Strong, 1953).

Career aspirations occupy a central role in many career development theories. The role of

aspirations in career choice and behavior is important because they are involved in stimulating

10

plans, guiding learning, organizing possible life choices, and contributing to the groundwork for

adult life (Gottfredson, 2005). From a developmental perspective, Super (1990) posited that self-

concept plays a critical role in shaping the constellation of life roles that individuals play over the

course of a life span. Career aspirations are viewed as a representation of an individual’s

occupation self-concept.

Rojewski (2005) suggested that career aspirations can be either idealized or realistic.

Idealized aspirations are occupations one would like to have if there were no limitations on

opportunity, finances, or ability when selecting a career. Realistic aspirations, also known as

expectations, are the occupations one expects to acquire, given perceived or real limitations, such

as gender, ability, and finances. Aspirations engage self-concept and potential goal-setting, while

expectations eliminates personal agency with individual perceptions of barriers, not personal

abilities or interests. In other words, aspirations reveal personal beliefs about abilities and

potentials, while expectations focus on things outside individual’s control. Today, researchers

generally agree that the occupational and educational aspirations of adolescents are useful

predictors of future educational and occupational choices (Mau & Bikos, 2000).

Career aspirations are measured by using several approaches including sex-type, interest,

and prestige level of occupations (Gottfredson, 2005). The use of prestige scores is a popular

way to measure career aspirations. Researchers have calculated occupational prestige scores that

reflect the income and educational attributes of occupations using U.S.-based (Blau & Duncan,

1967; Naoko & Treas, 1992; Stevens & Cho, 1985) and international-based socioeconomic

indexes (Ganzeboom & Treiman, 1996). Socioeconomic indexes not only portray aspirations as a

continuous scales from low- to high- level prestige that facilitates data analysis, but also reflects

11

people’s perceptions about the relative worth, power, and status of occupations (Kraus, Schild, &

Hodge, 1978; Rojewski, 2005).

In China, the role of career aspirations has changed over time. During Mao’s (1949-1976)

period, Chinese youths’ ultimate ideal (aspiration) was to build socialism, even though they often

didn’t even know what the term socialism meant. Under the ideal Marxist system, a job was

available for all citizens. For nearly a half century, through national economic planning policies,

the Chinese government undertook the responsibility of finding jobs for all high school and

college graduates (Zhang, Hu, & Pope, 2002). During this period, personal careers were

determined by the state and were introduced to younger generations as an individual’s

contribution to communism and social improvement. Personal contribution was reflected by

popular slogans, such as “I’m a brick, I could be moved to any place where I am needed,” and

“The need of the nation is also the need of mine” (Dong, 2009, p. 226). Accordingly, the

government would select a person for a specific occupation in a specific place, and the person

had to take on the job and develop his or her interest and enthusiasm for the job. This process

was reflected by another famous slogan, “Do a job, love the job” (Dong, 2009, p. 226).

Therefore, contrary to Western cultures, professional interest was not seen as a primary

motivation for career choice in China, but was merely a product or consequence of a given

career. Under this arrangement, the idea of individual career aspirations was relatively

meaningless.

Since the market-oriented reforms of the 1990s, school and university officials have no

longer assumed responsibility for arranging jobs for students. Students have to find their own

jobs. Career aspirations tend to be more meaningful. Ideally, students have more freedom to

enter the job market to look for jobs of interest. However, little research has been conducted on

12

career aspirations of native Chinese adolescents, even though there has been a consistent study

on career aspirations of adolescents in the U. S. Chinese adolescents decision-making styles may

not parallel those of students in Western cultures (Mau & Bikos, 2000), and may be subject to

different influences (i.e., parents) compared with adolescents in the West (Li & Wright, 2000)..

In order to understand family influences on children, it is important to understand the role of

family in Chinese society.

Role of Family in Chinese Society

Family is one of the most important social groups for people around the world because

almost everyone experiences living in a family for some portion of their life. In China, family

plays an important part of life in both traditional Chinese society and modern society.

Traditional Chinese Society

Chinese culture has a long history and rich tradition. Although there was a diversity of

thoughts in ancient China, Confucianism became the most influential state philosophy and

cultural ideology for Chinese people when it was legitimized and institutionalized by Emperor

Han Wu (156-87 BCE) (Lu, 2002). The Confucian version of society emphasizes social order

through a hierarchy in human relationships and conformity to prescribed social norms and rules

of conduct. Confucian philosophy focuses on dependency and interdependency of family,

friends, and community. Confucianism envisioned humans living in a stable and harmonious

society (Wright & Twitchett, 1962).

Since the highest goals of Confucianism are social order and harmony, proper behavior

between three basic relationships must be maintained; father-son, husband-wife, and ruler-

subject. Given that two of these three basic relationships occur in the family, Confucians placed

great importance on the role of family to maintain a stable and harmonious society.

13

Confucianism established a high ideal for family interaction where members are not only

supposed to treat each other with love and respect, but also each member is expected to

understand and conform to his or her proper role. Within Chinese families, the relationship

between father and son is considered paramount and supersedes all other social relationships (Tu,

1999). The grandfather, or father, is the ruling head and has authority over all other family

members. The model father is expected to be all-powerful. Chinese children are taught at an

early age that they must show respect and be loyal to and obey the authority of the father (Ng,

2002). This loyalty is reflected by a concept known as xiao (filial piety).

Xiao. Farh and Cheng (2000) suggested that the essence of the father-son relationship is

captured in the concept of xiao, translated as filial piety and literally meaning submission to the

will of the father. Xiao is not only viewed as an essential virtue of a perfect man, but also the

glue that holds a family together and the cornerstone of an orderly Confucian society. It is

believed that subordinates have a duty to obey xiao and fulfill role obligations that signify

submission to duty. As human relationships involve a set of defined roles and obligations, it is

the duty of all individuals to conform to their roles in order to maintain the harmony of the whole

(Ng, 2002).

Status of women. To understand Chinese family tradition, one must also understand the

low status of women in family and kinship systems surrounded by male authority. Belief in the

interaction of the principles of yin and yang formed the basis of an ancient Chinese cosmology.

Yang is associated with concepts including light, heaven, warmth, positive, strength, hardness,

and the outside; yin is linked with dark, earth, cold, negative, weakness, softness, and the inside

(Garrett, 2002). Ancient Chinese Confucian cosmology assigned yang to male and yin to female,

and assigned them in a rigid hierarchy of dominance and submission, activity and passivity,

14

strength and weakness (Johnson, 1983). According to Confucian ideals, women as yin, naturally

belonged to the inside, the household, while men engaged in activities of the world outside the

household (Garrett, 2002). Women were expected to limit their interactions with people outside

the family. Women’s daily lives were confined to the domestic realm and their contact with

nonfamily members was limited. Proper women’s work mainly involved service to and

nurturance of children and family members, the manufacture and processing of materials

supplied by men for household consumption and sometimes handicraft work or various other

tasks that could be done in or near the home. In addition, women also lacked all rights of

property ownership and management and carried no formal independent decision-making

authority in matters affecting the family. In short, women were marginal members of family

systems, no matter how central their actual role in maintaining the male-defined family systems

(Johnson, 1983).

Confucianism emphasized the importance of family to maintain a harmonious society.

Family served as a pillar of society, in which the authority of father and husband reflected the

authority of the emperor (Swartz, 2002). Disrupting the order of the family meant a disruption of

the order of the whole society. Fathers or husbands could severely punish their wives and their

children to protect their morality and maintain a harmonious society. In other words, the

harmonious society was maintained through hierarchic and patriarchal family systems.

Modern Chinese Society

In modern China, the strict traditional family order has become slightly relaxed. Even

though many families still operate under a patriarchal style, women have gained new rights and

freedom over the past half century (Garrett, 2002; Jacka, 1997; Johnson, 1983; Zuo, 2013). In

addition, the rapid development of industrialization, urbanization, and Westernization have

15

undermined the social foundations of xiao (filial piety) in Chinese society (Luo & Zhan, 2011).

The spread of public education and new technology among young people have also enabled more

autonomy and power over older parents (Ng, 1998). To better understand the role of family in

modern Chinese society, xiao and the one-child policy are discussed.

Xiao. Prior to the establishment of the People s’ Republic of China in 1949, xiao changed

very little for centuries after being established as the principle doctrine for a family-based elder

care arrangement. Interestingly, when the Communist revolution brought about historic change

in a social system and ideology, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) chose to reinforce and

reinvent the traditional practice of xiao in terms of family elder care. In 1950, the CCP enacted a

new marriage law that emphasized the obligations of adult children to provide care for elderly

parents (Marriage law of People's Republic of China art. 13, 1950). In addition, the Constitution

of 1982 stated that parents have a duty to rear and educate their minor children. In turn, children

have the duty to support and assist their parents (Constitution of the People's Republic of China

art. 49, 1982). In 1996, the CCP passed the Law for the Protection of Elders’ Rights, which

officially and legally spelled out adult children’s obligations to respect and take care of their

aging parents physically, financially, and emotionally. The law formally regulated adult

children’s provisions for their aging parents in terms of housing, medical care, and property

protection. If elders are abandoned, their children can be imprisoned for up to 5 years (Criminal

Law of the People's Republic of China, art. 261, 1997).

It is important to note that in both traditional and contemporary Chinese society, xiao

(filial piety) has at least two sociological meanings, structural and individual (Luo & Zhan,

2011). At the structural level, xiao has served as a guiding principle governing general Chinese

patterns of socialization, connoting the traditional cultural expectations and legal codification of

16

children’s obedience, respect, and care for parents (Ho, 1996). At the individual level, xiao is

often used as an adjective to describe a personal trait or merit (Luo & Zhan, 2011). An individual

viewed to have successfully met the cultural expectations of xiao, is revered and described as

xiao or filial. However, a person who is not sufficiently xiao is often condemned as unfilial and

is considered to be lacking in virtue. The unfilial person may be condemned by morality and

public opinion.

One-child policy. In modern China, the most prominent factor influencing family is the

one-child policy (Feng, Poston, & Wang, 2014). In the late 1970s, Chinese leaders began to

consider the rapid population growth in China as a potential threat to the nation’s economic

development and food surplus (White, 2006). Thus, a one-child policy was introduced in 1979 in

an effort to raise living standards by slowing population growth (Liu et al., 2014). The policy

was officially announced by the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the State

Council’s Resolution Concerning the Strengthening of Birth Control and Strictly Controlling

Population Growth (1980).

The State advocates that one couple has only one child. Except for special cases, with

approval for second birth, government officials, workers and urban residents can only

have one child for each couple. In rural areas, the State also advocates that each couple

has only one child. However, with approval, those who have real difficulties can have

their second child, several years after the birth of the first. (p. 1)

The current birth planning program of the People’s Republic of China, featuring the one-

child policy, has been one of the largest and most dramatic population-control campaigns in the

world, receiving both praise and sharp criticism. It has been so successfully implemented in

China that the nation’s population growth rate dropped significantly from 11.16% in 1979 to

17

5.9% in 2005 and reduced the population by an estimated 250-300 million (Settles, Sheng, Zang,

& Zhao, 2013). At the national level, the one-child birth rate rose from 20.7% in 1970, to 72.4%

in 2003 (White, 2006). Over 95% of preschool children in urban areas, such as Beijing, Nanjing,

and Shanghai, are only children (Rosenberg & Jing, 1996). Reductions in child birth have eased

some of the pressures on communities, the state, and the environment in a country that still

carries one-fifth of the world’s population. On the other hand, this policy has been intensely

criticized internationally for violating fundamental human rights evidenced by forced

sterilizations and abortions, and the widespread abandonment or neglect of baby girls (Settles et

al., 2013).

Many researchers from both the East and West have been concerned with the social and

psychological development of China’s only children (Davin, 1989; Falbo & Polit, 1986; Settles

et al., 2013; Wei, 1990). The one-child policy has caused problems for families. Parents and

grandparents tend to spoil only children and the only children are inclined to be willful, arrogant,

unsociable, and eccentric. Early studies on kindergarten and elementary school children have

reported that only children display several undesirable personality traits. They are more

egocentric and weaker in persistence at tasks and behavioral control (Jiao, Ji, & Jing, 1986).

More recent studies have showed that only children had marked food preferences, short attention

spans, obstinacy, and needs for immediate gratification (Wan, Fan, Lin, & Jing, 1994) and were

weaker on self-care abilities than peers born before the one-child policy (Yang et al., 2003).

