The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Career Decision-Making Difficulties: Psychological Flourishing as a Mediator

Well-being associated with optimism, social support, and self-esteem is positively correlated with career decision. In this perspective, a rather recent concept of flourishing as an integrative notion incorporating these different resources, positive affect, and positive experience is particularly relevant to better understand the relations and correlations between self-evaluation, well-being, and career decision-making difficulties. The present study then examines the relationship between these possible difficulties, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and flourishing. One hundred and seventy-two higher education students participated in the study and completed a four-part questionnaire with the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire, the Flourishing Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The results highlight the mediation of psychological flourishing between personality dimensions-self-esteem and self-efficacy-and career decision difficulties and the fact that those who are most flourishing in their lives will also have the least difficulty in making a career decision. As for the practical implications, guidance counselors for students and young adults need to identify resources and difficulties they have to cope with. This study emphasizes the importance of guiding students in three areas: self-esteem, the perceived quality of social relations, and the meaning attributed to one's existence. Finally, the contribution of positive psychology to career development will be discussed.

The role of career decision self-efficacy as a mediator of peer support on students’ career adaptability

This study aims to determine the role of career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) as a mediator of the relationship between peer support and career adaptability among college students. Furthermore, students are in a realistic period of career development, but in reality, the level of adaptability is still low because the knowledge and career guidance in Indonesia only start at the college level, or at least high school. This condition makes recent graduates experience confusion in determining careers, thereby affecting their ability to adapt. One of the most influential external factors of career adaptability is peer support, where students spend more time with friends and provide information, career suggestions, emotional support, and being role models to each other. CDSE was selected as a moderator because career adaptability can be enhanced through self-efficacy sources. The participants used were final-year college students in Indonesia (N = 538). Data was then collected using convenience sampling techniques. The instruments used in this study include Career Adapt-Abilities Scale, Career-Related Peer Support, and Career Decision Self-Efficacy-Short Form. The results showed that CDSE fully mediated peer support on adaptability (c = 0.247; p < .001). Furthermore, peer support as an external factor is inadequate to enhance career adaptability. This indicates that internal factors are needed to help students adapt to changes in the working world and career choices. Students who only obtain social support from campus friends regarding career cannot adapt when they lack the confidence to make decisions with the information and knowledge provided.

Development and testing of the career decision-making self-efficacy scale for nursing students: a methodological study

BACKGROUND

The conventional Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale does not reflect the situation in Korea due to different sociocultural attributes and fails to account for the unique nursing profession and changes in healthcare. We aimed to develop and psychometrically test the Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale for Nursing Students.

METHODS

A methodological study using a newly developed questionnaire tool and investigation of the validity and reliability of the preliminary instrument. Data were collected from 400 nursing students through an online survey conducted in May 2021. We identified 56 preliminary items through a literature review and focus group interviews. Of them, 40 were completed with a content validity index > .80. Content, construct, and criterion-related validity; internal consistency reliability; and test-retest reliability were used in the analysis.

RESULTS

Exploratory factor analysis revealed three factors including 21 items: adapting to work (20.5%), understanding the major (20.2%), and goal setting (16.4%), explaining 57.1% of the total variance. As a result of confirmatory factor analysis, 17 items in the three-factor structure were validated. Reliability, as verified by the test-retest interclass correlation coefficient, was .86 and Cronbach's α was .92. The final Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale for Nursing Students consists of 17 items: adapting to work (7 items); understanding the major (4 items); and goal setting (6 items).

CONCLUSION

The scale developed to measure the career decision-making self-efficacy of nursing students showed sufficient validity and reliability.

Factors Associated with the Development of Secondary School Students’ Interest towards STEM Studies

The aim of this study is to investigate the predictive factors that predispose secondary school students’ interest in studying STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) fields in higher education. For this purpose, an already existing questionnaire was used and modified properly, according to the Greek educational system. The survey was attended by 301 secondary school students, who study in Piraeus, one of the largest cities in Greece. Research findings indicated that the principles of Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) are well supported. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that such a number of variables had been examined, in order to support the SCCT. In particular, very few studies exist in literature—to the best of our knowledge—investigating the effect of more than four factors influencing students’ interest towards STEM higher studies. Learning experiences, students’ exposure to STEM activities within the school environment and outside of it (OR = 0.071, p = 0.002), as well as their involvement with high difficulty STEM courses (OR = 0.203, p = 0.038), appear to be positively correlated with the development of interest towards studies in the STEM fields. In addition, students from low-income families are more likely to follow STEM studies (OR = 0.198, p = 0.034). On the contrary, it has been revealed that parental educational background only supports the student’s decision to continue studies after high school, without specifying the educational field in higher education (OR = 0.769, p = 0.703; father’s educational level, OR = 0.698, p = 0.552; mother’s educational level). Data revealed that outcome expectations and self-efficacy (OR = 14.366, p = 0.005) are positively related to the procedure of students’ interest development to pursue STEM fields in higher education, while gender seems to be a non-regulatory factor (OR = 0.886, p = 0.831).

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Linking Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy to Intention to Stay in the Hospitality Industry Based on Internship Experience

Internships are increasingly being used in the hospitality industry, as these can provide students with opportunities to examine their abilities, interests, and career decisions in a workplace context, as well as help cultivate human resources within this sector. This study thus examines students’ career decision-making self-efficacy with regard to internships. Based on social cognitive theory and career decision-making self-efficacy theory, we developed the research constructs with a focus group interview and a review of the existing literature, and then verified their content validity and scale reliability. Using 782 student data from the hospitality management departments, we found the direct influence of career decision-making self-efficacy in relation to internships on the intention to stay in the hospitality industry. Most important of all, we also found the mediating roles of internship satisfaction and career commitment in the relationship between decision-making self-efficacy and intention to stay in the hospitality industry, as well as the moderating roles of intrinsic motivation in the relationships among career decision-making self-efficacy, internship satisfaction, career commitment, and intention to stay in the hospitality industry. The theoretical and practical implications of these results in the context of hospitality will be discussed.

A Summer Professional Immersion in Nursing Program for Underrepresented Minority Undergraduate Students

BACKGROUND

By 2044, more than 50% of the U.S. population will consist of ethnic/racial minorities. To facilitate optimal health, the projected nursing workforce should mirror this statistic. This pilot study examined the effects of a Summer Professional Immersion in Nursing Program (SPIN) on confidence in career decision making of under-represented minority undergraduate students. The 4-week program exposed participants to various nursing experiences.

METHOD

The Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale was administered pre- and post-SPIN to measure level of confidence in career decision making.

RESULTS

The sample included eight women, with an average age of 19.63 years (SD = 0.52). Comparative analysis was performed using a reliable change index. The pre- to post-SPIN change was 0.38, indicating a meaningful significant increase in confidence.

CONCLUSION

SPIN is an example for nursing programs interested in attracting undergraduate underrepresented minority students. The program positively influenced self-efficacy toward career selection and may positively influence enrollment of underrepresented nurses in the future. [J Nurs Educ. 2020;59(11):631-636.].

Ignatian Spirituality and Career Development: New Evidence for Age-Old Practices

Given the importance of career discernment in emerging adulthood, we evaluated an understudied career development approach for higher education students. Specifically, we tested the relationship between spiritual discernment exercises and sense of purpose and calling through the indirect effects of self-concept clarity, career decision self-efficacy, and knowledge of occupational information. Participants ( N = 127) were randomly assigned to one of the three conditions and were surveyed at a 10-week interval. Results indicated significantly higher posttest scores for purpose ( B = .169, p = .026) and calling ( B = .134, p = .013) in the spiritual discernment condition compared to the general adjustment (i.e., control) and traditional career development conditions. Mediation analyses also revealed a significant indirect effect of self-concept clarity on sense of purpose ( B ab = .059, p = .033). These findings suggest that spiritual discernment practices can significantly enhance the effectiveness of career development interventions for discerning purpose and calling.