The one-child policy continues in China and the population of only children continues to

increase in size each year. The second generation of single children and their families are now

beginning to emerge as the first generation of children are married and have their own single

children. The new 4:2:1 family structure (four grandparents, two parents, and one child) places

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the single children in the center of the family, and it is very likely that significant changes will

continue to occur. Research on second single children indicates that these youths seems more

arrogant, unsociable, and eccentric than their parents.

Theories of Family Influence on Career Aspirations

Families not only provide financial and emotional support, but also transmit values,

goals, and aspirations to their children. Family has long been assumed to play a significant role

on children’s career development in the U. S. (Ainsworth, 1989; Bowlby, 1976; Bratcher, 1982;

Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). There are several psychological and sociological theories that guide

research on family influence on children, including status attainment theory, family system

theory, and attachment theory.

Status Attainment Theory

Status attainment is a sociological concept, which largely deals with people’s position in

society. One’s status attainment is affected by family of origin and personal efforts and abilities.

Status attainment can be understood as a process by which individuals mobilize and invest

resources in return for socioeconomic standing (Lin, 1999). Major influential factors that

determine status in society are parental socioeconomic status, cognitive ability, motivation, and

education. For example, being born into a wealthy family affords a better starting point than if

born to a family living in poverty. Status attainment theory posits that the social status of parents

affects educational levels achieved by children, which, in turn, affects children’s occupational

level and status (Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). According to simplified model of occupational

attainment (Duncan, Featherman, & Duncan, 1972), schooling is a moderator between parental s

and child’s status. The moderating process can be understood by the following example. Wealthy

parents can provide excellent educational resources for their children. If children acquire high

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educational levels and have strong positive motivation, they are likely to attain high status

occupations.

Family Systems Theory

Family systems theory suggests that families are composed of interconnected and

interdependent individuals, which cannot be understood in isolation. Each family member affects

and is affected by others. Family cannot be understood by simply adding the family member’s

individual personalities, characteristics, or values (Lewis, 1979). Family systems theory presents

a way of looking at the family as a unit, as a system, which is more than the sum of its parts.

Families develop certain operating principles or rules that allow for constancy and predictability

(Bratcher, 1982). These principles or rules are often unspoken. For example, when family

members are angry at each other, do they express this or keep it to themselves? How much are

family members allowed to talk to someone outside the family about family issues? How do

decisions get made within the family? Whose decision is dominant within the family and who is

expected to just go along? Families tend to develop patterns about these sorts of issues and

questions. These patterns become unspoken rules. Family members may see these things as “just

the way it is.” These rules reflect the need of family members to be able to make predictions

about their environment and relationships. Usually, these principles and rules have passed along

from generation to generation.

It is the family‘s rules and principles that influence the establishment and maintenance of

roles for family members and the development and maintenance of family beliefs and values,

which, in turn, influence the development and maintenance of family traditions. Family

principles and rules also give family members a kind of character that allows them and others to

develop a way of thinking about them as a family. For example, when people say, “That family

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has always produced teachers,” or “That family has always been tolerant of others,” or “That

family has always had an alcoholic,” they are commenting on how the family’s rules have

operated and maintained a type of family character, a predictable structure. Importance placed on

money, prestige, status, or religion reflects the way that family principles and rules define and

sustain family values and traditions. These family rules and principles are important variables to

be considered when children begin to think of career (Bratcher, 1982).

Another major concept of family systems theory is that career decision-making is

combined with other developmental tasks during adolescence, such as adult identity formation

and psychological separation from the family. Lopez and Andrews (1987) proposed that certain

family interaction patterns facilitate effective career decision-making, while other family

interaction patterns contribute to career indecision. A positive family interaction pattern would

likely support children’s vocational exploration, while a negative family interaction pattern

might only encourage a particular career choice. Likewise, parents can accept the tentativeness

of their children’s decision-making, rather than challenging it or demanding greater decisiveness.

To promote independent decision-making, parents may need to change the way they support

their child’s decision-making. This change involves maintaining sufficient distance from their

children’s development instead of offering direct assistance (e.g., brainstorming career

possibilities, doing occupational research) (Lopez & Andrews, 1987). In other words, parents

should encourage adolescents to take independent action as they become more actively involved

in career decision-making.

Attachment Theory

Attachment is an emotional bond to another person. John Bowlby (1976) was the first

attachment theorist. Although Bowlby was primarily focused on understanding the nature of the

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infant-caregiver relationship, he described attachment as a lasting psychological connectedness

between human beings and believed that the earliest bond formed by children with their

caregivers have a significant impact that continues throughout life.

Attachment theory has been used to study parent-child relational influences on career

development (Blustein et al., 1991; Ketterson & Blustein, 1997; Lee & Hughey, 2001). The

attachment literature emphasizes the significance of close relationships with parents as a way of

advancing the exploration into new life roles and situations. Blustein et al. (1991) proposed that

because the career world is a new situation forcing individuals to make choices, take risks, and

begin new relationships, feelings of security assist in the exploration of the career world and thus

facilitate career development. Ketterson and Blustein (1997) proposed that college students who

report higher levels of attachment relationships with their parents engaged in greater levels of

environmental and self-exploration activity.

Although family system theory has suggested that psychological separation from parents

is necessary for children’s career development, many studies (e.g., Ketterson &Blustein, 1997;

Lee & Hughey, 2001; O’Brien & Friedman, 2000) show that psychological separation alone is

not associated with career development. Most theories on family influence highlight the role of

the supportive parental relationships along with some degree of autonomy during adolescence.

O'Brien and Friedman (2000) conducted a 5-year study with a sample of 207 young women on

the relationships among attachment to and separation from parents, career self-efficacy, and

career aspirations. Results suggested that being attached to caregivers may lead to the

development of confidence in career-related action. Separation from parents did not have a direct

effect on career self-efficacy. Lee and Hughey (2001) also examined both attachment and

separation in family relationships and reported that college freshmen who were attached

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emotionally to their parents were more likely to be involved in career planning and career

exploration activities. This finding provides additional empirical evidence that a secure

attachment to parents plays an important role in career development.

Theoretical Framework

Given the range of career development theories, it is important to identify a theory that

can explain the influence of family factors on the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents.

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994, 2000) appears to be most relevant to

this study. This section presents SCCT’s basic elements and models, along with a description of

how they fit together with other variables to form a theoretical model for this study.

SCCT provides a conceptual framework for understanding how people develop career-

related interests, make occupational choices, and achieve career success and stability. The

primary foundation for SCCT lies in Bandura’s (1986) social cognitive theory, which

emphasizes the complex way in which people, their behavior, and environment mutually

influence one another. Taking its cue from Bandura’s theory, SCCT emphasizes people’s

capacity to direct their own vocational behavior and also acknowledges the many personal and

environmental influences (e.g., sociostructural barriers and supports, culture, disability status)

that can strengthen, weaken, or even override vocational behavior in career development (Lent,

2005).

SCCT uses three important cognitive concepts to explain how the career decision-making

process is regulated; self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and personal goals. Self-efficacy

beliefs refer to “people’s judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of

action required to attain designed types of performances” (Bandura, 1986, p. 391). These beliefs,

which are the important determinants of thought and action in Bandura’s (1986) theory, have

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gained a great deal of attention from career researchers (e.g., Lent et al., 1994; Rottinghaus,

Larson, & Borgen, 2003; Swason & Gore, 2000). In the social cognitive view, self-efficacy is not

a unitary or global trait, like self-esteem; rather, self-efficacy is conceived as a dynamic set of

self-beliefs that are linked to particular performance domains and activities (Lent, 2005). Self-

efficacy beliefs provide answers to questions pertaining to whether we can perform specific tasks

(e.g., Can I pass the final exam? Can I make this presentation?). Beliefs about our abilities play a

central role in the career decision-making process. We select occupations that require capabilities

we think we have or can develop. We move away from those occupations requiring capabilities

we think we do not possess or that we cannot develop.

Bandura (1977) theorized that self-efficacy is constructed by young people through their

exposure to and reflection upon four sources of efficacy information. These four sources are (a)

performance accomplishments (i.e., experience of success when performing particular skills), (b)

vicarious experiences or modeling (i.e., observation of other’s behavior), (c) social persuasion

(i.e., the verbal encouragement provided by others, such as parents), and (d) emotional arousal

(i.e., the experience and management of those pleasant or unpleasant emotions that can

accompany one’s own or another’s performance). The impact of these sources on self-efficacy

depends on a variety of factors, such as how an individual attends to and interprets them.

However, the most influential sources are personal accomplishments. Successful experiences

with a given task or performance domain tend to raise self-efficacy in relation to that task or

domain, while repeated failures result in lower task or domain self-efficacy.

Outcome expectations refer to beliefs about the outcomes of performing particular

behaviors (e.g., What is likely to happen if I go to graduate school?) (Lent, 2005). Self-efficacy

beliefs are concerned with an individual’s capabilities (e.g., Can I do this?), whereas outcome

24

expectations refer to our imagined consequence of particular behavior (e.g., If I try to do this,

what will happen?). Compared with outcome expectations, self-efficacy may be more influential

in many situations that require complex skill or difficult courses of action (e.g., whether to

pursue a medical career). In such situations, people hold positive outcome expectations (e.g., “A

medical career can lead to high payoffs.”), but avoid a choice if they doubt their capabilities (low

self-efficacy) to succeed. Thus, outcome expectations are what we imagine will happen if we

perform particular behaviors.

Personal goals are an individual’s intention to engage in a particular activity or to

produce a particular outcome (e.g., How much and how well do I want to do this?) (Bandura,

1986). Goals help to organize and guide our behavior over long periods of time (e.g., I will

persist in my research work because it is an important step to complete my dissertation).

Following Super’s (1990) tradition of dividing career development into a series of

segmental processes, the social cognitive framework conceptualizes career-related interest,

choice, and performance within three interlocking models (Lent et al., 1996). Specifically, the

three basic SCCT models were developed as a means to understand the development of academic

and career interests, the formation of educational and vocational choices, and the nature and

results of academic and career performances (Lent, 2005).

The SCCT interest model (see Figure 1) links self-efficacy and outcome expectations to

the development of career interests. SCCT’s interest model emphasizes both the experiential and

cognitive factors that give rise to career-related interests while also tracing the role of interests in

helping to motivate choice behavior. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations regarding activity

involvement exert an important, direct effect on the formation of career interests. People form

interest in an activity when they view themselves as competent at it, and when they anticipate

25

that performing it will produce valued outcome (Bandura, 1986). Conversely, people are likely to

fail to develop interests in activities in which their self-efficacy is weak or where they anticipate

receiving negative outcomes.

SCCT also takes into account other aspects of people (e.g., gender) and environments

(e.g., culture) that affect the acquisition and modification of interests. Furthermore, social

cognitive career theorists provides a choice model (Lent et al., 1996). This choice model (see

Figure 3) describes how person inputs (e.g., predisposition, gender, and race) and contextual

factors (e.g., culture, geography, family, and gender-role socialization) influence learning

experiences, which influence self-efficacy beliefs and outcome expectations. Self-efficacy

beliefs and outcome expectations in turn shape our interests, goals, actions, and eventually, our

attainments. In addition, these are also directly influenced by contextual factors.

The final basic SCCT model, the performance model, is concerned with the level of

people’s accomplishments, as well with the persistence of their behavior in career-related

pursuits (see Figure 3). The performance model emphasizes the interplay among ability, self-

efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals in determining performance outcome. Ability is seen

as affecting performance both directly and indirectly, through its impact on self-efficacy and

outcome expectations. Self-efficacy and outcome expectations, in turn, affect the level of

performance goals. Stronger self-efficacy and outcome expectations promote more ambitious

goals, which help people mobilize and sustain their performance behavior.

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Figure 1. How basic career interests develop over time. This model highlights cognitive and

behavioral influences during childhood and adolescence. Copyright 1994 by R. W. Lent, S. D.

Brown, and G. Hackett. Reprinted by permission.

Figure 2. Model of personal, contextual and experiential factors affecting career-related choice

behavior. Note: Direct relations between variables are indicated with solid lines; moderator

effect (where a given variable strengthens or weakens the relations between two other variables)

are shown with dashed lines. Copyright 1994 by R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett.

Reprinted by permission.

27

Figure 3. Task performance model. Copyright 1994 by R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett.

Reprinted by permission.

SCCT was originally designed to explain interest development, career choice, and

performance in the career domain. Lent and Brown (2006) created a work model aimed at

understanding satisfaction experienced in vocational and educational pursuits. The model posits

paths whereby core social cognitive variables (e.g., self-efficacy, goals) function jointly with

personality/affective traits and contextual variables that have been linked to job satisfaction. This

model is useful both to vocational psychologists who are concerned with individual well-being,

and to organizational psychologists who attend to the relative health of the institutions.

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Figure 4. Model of work satisfaction. Copyright 2006 by R. W. Lent ad S. D. Brown. Reprinted

by permission.

In the current study, SCCT model of career choice was applied to provide a theoretical

framework for organizing and explaining variables like family influence and career aspirations of

Chinese adolescents. The model posits that learning experiences affect self-efficacy and

outcome, which affect interests that in turn affect choice goals that affect choice actions, which

in turn affect performance and attainments. For social cognitive theorists, career aspirations are

viewed as a reflection of self-efficacy and considered important mediators of motivation and

development. Further, the career choice process is viewed as a dynamic one that is modified by

performance outcomes.

The relationships of young adolescents’ career self-efficacy, environmental supports, and

their subsequent educational and vocational choices have been documented in the vocational

literature. Lent et al. (1994) theorized that opportunities to develop self-efficacy are provided by

significant adults (e.g., parents) within adolescents’ environments. Parents, as the primary

29

providers of various sources of experiences, have been linked to the development of adolescents’

career interests (Turner, Steward, & Lapan, 2004), career efficacy (Turner & Lapan, 2002),

career choice, and career aspirations (Flores & O'Brien, 2002). Psychosocial support from

parents was more salient than parental action in predicting the career decision-making self-

efficacy of middle school adolescents (Keller & Whiston, 2008). In addition, support and

experiences provided by parents help adolescents develop a sense of agency through career

planning. Through career planning with parents, adolescents have showed greater career

certainty in career direction, less indecision, and more career salience (Kush & Cochran, 1993).

There are several recent studies that support the use of SCCT in a Chinese context. Zhao

and Zheng (2009) used the SCCT model to examine Chinese farmers’ self-efficacy, interests,

and career choices. Consistent with SCCT hypotheses, results indicated that career cognition has

positive influence on career interest and choice consideration. Drawing from SCCT, these

researchers also explored the influence of social supports on the career choice consideration of

farmers during China’s current process of urbanization (Zhao, 2012). Results indicated that

positive social supports were indirectly related to career choice through the mediation of career

self-efficacy, while negative social supports were directly related to career choice. Based on

SCCT, Song (2012) studied on the formation and improvement of the cognition of a tour guide’s

career among college students.

According to the SCCT model of career choices, all are affected by contextual factors.

This study focused on contextual factors’ (e.g., family factors) direct influences on choice or

personal goals (i.e., career aspirations).

30

Family Influence on Career Aspirations in the Chinese Context

The influence of parents on their children’s career aspirations varies across culture.

Literature shows parents are by far the biggest factor influencing the educational decisions of

Chinese students (Kaplan et al., 2001; Louie, 2001; Mau & Bikos, 2000). One reason for this

degree of influence is the collectivist culture found in China, where obedience and family

obligations are strongly emphasized. Parents are expected to be highly involved and responsible

for decision-making and the care of children throughout their lives. Children, in turn, are

expected to consult with parents and other family members on important decisions. From

parents’ perspective, continuous monitoring, training, and guiding children is an essential part of

being qualified Asian parents (Okagaki & Bojczyk, 2002). Intensive guidance and restrictive

training of one’s children are perceived as an expression of parental concern, duty, and love

(Chao & Tseng, 2002; Yee et al., 2007). Asian children are socialized to believed they should

respect and follow the guidance of their parents, as well as fulfill a range of financial,

instrumental, and caregiving obligations to their parents (Chao & Tseng, 2002).

Parents’ aspirations have also been considered to be an influential factor on adolescents’

career choices and development. Chao and Sue (1996) found that high aspirations for children’s

educational and vocational development was a major characteristic of the relationship between

Chinese parents and their children. Leong and Serafica (1995) reported that Asian-American

adolescents perceived higher parental pressure than their European American peers. Asian-

American participants reported that their parents often exerted a direct influence on their career

aspirations and choices, which resulted in limited career options that would satisfy their own

interests and still meet parents’ aspirations. Researchers also found that the career decision-

making difficulties of university students in China related to perceived levels of parental

31

aspirations and perceived performance in the areas where parents expected (Leung, Hou, Gati, &

Li, 2011).

Understanding the dynamic interplay between parents and adolescents’ career aspirations

is particularly important in modern China. First, parental aspiration are supported and elevated to

high salience by traditional cultural values such as loyalty to family, and obedience to parents.

Second, Chinese individuals have only recently become free to choose their own occupations and

parents are the major social support for children in their vocational concerns. Third, family

aspirations toward children’s career development have been magnified in modern China where

the only child becomes the focus of family attention in a 4:2:1 family structure (four

grandparents, two parents, and one child). Therefore, China offers a unique cultural context to

study how parents might facilitate or impede the career aspirations of their children.

32

CHAPTER 3

METHOD

Purpose of Study











Research Questions




adolescents?

3. Is the R2adj*


chance?

33



Research Design

Survey research, one of the most prevalent designs in educational research was used in

the study. This type of research involves collecting data to test hypotheses or answer questions

about people’s opinions or perspectives on some topic or issue (Gay, Mills, & Airasian, 2012). A

survey is often used to collect data describing characteristics of a specific population. Gall, Gall,

and Borg (2007) indicated that surveys are commonly used to collect data on phenomena that

cannot be directly observed, such as values, attitudes, opinions, and interests. Survey studies can

either be cross-sectional or longitudinal (Gay et al., 2012). A cross-sectional survey is

administered once, while a longitudinal study administers a series of surveys. A cross-sectional

design was used because this type of design is effective for providing a snapshot of current

behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of a population (Gay et al., 2012). This design also has the

advantage of providing data relatively quickly.

This study sought to describe Chinese adolescents’ career aspirations and determine the

relationship between career aspirations and selected family factors. One advantage of a survey

research design is that a survey can gather numeric data that represents phenomena not directly

observable, such as parental support. In addition, surveys are relatively low cost and convenient

(Gay et al., 2012) .

Survey research also has disadvantages that should be considered. One disadvantage of

using a survey is the difficulty in gaining the depth of information that could be gathered through

face-to-face interviews. Survey research provides little opportunity for follow-up questions or

probing of responses. Unanticipated results can raise questions or indicate a lack of clarity in

34

responses. However, care taken in the construction of a survey instrument can minimize this

problem. Another disadvantage is that respondent’s negative attitudes toward questionnaires can

adversely impact results (Hill, 2001). If respondents either do not take the process of completing

the questionnaires seriously or have a negative attitude toward the activity, data might not

accurately reflect the issues of interest. To minimize potential problems, the process of collecting

data was administered in person. A recruitment letter, including an introduction of the researcher,

research purpose, and the length of the survey was sent to each student. In addition, students

were informed that participation in the research study was voluntary and responses would be

unanimous.

It was also necessary to address potential threats to the internal and external validity of

survey designs. According to Gall et al. (2007), internal validity refers to the degree that results

can be attributed to the treatment or construct of interest and not extraneous factors. Internal

validity is only relevant to studies that try to establish causal relationships. Since this study was

descriptive study and did not include a treatment, threats to internal design validity were

minimized. External validity refers to the degree that results of a study can be applied to other

people and situation. There are three major threats to external validity of survey results; people,

place, and time. Given that the survey was conducted in one middle school in China and the

sample was not randomly selected from the population, generalization of survey results is not

warranted.

Sample

The abstract population for the study was all adolescents in China. However, as in most

studies, the actual sample used in the study is a realistic choice (i.e., an accessible or available

population), rather than an ideal or abstract population. Although random sampling techniques

35

provide the best opportunity to obtain unbiased samples, random sampling cannot always be

obtained. This study used a convenience sampling method. Convenience sampling is the process

of including participants who are available at a given time and place (Gay et al., 2012). In my

study, the convenience sampling strategy resulted in selecting students from one middle school

in Haicheng, China.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between career aspirations and

selected family factors of Chinese adolescents. Many theories and a great deal of empirical

research emphasize the importance of family influences on adolescents’ career development

(Ainsworth, 1989; Bowlby, 1976; Bratcher, 1982; Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). Unlike the U.S.,

where grade 8 is the last year of middle school, grade 9 is the last year of middle school in China.

Grade 9 is an important transition period for Chinese adolescents. After graduation from middle

school, Chinese adolescents face a lot of life choices; whether to go directly to work or continue

their schooling, whether to go to high school or vocational school. Thus, 9th-grade Chinese

adolescents were an appropriate group for the study. Data was collected from grade 9 students

enrolled in Haicheng No. 2 Middle School in Haicheng, China.

Determining sample size is an important component of quantitative research. Several

factors need to be considered including alpha level, effect size, and statistical power (Olejnik,

1984). The alpha level, or level of significance, refers to the probability that a researcher selects

when determining the statistical significance of findings. Popular alpha levels are 0.01, 0.05,

0.005 and 0.001. A significance level of 0.05 indicates that there is a 5% probability that the

results obtained are actually due to chance. A level of 0.05 is the most often used alpha level in

social science research (Olejnik, 1984). Therefore, an alpha level of 0.05 was used in this study.

36

Effect size is a quantitative reflection of the strength or magnitude of some phenomenon

(Kelley & Preacher, 2012). Effect size measures the size of associations or differences. Effect

size is used in several different ways. One use of effect size is for interpretation. Effect sizes

reflect the amount of the variance that is explained. The correlation/regression coefficients r and

R are actually measures of effect size. Because r covers the whole range of relationship

strengths, from no relationship whatsoever (zero) to a perfect relationship (+1.00 or -1.00), it

reflects how large a relationship is between variables studied. Cohen (1988) gave the following

guidelines for social sciences: small, medium, and large effects as 0.10, 0.30, and 0.50. An

effective size of 0.10 indicates a relatively small effect where an effect size of 0.50 indicates a

powerful effect. Another use of effect size is for determining sample size. If there is a large

relationship between variables, then it would take only a small sample to notice the degree to

which the null hypothesis is false. However, if a relationship is small, a large sample is required

to identify this difference (Gall et al., 2007).

Another consideration that determines the necessary sample size is statistical power.

Power refers to the probability of rejecting a null hypothesis (i.e., finding a difference when a

difference exists) when the null hypothesis is false (Olejnik, 1984). Researchers can also

incorrectly fail to reject (retain) a null hypothesis when it is actually false, which is known as a

Type II error. A larger sample, closes to the actual population, means that more data is collected,

making it easier to correctly reject a null hypothesis. On contrast, a lower amount of statistical

power requires a smaller sample size. Statistical power ranging between 0.70 and 0.85 is

considered as acceptable (Olejnik, 1984). A power level of 0.70 means that a 70% chance exists

of finding a statistically significant difference when one exists. It is generally accepted that

power should be .70 or greater. In order to have a better level of statistical power, I set the power

37

level at. 90. Therefore, in light of an established statistical significance level of .05, statistical

power of .90, and anticipated small effect size, a minimum sample of 108 participants was

calculated. The final sample size of 812 was enough for conducting data analysis. Given

significance level of .05, small effect size, and sample size of 812, achieved power is close to

1.00, which means a 100% chance to find a statistically significant difference when one exists.

Instrument

Instruments were used to measure two different variables in this study. One instrument

measured career-related parental support and the other instrument measured adolescents’ career

aspirations. The next several sections describes each of these measures.

Career-Related Parental Support Scale

The Career-Related Parental Support Scale (CRPSS; Turner et al., 2003) is a 27-item

assessment of adolescents’ perceptions of parental support for their educational and vocational

development. The CRPSS consists of four subscales, including instrumental assistance, career-

related modeling, verbal encouragement, and emotional support. Instrumental assistance is

interpreted as parents’ tangible support of adolescents’ career-related skill development (e.g.,

“My parents help me do my homework.”). Career-related modeling refers to parents’ provision

of career-related experience to their children (e.g., “My parents have taken me to their work.”).