The Change-Inventory for Career Counseling - An Instrument for Measuring Counseling-Correlated Changes

Psychometric properties of a 23-item inventory that measures five correlates of career counseling for evaluation purposes are presented. The dimensions were developed bottom-up. The construction sample consisted of 3316 adult clients of public career counseling services in Switzerland, who were assessed within a naturalistic multicenter evaluation study with pre-post design. The inventory proved reliable (Cronbach's α between 0.72 and 0.82, McDonnald's ω between 0.73 and 0.81). Concerning validity, the dimensions were supported by exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFI = 0.910, SRMR = 0.044, RMSEA = 0.056). Configural, metric and scalar measurement invariance of gender (female vs. male) and age group (<30 vs. ≥30 years) was also supported. Pre-post changes are medium to large. Practical use and theoretical localization among related German-language instruments are discussed.

Furthering Proactivity and Career Adaptability Among University Students: Test of Intervention

This study was based on a theory-driven training course, Staying Relevant. It aimed at developing university students’ proactive personality and career adaptability resources (concern, control, curiosity, and confidence) with the assumption that 6 months later, they would demonstrate appropriate adapting responses (career planning, career decision-making self-efficacy, career exploration, and occupational self-efficacy). A randomized control trial, the study used the pretest–posttest–posttest one control group ( n = 49) and one experimental group ( n = 49) design. Compared to the control group, results indicated that the training group had higher proactivity and career adaptability resources immediately after the training and 6 months later as well as showed higher adapting responses 6 months later. Theoretical contributions and practical implications of these results are also discussed. The study concluded that the Staying Relevant course embodying an eclectic mix of intervention best practices could be successful in facilitating a smooth university-to-work transition.

Time Perspective and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy: A Longitudinal Examination Among Young Adult Students

This longitudinal study examined the relationship between Zimbardo time perspectives (TPs) and career decision-making self-efficacy (CDMSE). In total, 1,753 young adults participated in the longitudinal study. For the present study, we selected only participants who were students and provided information on TPs, CDMSE, and sociodemographic characteristics ( n = 492, M = 22.97 years, SD = 1.32, 82.9% women). The results of multilevel modeling showed that future orientation and present-hedonistic TPs were positively related to CDMSE, whereas present-fatalistic and past-negative TPs were negatively related to CDMSE. These findings indicate that besides the beneficial effect of widely studied future TP, the negative role of past-negative and present-fatalistic TPs should be considered in connection with the career development of emerging adults.

Positive youth development: An experimental trial with unattached adolescents

Adolescents who are unemployed and do not attend school or other education face a variety of short- and long-term challenges ranging from economic instability to increased drug and alcohol abuse to loss of quality adjusted life years. Intervention programs that reinforce positive youth behaviors may provide more effective solutions to adolescent challenges than programs that attempt to curb maladaptive behaviors. We conducted a longitudinal randomized trial of a residential positive youth development program including a six-month job internship with youth in Jamaica (N = 785, 59.3% Female, Mean Age = 18.3, SD = 1.7), which revealed significant main effects on the acquisition of workplace skills and career self-efficacy. Smaller effects were noted for youth assets in unattached Jamaican adolescents based on follow-up six months post treatment.

The Joint Roles of Career Decision Self-Efficacy and Personality Traits in the Prediction of Career Decidedness and Decisional Difficulty

We examined the differential roles that career decision-making self-efficacy and the Big Five traits of neuroticism, extroversion, and conscientiousness may play in relation to career decision status and decisional difficulty. Following assumptions of the social cognitive model of career self-management, we hypothesized that the relations of the personality traits to level of decidedness and choice/commitment anxiety (CCA), a key source of indecision, would be mediated by self-efficacy. We also examined the possibility that the traits could function to moderate the relation of self-efficacy to the dependent variables. Employing a sample of 182 undergraduates, we found support for a mediational model in which each of the personality traits relates to self-efficacy which, in turn, predicts CCA and decidedness. In addition, conscientiousness was found to moderate the relation of career decision-making self-efficacy to CCA, and extroversion moderated the relation of self-efficacy to decidedness. We consider the findings in relation to the social cognitive model and discuss their implications for future research and career decision-making interventions.