Verbal encouragement refers to parents’ praise and reward on their children’s educational and

career development (e.g., “My parents reward me for doing my schoolwork well.”). Finally,

emotional support is defined parents’ help of the affect experiences by adolescents in

relationship to their educational and career development (e.g., “My parents talk to me about

when I am worried about my future career”). Items are rated on a 5-point Likert-type scale (1 =

strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). Higher scores reflect greater parental support. For

38

example, a high score on career-related modeling indicates a high perceived parents’ sharing

information and thoughts about their jobs and vocational activities with their children. To keep

clarity and readability of the items, given the age of the participants, there were no negatively

worded items.

Validity and Reliability

Instrument validity and reliability are important concepts in research. Validity indicates

the degree to which an instrument accurately measures what it is supposed to measure, while

reliability is the characteristic of producing consistent measurements over time (Hill, 2001). A

brief review of correlation coefficients will be helpful because it is the measure most often

selected to evaluate validity and reliability. A correlation coefficient, r, indicates the strength of a

relationship. The values of r range from -1.00 to +1.00. A value of 0 is viewed as no relationship

between two variables, while values close to -1.00 or +1.00 are viewed as a strong relationship

between. In the literature, validity coefficients are relatively low, while reliability coefficients are

positive and quite high (Gloeckner, Gliner, Tochterman, & Morgan, 2001).

The CRPSS has been validated and used with disadvantaged 7th- and 8th- grade students

in the U.S. (Turner et al., 2003), but it was not known whether the same factors structure was

applicable to other populations, such as Chinese adolescents. To investigate the construct validity

of the CRPSS in an Asian context, Cheng and Yuen (2012) translated the CRPSS and

administered it to a sample of Chinese students. The whole sample (N=677) was randomly

divided into two groups. The first group (n=339) was used to explore the construct validity of the

Chinese version of theCRPSS (Cheng & Yuen, 2012) using exploratory factor analysis (EFA).

The second group (n=338) was used to validate the model using confirmatory factor analysis

(CFA). EFA attempts to discover the nature of the constructs influencing a set of responses,

39

while CFA tests whether a specified set of constructs influences responses in a predicted way

(Tabri & Elliott, 2012).

The final Chinese version of the CRPSS consisted of 24 items. The construct validity of

the Chinese version of the CRPSS was further validated on a second subsample using a CFA.

The multiple fit indices of the Chinese version of the CRPSS were as follows: x2/df = 2.71,

p< .001 (chi-square/df ˂3), CFI= .97(close to 1), RMSEA = .07 (less than 0.1), and SRMR= .07

(less than 0.08). All of these indicators met the standard for acceptable fit, so the overall model

offered a good fit. The reliability of the Chinese version of the CRPSS was examined using

Cronbach coefficient alpha (internal consistency). Cheng and Yuen (2012) reported the

reliability estimate for the whole Chinese version of the CRPSS was .92, which indicated high

reliability of the scores produced. The reliability estimates of the subscales were .86 for the

instrumental assistance scale, .88 for the emotional support scale, .85 for the verbal

encouragement scale, and .85 for the career-related modeling scale. Cheng and Yuen’s (2012)

suggested that the Chinese version of the CRPSS provided adequate indicators of Chinese

adolescents’ perceptions of parent support for their career aspirations. The Chinese version of the

CRPSS was used to collect data for the present study.

Occupational Prestige Index

It is very often that when we meet strangers, we ask this question, “What kind of work do

you do?” This question reflects the tendency for people to use the occupational role as a way to

locate individuals in social space, and to set the stage for interaction with one another (Treiman,

1977). People in all walks of life share an understanding about occupations, such as what degree

is required, what skills are needed, how physically demanding different roles are, and

particularly what level of prestige various occupation possess. Occupational prestige is not only a

40

basis of rank, but it is an important one to differentiate and comprehend occupational

stratification (Treiman, 1977). As a basic value determinant in industrial society, occupational

prestige has been widely used by sociologists to measure the direction and degree of social

division. The use of occupational prestige gained wide recognition after Treiman (1977)

developed the Standard International Occupation Prestige Scale (SIOP) based on cross-cultural

research. However, Treiman’s (1997) SIOP study on was never conducted in China. In addition,

research on occupational prestige in China is just in its initial stage. Several researchers

developed very similar occupational prestige measures and tried to gain a clearer picture of

Chinese occupational prestige (Li, 2005; Lin & Xie, 1988). The Occupational Prestige Index

(OPI; Li, 2005) is one of the available measurements of occupational measure prestige in China.

The OPI consists of 81 occupational titles and measures occupational prestige within a

Chinese cultural context. Respondents are asked to indicate a job they aspire to have. Answers

are then categorized by using 4-digit codes from the OPI. The digit prestige codes are calculated

through a complex process ranging from 9.58 to 90.07, with higher codes reflecting higher

prestige occupations and lower codes reflecting less prestige occupations. For example, baby-

sitter receives the lowest score of 9.58, while Director of Municipal People’s Congress possesses

the highest score of 90.07. Even though the OPI is not widely used in China, sufficient evidence

indicates that it is a reliable approach to measure occupational prestige in China. Li (2005)

analyzed data from the Chinese Academy of Social Science database, that contained 6183

Chinese citizens from 73 cities located in 12 provinces in China, ranging from 16 to 20 years of

age. The sample distribution on demographic information (i.e., age, gender, jobs, income, and

education) was very close to national census data of 2010. Li (2005) explained why 81

occupations were selected. If too many occupations were listed in the scale, respondents might

41

feel too tired to response. However, if too few occupations were listed, the research on

occupational prestige would be biased and omit important occupations. The initial principle used

for occupation selection was based on two criteria, the public familiar occupations and

occupations have a significant number of current employees (Li, 2005). Therefore, the OPI was

used to gather information about participants’ career aspirations.

Procedure

This study was conducted with students enrolled in Haicheng No. 2 Middle School

located in Haicheng, China. Approval to conduct the study was required from both the

Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of Georgia and from the participating school

in Haicheng. Part of the requirement for IRB approval is an authorization letter from all

participating institutions. Therefore, a research proposal (original copy with translation) was

developed and submitted to the principal of Haicheng No. 2 Middle School prior to submission

of the IRB approval request to the University of Georgia. When approval was obtained from the

IRB and the school principal, I visited the school and began to collect data.

Data collection occurred in January, 2015. I visited the school twice. During the first

visit, school teachers helped me complete participant recruitment by distributing and reading

recruitment invitation. Each participant under 18 years old was provided two copies of the

parental permission form. The parental permission form described the purpose and significance

of the research study, and anonymity information. During the second visit, students who obtained

permission from parents were informed that participation was optional and that their responses

would be anonymous. After completing questionnaires, participants were asked to provide some

demographic information. This process resulted in obtaining 826 returned questionnaires.

Fourteen incomplete questionnaires were screened out and not included in the analysis.

42

Data Analysis

Regression analysis is concerned with relating a response or criterion to a set of

independent variables or predictors (Mendenhall & Sincich, 2011). The variable that is being

predicted (or explained) is called the dependent or criterion variable and notated with a “Y”. The

variables used to predict the value of the dependent variable are the independent or predictor

variables and are indicated with an “X”. Multiple regression is a technique that allows additional

variables to enter the analysis so that the effect of each or the criterion variable can be estimated

both independently and in combination. Multiple regression analysis is valuable for quantifying

the impact of various simultaneous influences on a single dependent variable (Sykes, 1992).

Regression analysis relies on certain assumptions about variables used in the analysis.

When these assumptions are not met, results may not be trustworthy, resulting in a Type I or

Type II error, or over- or under-estimation of statistical significance (Osborne & Waters, 2002).

There are several assumptions of multiple regression, including independence of the vector

scores, linearity, normality, and homoscedasticity.

The first assumption is any row vector of scores is independent of all other score vectors.

This assumption is basic to the data itself and cannot be verified by basic statistical test. The

independence condition is under control of the research (Huberty & Petosky, 1999), so I assumed

this independence condition to be met.

Next, regression analysis has an assumption of linearity. Linearity means the mean of

regression has a linear relationship with the independent variables (Casella & Berger, 2002).

This assumption is important because regression analysis only tests for linear relationships. A

preferable method to detect linear or non-linear relationships is to examine the scatterplot of

standardized residuals and unstandardized predicted values. If the scatterplot appears to spread

43

out through the graph, linearity can be verified. The residual of an observed value is the

difference between observed and estimated values (Cook & Weisberg, 1982). However,

residuals must be standardized to eliminate differences at various time points. A standardized

residual is the result of dividing the residual by the standard error of the residual. As shown in

Figure 5, the scatterplot was spread through the graph, so I concluded that the assumption of

linearity was met.

Unstandardized Predicted Values

Figure 5. Scatterplot of standardized residuals and unstandardized predicted values.

The assumption of homoscedacity can also be checked by visual examination of

Scatterplot of standardized residuals and unstandardized predicted values. Homoscedasticity

means that the variance of errors is the same across all levels of a variable. When the variance of

errors differs at different values of a variable, heteroscedasticity is indicated. According to Berry

Mea

n S

tandar

diz

ed R

esid

ual

s

44

and Feldman (1985), slight heteroscedasticity has little effect on significance tests. However,

when heteroscedasticity is marked it can lead to serious distortion of findings and increases the

possibility of a Type I error. If residuals are randomly scattered without curve, the

homoscedacity condition is assumed to be satisfied (Huberty & Petosky, 1999). Because the

scatterplot was spread through the graph, I concluded that the condition of variance

homoscedacity was met.

The final assumption is multivariate normality, which means errors are independent and

normally distributed. Normal distributions are very important in statistics and social science

(Casella & Berger, 2002). Regression assumes that variables have normal distributions (Osborne

& Waters, 2002). Non-normally distributed variables (i.e., highly skewed or kurtotic variables, or

variables with substantial outliers) can distort relationships and significance tests. The best way

to check normality is to examine the QQ plot. If the plot is virtually linear, the condition of

normality is satisfied (Huberty & Petosky, 1999). As showed in Figure 6, for our data, the QQ

plot was virtually linear, which indicated the assumption of normality was met.

45

Observed Value

Figure 6: QQ Plot of sample data.

Regression equations are a statistical technique used to explain or predict the behavior

of dependent variable. There are several statistical terms in regression equation. Intercept is the

point at which a curve or function crosses the y-axis (i.e., when x=0). The slope of a line is a

number that describes both the direction and steepness of the regression line. A multiple

regression equation takes the form of

Y=a + b1X1 +b2X2 +...+ bk Xk + e

where Y denotes the dependent variable that the equation tries to predict; X is an independent

variable that is being used to predict Y; a is the intercept of the line; b is the slope or regression

coefficient; e is a value called the regression residual in error.

Expec

ted

No

rmal

Val

ue

46

In this study, family factors were used to explain the career aspirations of Chinese

adolescents. The dependent variable was career aspirations as measured by the Occupational

Prestige Index (OPI; Li, 2005). Among all 12 independent variables, 10 of 12 were categorical

variables. Table 1 lists all 12 variables along with the final categorizations for the relevant

variables. For the two continuous variable (father occupation, parents’ career aspirations for their

children), were measured by OPI. For the one dichotomous variable (registered permanent

residence), I used simple 1-2 scoring. For the four categorical variables with ordered categories

(family income, parent-child conversation time, mother’s level of education, father’s level of

education).

Independent variables included parents’ occupation, family income, parents’ education,

family composition, registered permanent residence, parent-child conversation time, parental

support (instrumental assistance, career-related modeling, verbal encouragement, emotional

support), and parents’ career expectation for their children. Table 1 shows the collection

independent variables and dependent variable along with a description of how all variables are

measured. Table 2 summarizes the research questions and appropriate analysis.

47

Table 1

Variables and Their Measurements for the Regression Analysis

Variable Measurement

Family composition 1 = traditional, 2 = single parent, 3 = non-

traditional

Family income 1 = less than ￥20,000; 2 = ￥20,000-

￥49,999, 3 = ,￥50,000-￥99,999, 4 = more

than￥10,000-$15999

Registered permanent residence (1 = rural, 2 = urban)

Parent-child conversation time every week 1= none, 2 = little (less than 1 hour), 3 =

moderate (1 hour to 1 hour 59 minutes), 4 = a

lot (2 hours to 3 hours 59 minutes), 5 =

excessive (greater than 4 hours)

Mother’s level of education 1 = did not complete middle school, 2 =

completed middle school, 3 = did not

complete high school, 4 = high school

diploma, 5 = associate’s degree, 6 =

bachelor’s degree, 7 = master’s degree¸ 8 =

doctoral degree

Father’s level of education 1 = did not complete middle school, 2 =

complete middle school, 3 = did not complete

high school, 4 = high school diploma, 5 =

associate’s degree, 6 = bachelor’s degree, 7 =

master’s degree¸ 8 = doctoral degree

Father’s occupation Continuous, range from baby-sitter = 9.58 to

Director of municipal People’s Congress =

90.07

Parents’ career aspirations for their children Continuous, range from baby-sitter = 9.58 to

Director of municipal People’s Congress =

90.07

Instructional assistance (IA) Four parental support subscales were

considered as independent variables. Mean

value was used to measure each subscale,

ranging from 1 to 5. I assigned a 1 to strongly

disagree, …, and a 5 to strongly agree.

Career-related modeling (CM)

Verbal encouragement (VE)

Emotional support (ES)

48

Table 2

Data Analyses for Research Questions

Research questions Instruments Independent variables Dependent

variables

Analysis and

procedure

1. What are the

career aspirations

of Chinese

adolescents?

OPI N/A Career

aspirations

Means,

standard

deviations,

frequencies,

effective size.

2. What is the best

set of family

factors to explain

the career

aspirations of

Chinese

adolescents?

CRPSS

OPI

Demographic information and

parental support variables

Career

aspirations

Pearson

correlation

matrix,

multiple

regression

analysis

3. Is the R2 value

(explained

variance) of

selected variables

significantly

greater than

chance?

CRPSS

OPI

N/A Career

aspirations

Multiple

regression

analysis

4. Which family

factors are most

important for

explaining the

career aspirations

of Chinese

adolescents?

CRPSS

OPI

Family composition, family

income, registered permanent

residence, parent-child

conversation time, parents’

education, father’s

occupations, parental support,

and parents’ career

aspirations for their children.

Career

aspirations

Pearson

correlation

matrix,

multiple

regression

analysis

49

CHAPTER 4

RESULTS

This chapter presents results regarding the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents and

the influence of family factors on their aspirations. The purpose of study is restated and followed

by demographic information of participants. Each research question is answered by the results of

descriptive statistics or multiple regression analysis (MRA).

Purpose of Study











Demographic Information

A questionnaire was administered to 9th-grade students enrolled in Haicheng No. 2

Middle School in Haicheng, China in January, 2015. Fourteen incomplete questionnaires were

screened out and not included due to missing data. The final sample size totaled 812.

50

As shown in Table 3, boys and girls were fairly equally represented in the sample. The

gender distribution of the sample was consistent with the ratios of women to men reported at the

national level, 100 to 105.2 (National Bureau of Statistics of China, 2011). Participants’ ages

ranged from 14 to 18 years (M=15.88, SD=.75), which was consistent with the World Health

Organization’s (WHO) definition of adolescence (World Health Organization, 2003). Most

participants (n=786, 96.8%) were between the ages of 15 and 17 years of age. Students from

urban areas made up a majority of the sample, representing 84.6% of participants, while students

from rural areas made up 15.4% of the sample. In terms of family composition, results indicated

that most participants lived in a traditional 2-parent family (father and mother). Less than 10% of

adolescents reported living in a nontraditional family.

Table 3

Demographic Information

Characteristic

Students

n %

Age

14 20 2.5

15 211 26.0

16 427 52.6

17 148 18.2

18 6 .7

Gender

Female 403 49.6

Male 409 50.4

Family composition

Tradition 736 90.6

Single parent 73 9.0

Other 3 .4

Registered permanent residence

Rural 125 15.4

Urban 687 84.6

51

Students were asked about parent-child conversation time, family socioeconomic status,

parents’ career aspirations for their children, and adolescent’s career aspirations. Table 4

provides an overview of this information. About one-third of participants indicated they had little

or no conversation with their parents about career and education. A majority of parent-child

conversation time was listed as moderate (2 or 3 times per week). About two-third of participants

reported their families were middle-class, while 32.1 % indicated lower class and 31.7% reported

upper middle class. About 5.4% of participants reported that their families were at poverty level

(￥5000).

Fathers and mothers held similar distributions for education level. One-third of

participants reported that their parents did not have a high school education (33.3% for mothers,

33.7% for fathers). More than half of parents had attained a high school diploma or above

(56.1% for mothers, 56.6% for fathers). About 6.0% mothers and 8.1% fathers did not complete

9-year compulsory education, which is a little higher than the national level of 4.1% (National

Bureau of Statistics of China, 2011). A total of 9.2% of students had missing values on mother’s

education and 12.6% of students indicated their mother’s occupations as “homeworker”, which is

not listed on the OPI. Often, the best or most practical approach to dealing with missing data is to

drop the variable, so mother’s occupation was not included.

52

Table 4

Additional Demographic Information

Characteristic Students

n %

Parent-child conversation time, per

week

None 76 9.4

Little (1) 183 22.5

Moderate (2 or 3) 326 40.1

A lot (4 or 5) 131 16.1

Excessive (>5)

96 11.8

Family income

<￥5000 44 5.4

￥5,000-19,999 167 20.6

￥20,000-59,999 261 32.1

￥60,000-199,999 257 31.7

>￥ 200,000

83 10.2

Mother’s level of education

Did not complete middle school 49 6.0

Completed middle school 222 27.3

Did not complete high school 86 10.6

Completed high school 206 25.4

Associate’s degree 193 23.8

Bachelor’s degree 49 6.0

Master’s degree 4 .5

Doctoral degree

3 .4

Fathers’ level of education

Did not complete middle school 66 8.1

Completed middle school 208 25.6

Did not complete high school 87 10.7

Completed high school 183 22.5

Associate’s degree 188 23.2

Bachelor’s degree 74 9.1

Master’s degree 3 .4

Doctoral degree 3 .4

M SD

Fathers’ occupational level 55.69 14.76

Parents’ career aspirations for

students

70.44 9.84

Students’ career aspirations 70.91 10.00

53

Analysis of Research Questions

To assess the influence of family factors on the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents,

a multiple regression design (Huberty & Hussein, 2001) was used to determine which predictors

best explained the dependent variable, career aspirations. Descriptive and inferential statistics

were computed using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) 21.0.

Research Question One

The first research question asked, “What are the career aspirations of Chinese

adolescents?” Career aspirations were obtained via an open-ended survey question, “If you were

free to choose any job, what would you most desire as a life time kind of work?” Responses were

coded using the Occupational Prestige Index (OPI; Li, 2005). The OPI, consists of 81

occupational titles and provides a score that reflects the occupational prestige of selected

occupations within a Chinese cultural context. Prestige codes ranged from 9.58 (baby-sitter) to

90.07 (Director of Municipal People’s Congress), with higher codes reflecting higher prestige

occupations. To better understand the data, prestige scores were divided into three groups; low,

medium, and high prestige occupations. According to Li (2005), low prestige occupations

included scores ranging from 9.58 (baby-sitter) to head of village committee (52.78); scores from

53.01 (postal worker) to 65.57 (designer) were described as medium prestige occupations; and

high prestige occupations had scores ranging from 65.73 (chief of town) to 90.07 (Director of

Municipal People’s Congress.

In this study, prestige scores for middle school students ranged from 39.20 (barber) to

90.07 (Director of Municipal People’s Congress). About three-fourth of students aspired to high

prestige occupations such as doctor, lawyer, teacher, and engineer. The most common aspiration

was doctor (n=121, 14.9%) with a prestige score of 69.55; the second most common aspiration

54

was business person (n=78, 9.6%) with a prestige score of 66.77, while the third most common

was public school teacher (n=76, 9.4%) with a prestige score of 81.51. These three most popular

occupations made up of one-third of the sample’s career aspirations. A mean occupational

prestige score of 70. 91 (SD=10.00) was calculated, which reflects high prestige occupations.

Research Question Two

The second research question asked, “What is the best set of family factors that explain

the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents?” Twelve family factors were evaluated in this

study, including family composition (traditional, single parent, non-traditional), registered

permanent residence (urban, rural), father’s occupation, family income, mother’ level of

education, parent-child conversation time, instructional assistance, career-related modeling,

verbal encouragement, emotional support, and parents’ career aspirations for their children. A

Pearson correlation matrix was constructed to reflect the bivariate relationships between career

aspirations and family factors.

Table 5 presents some descriptive information on the 13 variables. Table 6 reports the

13x13 Pearson correlation matrix. The correlations among the 12 predictors ranged from r =

-.113 to .863. According to Taylor (1990), correlation coefficients which are equal or less than

0.35 are generally considered to represent low correlations, 0.36 to 0.67 modest correlation, and

0.68 to 1.0 strong correlations. A correlation coefficient of r = .863 was observed between

families’ registered permanent residence and family income, which was a high correlations. The

coefficient of determination was r2= .745, meaning that 75% of the variance between these two

variable was explained by this relationship. Participants who lived in urban areas had higher

family income than those living in rural areas. Likewise, correlation of r = .667 was observed

between mother’s level of education and father’ level of education, which represents a moderate

55

correlations. The coefficient of determination was r2= .445. This means that 45% of the variance

between these two variable was explained by this relationship. Mother and father marriage is in

same educational level. Modest correlations existed between instructional assistance, career-

related modeling, verbal encouragement, and emotional support. The range was from r = .250

to .536. These four variables were subscales to measure parental support in Career-Related

Parental Support Scale (CRPSS; Turner, Alliman-Brissett, Lapan, Udipi, & Ergun, 2003).

The correlations between each predictor variables and career aspirations were all positive

except family composition; the range was from r = -.029 to .556. Most relationships were low,

except the relationship between parents’ career aspirations for children and students’ career

aspirations. A modest correlation coefficient (r = .556) was observed between parents’ career

aspirations for children and students’ career aspirations. The coefficient of determination is

r2= .309. This means that 31% of the variance between these two variable was explained by this

relationship.

56

Table 5

Predictor Descriptors

Min Q1 Q2 Q3 Max Mean sd

Family Composition 1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00 3.00 1.10 .31

Registered permanent residence 1.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 2.00 1.85 .36

Parent-child conversation time 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 2.99 1.11

Mother education 1.00 2.00 4.00 5.00 8.00 3.55 1.46

Father education 1.00 2.00 4.00 5.00 8.00 3.58 1.54

Father occupation 18.54 42.83 46.71 69.55 88.24 55.69 14.76

Family income 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00 3.21 1.05

parents’ career aspirations 39.20 66.77 69.55 77.80 90.07 70.44 9.84

Instructional assistance 1.00 3.13 3.38 3.75 5.00 3.41 .58

Career-related modeling 1.00 3.17 3.67 4.00 5.00 3.54 .74

Verbal encouragement 1.00 4.00 4.25 4.75 5.00 4.27 .62

Emotional support 1.00 3.33 3.67 4.00 5.00 3.69 .70

Students’ career aspirations 39.20 66.77 70.06 77.80 90.07 70.91 10.00

57

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

1

0

11

12

1 F

am

ily C

om

po

siti

on

2 R

egis

tere

d p

erm

anen

t re

sid

ence

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35

3 P

aren

t-ch

ild

co

nver

sati

on t

ime

-.0

21

.0

43

4 M

oth

er e

duca

tio

n

-.0

01

.1

69

.22

1

5 F

ather

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64

**

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7**

6 F

ather

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9

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6**

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6**

7 F

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ily i

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me

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.8

63

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9

.14

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8**

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1**

8 P

aren

ts c

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r as

pir

atio

ns

-.

03

5

.06

6

.06

7

.08

8**

.11

7*

.11

6**

-.0

10

9 I

nst

ruct

ional

ass

ista

nce

-.

01

9

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7

.27

3

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5**

.13

6**

.12

8**

.12

8

.03

0

10

Car

eer-

rela

ted

mo

del

ing

-.0

21

.0

22

**

.17

6**

.13

1**

.11

6

.09

8**

.07

3**

-.0

23

**

.35

4**

11

Ver

bal

enco

ura

gem

ent

-.

11

3

.02

4**

.14

3**

.07

1

.10

0**

.09

1**

.03

4**

.06

9*

.27

5**

.25

0**

12

Em

oti

onal

sup

po

rt

-.0

75

.0

06

.26

4

.07

7

.04

3

.08

6

.05

2

.00

9

.53

6

.36

0

.37

1**

Stu

dents

’ ca

reer

asp

irat

ions

-.0

29

.0

79

.10

3

.09

3**

.11

9**

.06

4**

.08

4

.55

6

.02

7**

.00

0*

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7

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9

**.

Co

rrel

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n i

s si

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ican

t at

the

0.0

1 l

evel

(2

-tai

led

)

Tab

le 6

Pre

dic

tor

Corr

elati

on M

atr

ix

58

When conducting regression analysis, it is recommended that R2adj*

values be used to

reduce bias (Huberty & Hussein, 2001). A goal of multiple regression analysis is to determine a

model that yields the best prediction of the criterion variable for the available data set. One

approach is to identify the model that yields the highest R2adj*

value for the data (Huberty &

Hussein, 2001). For each subset size, the R2adj* value is the basis for determining the best subset,

meaning only the subset that yielded the highest R2adj*

value were retained. For example, in Table

7, in the subset of size 3 –a combination of parent-child conversation time, family income, and

parents’ career aspirations for their children –yielded the largest R2adj* value. Likewise, in the

subset of size 4, the combination of registered permanent residence, parent-child conversation

time, family income, and parents’ career aspirations for their children yielded the largest R2adj*

value. From these results, there were not a big difference among R2adj* values, so it was

determined that a subset of size 1 would suffice – this judgement is based on the small increase

in R2adj* value and the principle of parsimony, explaining phenomena using fewer parameters.

Therefore, parents’ career aspirations for their children is the best set of family factors to explain

the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents.

59

Table 7

All-Possible Subsets Analyses for Regression

Subset size Predictors in best subset R2adj

1 X8 .308

2 X7, X8 .315

3 X3, X7, X8 .318

4 X2, X3, X7, X8 .319

5 X2, X3, X6, X7, X8 .319

6 X2, X3, X5 X6, X7, X8, .320

7 X2, X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, X11 .319

8 X2, X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X11 .319

9 X2, X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X11, X12 .319

10 X2, X3, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X10, X11, X12 .318

11 X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X10, X11, X12 .317

12 X1, X2, X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, X8, X9, X10, X11, X12 .316

Note. X1 = Family composition, X2 = Registered permanent residence, X3 = Parent-child

conversation time, X4 = Mother education, X5 = Father education, X6 = Father occupation, X7 =

Family income, X8 = Parents’ career aspirations for students, X9 = Instructional assistance, X10 =

Career-related modeling, X11 = Verbal encouragement, X12 = Emotional support

Research Question Three

The third research question asked, “Is the R2adj*

value (explained variance) of selected

variables significantly greater than chance?” According to Huberty and Hussein (2001), the

greater than chance question can be addressed by using the formula R2adj*

value - p/(N-1). For my

data, R2adj*

▽.308 was calculated. The chance value of 1/(N-1) = 1/(812-1)▽.001 was

calculated. Since the R2adj*

value was greater than the chance value of .001. I concluded that the 1

predictor of parents’ career aspirations for their children) of composite was significantly better

than chance predictions.

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Research Question Four

The last research question asked, “Which family factor is most important to explain the

career aspirations of Chinese adolescents?” When conducting multiple regression analysis,

researchers can determine the factor that contributes the most to explaining the dependent

variable and which one contribute the least. To assess each predictor’s relative contribution,

Huberty and Hussein (2001) suggested performing multiple regression analysis (MRA) with all

predictors p and MRAs with each p-1 predictors. The predictor which when deleted is associated

with the largest drop in the R2adj* value is considered the most important predictors. Table 8

reports the predictor ordering information for the MRA data set. It is typical to have some

predictors judged to be of equal importance because of similar R2adj* values. Results show that

when parents’ career aspirations for their children was deleted, the largest drop in the R2adj* value

occurred (from 0.316 to 0.022); when family composition was deleted, the second largest drop in

the R2adj* value occurred (from 0.316 to 0.309); when family income was deleted, the third

largest drop in the R2adj* value occurred (from 0.316 to 0.314), even though it is a very minor

drop. Statistically, other factors had little or no value to explain or predict adolescents’ career

aspirations in this study. Therefore, based on the principle of parsimony and the largest drop in

R2adj* value, parents’ career aspirations for their children contributed the most to explaining the

career aspirations of Chinese adolescents.

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Table 8

Results for Determining Predictor Relative Importance

Predictor deleted R2adj* Rank

None* 0.316

Parents’ career aspirations 0.022 1

Family composition 0.309 2

Family income 0.314 3

Registered permanent residence 0.316 5.5

Parent-child conversation time 0.316 5.5

Mother education 0.316 5.5

Father education 0.316 5.5

Father occupation 0.317 10

Instructional assistance 0.317 10

Career-related modeling 0.317 10

Verbal encouragement 0.317 10

Emotional support 0.317 10

*Represent the full model (no predictors removed)

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CHAPTER 5

DISCUSSION

This chapter summarizes the entire study and include the introduction, purpose of the

study, research questions, method, and findings. Conclusions, including a discussion of results,

limitations, and recommendations for future practice and research regarding Chinese

adolescents’ career aspirations and the influence of family factors are also discussed.

Summary of the Study

Introduction

Career aspirations are an individual’s work-related ambitions and desires under ideal

conditions (Rojewski, 2005). Aspirations can have lifelong consequences as they are associated

with career decision-making and later outcomes. Specifically, aspirations can affect educational

and career planning, help organize life options and choices, and contribute to young people’s

preparation for adult life (Rojewski, Lee, & Gregg, 2015). The development of career aspirations

is influenced by a combination of personal and psychological factors, as well as sociological or

environmental factors (Rojewski & Yang, 1997).

Most literature concerning career aspirations has focused on psychological factors such

as self-concept and emotion. Limited literature has examined the influence of family factors on

adolescents’ career aspirations. Existing research has indicated that parents have a significant

influence on their children’s career aspirations and serve as influential role models for

adolescents when considering future career development (Ainsworth, 1989; Bowlby, 1976;

Bratcher, 1982; Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996; Schultheiss, 2007; Watt, 2008). Families not only

63

provide financial and emotional support, but also transmit values, goals, and aspirations to their

children.

There are several psychological and sociological theories that guide research in the area

of family influence on children. For example, status attainment theory posits that family

socioeconomic status affects children’s educational levels, which, in turn, affects the children’s

career level and status (Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). Family system theory suggests that families

form certain operating rules or principles that allow for constancy and predictability in daily life

(Bratcher, 1982). Attachment theory has also been used to study influence of parent-child

relationships on career development (Blustein et al., 1991; Ketterson & Blustein, 1997; Lee &

Hughey, 2001). Attachment theorists emphasize the significance of close relationships between

parents and children as a way of advancing the exploration into new life roles and situations.

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent et al., 1994, 2000) provides a conceptual

framework for understanding how people develop career-related interests, make occupational

choices, and achieve career success and stability. SCCT incorporates self-efficacy, outcome

expectations, and personal goals with personal, contextual, and learning factors to explain

academic and career choice and attainment. The social cognitive framework conceptualizes

career-related interest, choice, performance, and work satisfaction to form four models. The four

SCCT models were developed as a means to understand (1) the development of academic and

career interests, (2) the formation of educational and vocational choices, (3) the nature and

results of performance in academic and career spheres, and (4) work and life satisfaction.

SCCT choice model emphasizes people’s capacity to direct their vocational behavior and

also acknowledges important personal and contextual influences, such as gender, race/ethnicity,

physical health/disability, and socioeconomic status. In this study, SCCT model of career choice

64

was used as theoretical framework to explain and organize influence of family factors and

adolescents’ career aspirations.

In the Chinese context, parents are a prominent factor that influence the educational and

career decisions of Chinese adolescents (Kaplan et al., 2001; Louie, 2001; Mau & Bikos, 2000).

The relationship between Chinese parents and children can be understood by the terms guan

(training, control, and governance) and xiao (filial piety). The Chinese term guan translates

approximately as training, control, and governance. Central to the construct of guan is parents’

willingness to be directive on children’s education and career (Chao, 1994). Farh and Cheng

(2000) suggested that the essence of the father-son relationship is captured in the concept of xiao,

translated as filial piety and literally meaning submission to the will of the father. Influenced by

Confucianism, obedience and family obligations are strongly emphasized in the Chinese society.

Parents are expected to be highly responsible for the care and decision-making of their children.

Likewise, children are expected to consult with parents on important decisions. Guidance and

training of children are perceived as expressions of parental love and duty (Chao & Tseng, 2002;

Yee et al., 2007).

Despite increasing study of family influences on the career aspirations of adolescents in

the U.S., little research has been directly conducted on native Chinese adolescents’ career

aspirations. Chinese adolescents career aspirations may not parallel those of students in Western

cultures, and may be subject to different influences (e.g., parents’ expectation) compared with

adolescents in the West (Li & Wright, 2000). This study not only examine family socioeconomic

status when testing the relationships, as previous studies showed these variables is associated

with adolescents’ career aspirations (Rojewski & Yang, 1997; Schuette et al., 2012; Wahl &

Blackhurst, 2000), but also examine family composition, registered permanent residence, parent-

65

child conversation time, parental support, and parents’ career aspirations for their children. The

study also contributes to the understanding of adolescents’ career development and parent-child

relationship in China.

Purpose of Study











Research Questions




adolescents?

3. Is the R2adj*


chance?



66

Research Design

A cross-sectional design was used because this type of design is effective for providing

a snapshot of current behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs of a population (Gay et al., 2012). This

design also has the advantage of providing data relatively quickly. The study aimed to describe

Chinese adolescents’ career aspirations and explain the relationship between career aspirations

and family factors.

Population and Sample

The abstract population for the study was all adolescents in China. However, researchers

cannot always use random sampling because of practical constraints, such as time and cost.

Therefore, a convenience sampling method was used in this study. A literature review on

adolescent aspirations showed that many theories and empirical research emphasize the

importance of family influences on adolescents’ career development (Ainsworth, 1989; Bowlby,

1976; Bratcher, 1982; Hotchkiss & Borow, 1996). In addition, difference from the U. S., where

grade 8 is the last year of middle school, grade 9 is the last year of middle school in China.

Students have to think more on their education and career. Therefore, all 9th-grade students

enrolled in Haicheng No. 2 Middle School were invited to participate in the study. Fourteen

incomplete questionnaires were screened out and not included in the final analysis. The final

sample size was n = 812.

Instruments

Instruments measured two different variables; one instrument measured family factors

and the other instrument measured career aspirations. The Career-Related Parental Support Scale

(CRPSS; Turner et al., 2003) was used to measure adolescents’ perceptions of parental support

for their educational and vocational development. The CRPSS consists of four subscales,

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including instrumental assistance, career-related modeling, verbal encouragement, and emotional

support. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).

Higher scores reflect greater parental support. The CRPSS has been validated in the U. S.

(Turner et al., 2003), but it was not known whether the same structure would be applicable to

Chinese adolescents. To investigate the validity and reliability of the CRPSS in the Chinese

context, Cheng and Yuen (2012) translated the CRPSS into Chinese and administered it to a

sample of Chinese students. The results of Cheng and Yuen’s (2012) suggested that the Chinese

version of the CRPSS provided adequate indicators of Chinese adolescents’ perceptions of parent

support for their career aspirations. The Chinese version of CRPSS was used.

In addition to measuring parental supports, I also examined Chinese adolescents’ career

aspirations. Career aspirations were measured by an open-ended question included in the

demographic questionnaire, “If you were free to choose any job, what would you most desire as

a life time kind of work?” There were not any prompts or job lists. Students’ responses were

coded using Occupational Prestige Index (OPI; Li, 2005). The 81 occupations listed in the OPI

are divided into 7 different occupational groups (or levels). OPI prestige codes range from 9.58

to 90.07, with higher codes reflecting higher prestige occupations and requiring higher level of

education.

Research Procedures

This study was conducted with participants from Haicheng, China. Approval to conduct

the study was granted from both the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at the University of

Georgia and the participating school, Haicheng No. 2 Middle School. Data collection occurred in

January, 2015. I visited the school twice. During the first visit, I completed participant

recruitment by distributing and reading the recruitment letter to students. Each participant under

68

18 years old was provided two copies of a parental permission form. During the second visit, I

completed data collection. Students who obtained permission from their parents could still

decide whether or not to participate in the research study. Students were also reminded that they

could withdraw the study at any time without penalty or loss of benefit. Students were informed

that participation was optional and their responses would remain anonymous.

Data Analysis

To assess the influence of family factors on Chinese youths’ career aspirations, a multiple

regression design was used. Multiple regression is a technique that allows additional variables to

enter the analysis so that the effect of each could be estimated independently and combined

(Sykes, 1992). Specifically, multiple regression was used to determine the relationship between

career aspirations and family factors, as well as determine which family factors would best

explain Chinese adolescents’ career aspirations. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used

to evaluate each research question by using the Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS)

21.0.

Results

A majority of students from Haicheng No. 2 Middle School aspired to high prestige

occupations. Results indicated a mean occupational aspirations prestige score of 70. 91

(SD=10.00), which lies within high prestige occupations. The most common aspirations was

doctor (n=121, 14.9%) with a prestige score of 69.55 followed by business person (n=78, 9.6%)

with a prestige score of 66.77 and public school teacher (n=76, 9.4%) with a prestige score of

81.51.

The bivariate correlations between each predictor and career aspirations were all positive

except for family composition. Among the family factors, parents’ career aspirations for children

69

was the highest correlated variable with adolescents’ career aspirations. Results indicated that the

best set of family factors to explain the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents was parents’

career aspirations for their children. In terms of the importance of each family factor to explain

career aspirations of Chinese adolescents, results indicated parents’ career aspirations for their

children was most important.

Conclusion

Career Aspirations of Chinese Adolescents

Discussion of results. Career aspirations have been studied extensively over the past

half-century in Western countries and are considered to be an important variable in

understanding individual self-concept, career-related behavior, perceptions of social forces that

influence available opportunities, and future educational and career-related choices and

attainment (Rojewski, 2005). Unfortunately, limited research has been conducted on the career

aspirations of Chinese adolescents. In this study, the first research questions sought to describe

the career aspirations of a sample of Chinese adolescents.

A majority of Chinese adolescents in my sample aspired to high-prestige occupations.

Prestige scores ranged from 39.2 (barber) to 90.07 (Director of Municipal People’s Congress),

with a mean prestige score of 70. 91 (SD=10.00), which lies within the high prestige range. The

most common aspiration was doctor (n=121, 14.9%) with a prestige score of 69.55; the second

most common aspiration was business person (n=78, 9.6%) with a prestige score of 66.77, while

the third most common was public school teacher (n=76, 9.4%) with a prestige score of 81.51.

Lawyer and movie star were also popular choices of adolescents.

The degree to which aspirations for Chinese adolescents reported in the study are

representative of urban Chinese students in general, is not known. However, these findings

70

contribute to an emerging understanding of the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents.

Moreover, two important aspects of these results can be noted. First, most students aspired to

have occupations requiring a college degree (i.e., doctor, teacher, lawyer, and engineer). Second,

many students aspired to a career in business. It is likely these two outcomes reflect adolescents’

perspectives on the importance people place on knowledge and wealth and can be explained, in

part, by the historic roles of occupations of China. Traditionally, four occupations were officially

recognized in China. In descending order of prestige and status, these were shi (scholars and

officials), nong (farmers and peasants), gong (artisans and craftsman), and shang (merchants and

traders). The shi held the highest status of the four occupations in ancient China (Ebrey &

Walthall, 2013). According to Li’s (2005) Occupational Prestige Index, shi still hold very high

social status in China. The nong were ranked second in the social hierarchy of ancient China

because agriculture played a key role in the rise of ancient China’s civilization. However, the

nong have occupied a low social status in modern Chinese society. In fact, nong-related

occupations were ranked among the lowest 10 occupations in the OPI (Li, 2005). My results

indicated that no participant aspired to be a farmer or peasant. Low professional occupations

(i.e., farmer, fishermen, trailer, and salesperson) were also not welcomed by these adolescents.

The gong provide skills and basic labor in both government and private sectors. After the

Communist Revolution in 1949, the gong class assumed a greater social status because members

of working class were considered the leaders of the Revolution. However, gong-related

occupations are ranked low in the OPI. Only a small percentage of participants aspired to some

type of professional or technical occupations. The shang class possessed the lowest status of the

four occupations in ancient Chinese social hierarchy and were viewed a not producing or

contributing to society as they gained profit from others (Schirokauer, 1989). However, the

71

emergence of private and foreign investment businesses in China, starting in the 1980s has led to

a rapid change in social values from culture- and education-based to wealth-based (Zhang,

2008). The shang class has held an increasingly high level of prestige because of its wealth.

Chinese culture has displayed value-laden coherence, persistence, and robustness over

many centuries (Buttle, 1980; Cooper, 2003; Lu, 2002; Wang, 1992). This long tradition and

history is reflected in the large number of students who aspired to occupations requiring a

college degree and reflecting shi (e.g., doctor, teacher, lawyer, and engineer). Education is

regarded as nurturing an individual to be a better person. Chinese people believe that the more

education one receives, the higher level of moral standard and social status one will reach.

Education is viewed as the catalyst to lead a person to a great career, which benefits individuals

and brings honor to their families (Zhang, 2008)

The large number of adolescents aspiring to do business reflects the participants’ value

being placed on wealth. No doubt, Chinese adolescents’ views and values on career are affected

by economic globalization and the promotion of China reform and opening policy. Starting in

1978, Deng Xiaoping introduced a series of reforms (known as the open-door policy), aiming to

modernize China’s industry and economy and to restore China to a position as a world power

(Turner & Acker, 2002). As a result, China has experienced remarkable economic growth during

the past two decades with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $9.40 trillion in 2013, becoming

the world’s second-largest consumer economy just behind the United States (National Bureau of

Statistics of China, 2014). The emergence of private and foreign investment and businesses

starting in the 1980s has led to a change in social values from culture- and education-based to

wealth-based (Zhang, 2008). The traditional view that an individual is judged by their knowledge

and moral standard is slowly being replaced by new social values that judge personal success

72

with degree of wealth. For example, many postgraduate students quit school to enter business

ventures. A survey on the income of 2,553 people in 20 cities revealed that the least satisfied

group of people were university undergraduate and postgraduate students (Zhang, 2008). These

well-educated students did not earn as much as others.

Limitation and recommendations. Although this study has several strengths, e.g.,

directly asking Chinese adolescents about their career aspirations and a very small percentage of

invalid responses, several limitations exist that require caution in the interpretation of these

results. First, most participants were from an urban area in China. Therefore, results may not be

equally applicable for understanding the career aspirations of rural students, and additional

research analyzing rural Chinese adolescents’ career aspiration is needed. It is possible that the

career aspirations of rural Chinese youth are different from urban areas due to a gap of wealth.

As a result of China’s economic growth, discrepancies in income, resources, and opportunities

have grown between urban and rural residents. There has been enormous growth in personal

income in urban areas, coupled with expansions in personal autonomy and new freedoms

(Peerenboom, 2002). However, rural areas in China have been largely left out of these social and

economic transformations and remain traditional, poor, and mainly agricultural-based economies

(Mackerras, 2001). Rural children and adults also have much less exposure to Western

influences (e.g., information gleaned through the Internet or other media) than urban children

(Chan & McNeal, 2006). Therefore, the career aspirations of adolescents in rural areas may be

influenced more heavily by others factors, such as family income and technology support.

Second, a longitudinal study that assess the career aspirations of these adolescents is

recommended. In the Western literature, research has shown that career aspirations can predict

future career attainment (Schoon & Parsons, 2002; Strong, 1953). Today, most researchers agree

73

that the career aspirations are among the most useful predictors of eventual career choice

(Rojewski, 2005). Future studies should investigate the correlation between career aspirations

and future occupational attainment of Chinese adolescents.

Finally, career education programs and career guidance counselors should be included in

public school services. There are several ways to support students’ career education. For

example, counselors can use the administrative database to track student progress and to improve

individual student counseling (Sheil & Robles, 2013). Counselors not only encourage students to

explore resources by themselves, but can guide students to a deep and systematic learning of

careers.

Influence of Family Factors on Career Aspirations of Chinese Adolescents

Discussion of results. Career aspirations are related to a wide range of personal and

situational variables including gender (Gottfredson, 2005; Rojewski & Yang, 1997; Wahl &

Blackhurst, 2000), locus of control (Gottfredson, 2005; Rojewski & Yang, 1997), race/ethnicity

(Howard et al., 2011), socioeconomic status (Lee & Rojewski, 2009; Mau & Bikos, 2000;

Rojewski & Yang, 1997; Schuette et al., 2012), educational aspirations and attainments

(Marjoribanks, 2002; Mau & Bikos, 2000), and social support (Wall et al., 1999). However, most

literature has focused on psychological factors such as self-concept and emotion. Limited

literature examines the influence of family factors on adolescents’ career aspirations. However,

very limited research has been conducted in China. The career aspirations of Chinese adolescents

may be subject to different influences (i.e., parents’ expectation) compared with adolescents in

the West ( Li & Wright, 2000). Therefore, this study examined the relationships between career

aspirations and family factors of Chinese adolescents.

74

Correlations between each family-related predictor variable selected for this analysis and

career aspirations were all positive, except for family composition. The correlations were modest

in magnitude and ranged from r = -.029 to .556. Compared with most predictors’ low correlation

with career aspirations, parents’ career aspirations for children had the highest correlation, r =

-.556. Approximately 31 % of the variance between these two variable was explained by this

relationship. Children tend to follow parents’ aspirations on their career choices. In terms of the

importance of each family factor in explaining career aspirations of Chinese adolescents, results

showed that when parents’ career aspirations for their children were deleted, the largest drop in

the R2adj* value occurred (from .316 to .022). Therefore, parents’ career aspirations for their

children contributed the most to explaining the career aspirations of Chinese adolescents.

The examination of relationships between career aspirations and family factors

contributes to our emerging understanding of adolescent career development, and in particular,

the influence of family factors on Chinese adolescents’ career aspirations. No substantial

relationships between career aspirations and most family factors were identified. Findings in this

study are not consistent with previous studies in the U.S. and elsewhere that have demonstrated

the positive effects of career-related parental support among adolescents, even though Turner

and Lapan (2002) found that students who received career-related parental support were more

likely to have higher career aspirations. Second, my results are not consistent with previous

research that has demonstrated the large effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on U.S.

adolescents’ career aspirations. Rojewski and Yang (1997) found that while the effects of SES

on occupational aspirations decreased as adolescents matured, the initial effect was too large to

be ignored. In fact, the longitudinal effects of socioeconomic status on career aspirations

explained approximately 10% of the variance of occupational aspirations. In a study of

75

adolescents’ career development reported by Mortimer et al. (1992), the variable that had the

most effect on career aspirations was parents’ education. Mortimer et al. reported that parents

with postsecondary education tended to pass along its importance to their children. Family

income was another family factor that influence the career development of youth. However, both

parents’ education and family income provided little or no value to explain adolescents’ career

aspirations in this study.

Gottfredson (2005) concluded that children from low socioeconomic groups do not aspire

to more prestigious occupations than their parents because they fear estrangement or failure, and,

therefore, begin to restrict occupational preferences and choices. However, this was not the case

in China as I did not find a significant relationship between career aspirations and family

socioeconomic status. On the contrary, a majority of participants reported high prestige

occupations. Reasons for this difference might be the existence of China’s one-child policy. The

one-child policy was introduced in China over 30 years ago, and has had a great influence on

Chinese family structure and ways of raising children. Parents and grandparents tend to spoil

only children and only children are more inclined to be willful, arrogant, and ego-centric (Jiao et

al., 1986; Yang et al., 2003). The new 4:2:1 family structure (four grandparents, two parents, and

one child) places single child in the center of the family resulting in all family members holding

high career aspirations for the child. This new family structure may reduce the possible influence

of SES in China.

In this study, the most significant relationship was between adolescents’ and parents’

career aspirations. This finding is consistent with several studies with Asian Americans and

Chinese university students. Leong and Serafica (1995) reported that Asian-American

adolescents perceived higher parental pressure than their European-American peers. Asian-

76

American participants reported that their parents often exerted a direct influence on their career

aspirations and choices, which resulted in limited career options that would satisfy their own

interests and still meet parental aspirations. Researchers also found that the career decision-

making difficulties of university students in China related to perceived levels of parental

aspirations and their perceived performance in the areas where aspirations were directed (Leung

et al., 2011). A survey on graduates from a nursing school in Nanjing indicated that 80.4% of

students followed parental opinions regarding their career choice (Wang, 2000). Chao and Sue

(1996) found that high aspirations for children’s educational and vocational development was a

major characteristic of the relationship between Chinese parents and their children. In Chinese

society, Confucian relational ethics encourage individuals, especially young persons, to fulfill

their parents’ aspirations and obey their wishes, to show respect to parental figures, and to

maintain interpersonal harmony through their choices and actions. “I study for my parents” is a

very common mentality and attitude among school students (Zhang, 2008).

Limitation and recommendations. This study used a cross-sectional and self-report

survey design, which may have affected the response result that reflected strong relationships

between adolescents’ career aspirations and parents’ career aspirations for them. Cross-sectional

designs have the advantage of providing data relatively quickly, but it is not effective in

understanding or the long-term development of career aspirations. Self-report designs have the

potential to bias reporting. When asking participants about their family income, some students

did not know the actual family income. When asking about parents’ occupations, some might

have wanted to present themselves in a decent way. For example, very few students indicated

their parents’ occupation as peasant or farmer even though about15% students reported their

families were in rural areas. Future research could address this limitation by conducting a

77

longitudinal analysis that would allow researchers to track changes in these relationships. For

example, as adolescents matured and received more education on career while they attended

college, the effect of parents’ career aspirations may decrease and the effect of parental support

and SES may also change. Future research could continue to examine other potentially important

factors, such as the influences of teachers, peers, self-concept or academic achievement, which

might contribute to understanding of Chinese adolescents’ career aspirations as the literature

shows that academic achievement and self-concept are significant influences on the career

aspirations of Western adolescents (Gottfredson, 1981; Lent et al., 1996; Super, 1990).

Second, some limitations to this study are due to its limited generalizability. Since data

were collected at one middle school, located in urban area of north China and only about 15%

participants were from rural areas, the results cannot be generalized to a larger population and

cannot address the career aspirations issues of rural students. This study should be replicated

with samples in rural areas to examine the relationship of adolescents’ career aspirations and

family factors. Parenting practices in urban areas are more likely to be self-governing and

supportive, whereas rural parenting tends to emphasize traditional values of obedience and

conformity (Naftali, 2009). Parents’ career aspiration for children in urban areas might be more

influential than urban areas and the importance of some family factors may increase, such as

mother’s education, family income, and parental support.

Further study on career aspirations of adolescents living in a single parent family should

also be conducted. In this study, most participants lived in a traditional family, while only about

one-tenth adolescents reported living in a single parent family. Therefore, the applicability of

results to address adolescents’ career aspirations from a single parent family are limted. The

Chinese Family Development Report (2014) indicated there were more than 20 million single

78

parent family (5.6% of the population) in China. According to household production theory, the

reduction in parental resources for human capital investment in children living with a single

father or mother may result in lower educational attainment (Krein & Beller, 1988). Mueller and

Cooper (1986) reported that compared to traditional two-parent families, young adults raised

by single parents tend to have lower educational, occupational, and economic attainment. Further

study on career aspirations of adolescents from single parent families may provide a better

explanation of relationships between career aspirations and family factors.

Finally, research has continuously demonstrated that parents have been the largest

influence on their children, typically the primary source for career-related information for

adolescents, and a child’s first role model for the world of work, as he or she observes his or her

parents’ behavior around their occupation (Morrow, 1995). Given the important influence of

parents on adolescents’ career development, it is highly recommended to provide career

education program for both students and parents in public school system. Career guidance

counselors should keep smooth communication with parents and let parents know the importance

of career education and engage in the process of career education.

79

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APPENDIX A

STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE

97

Career Related Parent Support Scale (CRPSS, Turner, Alliman-Brissett, Lapan, Udipi, & Ergun,

2003; CRPSS Chinese, Cheng & Yuen, 2012) (English translation on next two pages)

父母对你职业有关的支持量表

请仔细阅读，并圈出合适的答案

绝

对

不

同

意

不

同

意

不

肯

定

同

意

绝

对

不

同

意

PS1.当我妥善完成校内功课后，父母会奖赏我 1 2 3 4 5

PS2.父母教我的知识，将有利于我日后就业所需 1 2 3 4 5

PS3.父母协助我选修助我日后择业的学科 1 2 3 4 5

PS4.父母给予我家务教我日后就业的技能 1 2 3 4 5

PS5.父母协助我做家庭作业 1 2 3 4 5

PS6.父母让我参与教授与工作有关的技能的课外活动 1 2 3 4 5

PS7.父母告诉我现在所学的对将来工作有什么帮助 1 2 3 4 5

PS8.父母帮助我在工作上建立自豪感 1 2 3 4 5

PS9.#父母告诉我有关他们的工作 1 2 3 4 5

PS10.父母向我展示他们工作的内容 1 2 3 4 5

PS11.父母曾经带我到他们工作的地方 1 2 3 4 5

PS12.父母让我跟他们的同事会面 1 2 3 4 5

PS13.父母告诉我他们在哪里工作 1 2 3 4 5

PS14.父母告诉我他们工作上所发生的各种情况 1 2 3 4 5

PS15.父母告诉我有关他们工作的类别 1 2 3 4 5

PS16.#当我学习与工作有关的技能时，父母会赞赏我 1 2 3 4 5

PS17.父母鼓励我在校内尽我所能去学习 1 2 3 4 5

PS18.父母鼓励我争取好成绩 1 2 3 4 5

PS19.父母鼓励我在毕业后继续升学以及就业 1 2 3 4 5

PS20.父母告诉我他们期望我完成学业 1 2 3 4 5

PS21.#父母告知我他们喜欢我做的哪一类型的工作 1 2 3 4 5

PS22.当我为将来就业的问题困扰时，父母会与我倾谈 1 2 3 4 5

PS23.当我学习对我将来就业有所需的知识时，父母会说

些能令我开心的话

1 2 3 4 5

PS24.父母告诉我将来工作会有哪些乐趣 1 2 3 4 5

PS25.父母告诉我他会为我在校内表现良好而感到骄傲 1 2 3 4 5

PS26.有时候父母和我谈到将来我可能找到的一份非常好

的工作时，我们都会感到兴奋

1 2 3 4 5

PS27.父母知道我有时会为将来的事业感到恐慌 1 2 3 4 5

98

#Items 9, 16 and 21 were removed in Chinese version and were not used in the calculation

of the subscale and whole scale scores. Subscales:

IA = Instructional Assistance (8 items): PS1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

ES = Emotional Support (6 items): PS22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

CM = Career-related Modeling (6 items): PS10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

VE =Verbal Encouragement (4 items): PS17, 18, 19, 20.

Source:

Cheng, S., & Yuen, M. (2012). Validation of the Career-Related Parent Support Scale among

Chinese high school students. Career Development Quarterly, 60(4), 367-374.

Turner, S. L., Alliman-Brissett, A., Lapan, R. T., Udipi, S., & Ergun, D. (2003). The career-

related parent support scale. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and

Development, 36(2), 83-94.

Turner, S. L., & Lapan, R. T. (2002). Career self-efficacy and perceptions of parent support in

adolescent career development. The Career Development Quarterly, 51(1), 44-55.

The career-related parent support scale Chinese Research Edition modified and translated

by Sandra Cheng & Mantak Yuen, on 11 January 2008. Dr. Yuen can be contacted at Centre for

Advancement of Inclusive and Special Education, Faculty of Education, the University of Hong

Kong, Pokfulam, China. Email: [email protected]

Acknowledgement: The career-related parent support scale was translated, modified, and

reproduced by special permission of Professor S.L. Turner, Department of Educational

Psychology, University of Minnesota, 250 Education Sciences Bldg, 56 East River Road

Minneapolis, MN, 55455-0364 USA. Further reproduction is prohibited without the authors'

written consent. E-mail: [email protected]

Subscales

IA = Instructional Assistance= PS1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

PS1. My parents reward me for doing my school work well.

PS2. My parents teach me things that I will someday be to use at my job.

PS3. My parents help me pick out classes that will help me in my career.

PS4. My parents give me chores that teach me skills I can use in my future career.

PS5. My parents help me do my homework.

PS6. My parents let me do activities outside of school that teach me future job-related skills.

PS7. My parents talk to me about how what I am learning will someday be able to help me

on the job.

PS8. My parents help me take pride in my work.

ES = Emotional Support= PS22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27

PS22. My parents talk to me when I am worried about my future career.

PS23. My parents say things that make me happy when I learn something I might use in a

job sometime.

99

PS24. My parents talk to me about what fun my future job could be.

PS25. My parents tell me they are proud of me when I do well in school.

PS26. Sometimes my parents and I get excited when we talk about a great job I might have

someday.

PS27. My parents know I am sometimes scared about my future career.

CM = Career-related Modeling=PS10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

PS10. My parents show me the kind of things they do at work.

PS11. My parents have taken me to their work.

PS13. My parents have had me meet someone they work with.

PS14. My parents tell me about things that happen to them at work.

PS15. My parents tell me .about the kind of work they do.

VE =Verbal Encouragement=PS17, 18, 19, 20.

PS17. My parents encourage me to learn as much as I can at school.

PS18. My parents encourage me to make good grades.

PS19. My parents encourage me to go to a technical school or college or get a job after I

graduate.

PS20. My parents told me they expect me to finish school.

100

Background Information

1. Age (before next birthday): ____________ 2. Gender: female male

3. Family composition：Tradition Single parent Other _____________

4. Family income： less than ￥5,000 ￥5,000-19,999 ￥20,000-59,999

￥60,000-199,999 More than￥ 100,000

5. Registered permanent residence： Rural Urban

6. Parent-child conversation time about career and education per week：

None

Little (Once)

Moderate (twice or three times)

A lot (four times or five times)

Excessive (more than five times)

10. Mother’s Occupation_____________ 11. Father’s Occupation _________________________

12. If you were free to choose any job, what would you most desire as a life time kind of work?

______________________________

13. What occupation are you most likely to enter after you have completed your education?

_______________________________

14. What occupation do your parents expect you to have in an ideal condition?

___________________________________

15. What occupation do your parents think you are most likely to have after you have completed

your education?

_____________________________________

7. Your Educational Goal

Middle school diploma

High school diploma

Associate’s degree

Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

Doctoral degree

8. Mother’s Level of Education

Did not complete middle school

Completed middle school

Did not complete high school

Completed high school


Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

Doctoral degree

9. Father’s Level of Education

Did not complete middle school

Completed middle school

Did not complete high school

Completed high school


Bachelor’s degree

Master’s degree

Doctoral degree

101

人口统计信息

1. 年龄：_____________ 2. 性别：女性男性

2. 家庭组成：传统双亲家庭单亲家庭其他________________

4. 家庭年收入：低于 5,000 5,000-19,999 20,000-59,999

60,000-199,999 超过 100,000

5. 户口：农村城市

6. 父母孩子之间每周交流职业和学业时间：

从不

很少（1 次）

一般（2 次或 3 次）

很多（4 次或 5 次）

过多（超过 5 次）

10.母亲的职业__________________ 11.父亲的职业__________________________

12. 如果没有任何限制，你最希望从事什么职业作为终身工作?__________________________

13. 毕业后，你觉得你最可能从事的职业是? __________________________________________

14. 如果没有任何限制，你的父母最希望你从事什么职业?__________________________________

15. 你父母觉得你毕业后最可能从事的职业是什么?______________________________________

7. 你的教育目标

初中毕业

高中毕业

大专毕业

学士学位

硕士学位

博士学位

8. 母亲的教育程度

初中未毕业

初中毕业

高中肄业（高中未毕业）

高中毕业

大专毕业

学士学位

硕士学位

博士学位

9. 父亲的教育程度

初中未毕业

初中毕业

高中肄业（高中未毕业）

高中毕业

大专毕业

学士学位

硕士学位

博士学位

102

APPENDIX B

TIMELINE

103

Timeline

Month/Year Objective

October /2014 Finish research proposal and draft questionnaires. Submit research request

with research proposal to the city education department.

November/2014 After getting permission from the school, submit necessary paperwork for

study to Institutional Review Board (IRB) at UGA.

December/2014 Received study approval from IRB and contact school principal to collect

data in the middle school.

January /2014 Finish data collection and code data; update Chapter1-3.

March/2014 Analyze data and summarize results, begin writing Chapter 4

March/2014 Finish Chapter 4 and begin Chapter 5

April/2015 Finish Chapter 4 and 5, and edit dissertation

April/2015 Submit dissertation

May/2015 Final Defense

August/2015 Graduation

104

APPENDIX C

IRB APPROVAL FORM

105

Documents

adolescents’ perce parents’ career aspirations for their