Career Planning Confidence Among Facebook Users

As a highly popular social networking site (SNS) for exchanging information about their personal activities, values, goals, and accomplishments with their online “friends,” Facebook (FB)© enables social comparisons and identity negotiations that may influence college students’ career planning confidence. However, to date, no studies have examined whether FB use activities and “friend” networks are uniquely associated with such confidence when dispositional variables associated with students’ needs for belongingness and self-presentation are concurrently controlled. In the present study, participants provided information about their FB use activities and networks and completed self-report measures of adult attachment security, authenticity, career decision self-efficacy, and career aspirations. We hypothesized that, controlling for features of FB use, adult attachment security and authenticity would make significant and incremental contributions to our indicators of career confidence and that authenticity would mediate expected relations between attachment security and these outcomes. Our findings yielded general support for these hypotheses. Implications for career counseling practice that considers both clients’ relational dispositions and uses of social media are discussed.

The Impact of a College Career Intervention Program on Career Decision Self-Efficacy, Career Indecision, and Decision-Making Difficulties

A quasi-experimental longitudinal intervention study utilizing intervention and comparison groups was carried out with first-year Malaysian college students in order to evaluate the effectiveness of a careers course designed to help students in their career decision-making. Participants in both groups were given questionnaires assessing career decision self-efficacy (CDSE), career indecision, and career decision-making difficulties at various time points. Career indecision and decision-making difficulties (CDDs) are different constructs in that research on career indecision encompasses a wider area wherein the identification of sources of career indecision, often referred to as decision-making difficulties, is one line of research. Gender differences at the outset and over the duration of the course were also examined. Results indicated that upon completion of the course participants in the intervention group experienced increased CDSE and reduced career indecision compared to the comparison group. An overall decrease in career decision-making difficulties was also observed, but further investigation revealed that the decrease was not significant in 1 of 10 subcategories of difficulties. Although gender differences in career indecision and career decision-making difficulties were observed at the outset, these disappeared over the course of the intervention. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed.

Examining the Role of Ethnic Identity and Meaning in Life on Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy

In emerging adulthood, establishing a sense of self and life meaning is a key developmental task for career development. This study examined the role of ethnic identity and meaning in life in career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) among African American, Asian American, and White incoming, first-year, college students ( n = 2,470). Using hierarchical multiple regression analysis, we found that ethnic identity and meaning in life predicted between 14% and 26% of the variance in CDSE for African American, Asian American, and White students. Mediation analyses for each ethnic group revealed that the presence of life meaning mediated the relations between ethnic identity and CDSE. Ethnic identity appears to be associated with positive career development, in part, through the cultivation of life meaning for ethnically diverse college students. Implications for research and career counseling with ethnically diverse college students are discussed.

Career Decision-Making Within the College Social Microcosm

The present investigation sought to examine whether the college social environment influences students’ career decision-making (CDM) processes. It was comprised of three overarching hypotheses: (1) uncertainty about one’s academic major would be devalued in the college social microcosm, (2) social exclusion would negatively impact four basic psychological needs (belonging, sense of control, social state self-esteem, and meaning in life), and in turn, (3) social exclusion along with the four needs would negatively impact career decision self-efficacy and vocational outcome expectations. Study 1 ( N = 433) presented participants with two fictional student vignettes (certain about major vs. uncertain) which they were asked to rate using a series of positive personality traits. Results revealed that the vignette portraying a student certain about his or her academic major was judged significantly more positively compared to an uncertain student ( d = .71). Study 2 ( N = 148) experimentally manipulated social exclusion to examine its effects on the four needs and on the two CDM variables. Two types of exclusion were used (career-based and personal); both led to significantly lower levels of the four needs when compared to the career-based inclusion condition. Moreover, belonging, sense of control, and meaning in life made significant contributions to both vocational variables. Conclusions and implications are discussed.

Life Design Counseling Group Intervention With Portuguese Adolescents

This article examines the process and outcome of a life design counseling group intervention with students in Grades 9 and 12. First, we applied a quasi-experimental methodology to analyze the intervention’s effectiveness in promoting career certainty, career decision-making, self-efficacy, and career adaptability in a sample of 236 students. Second, focus groups comprising 33 participants were conducted, examining participants’ perceptions of the intervention process and outcome. Our findings showed that the intervention had a significant effect on both career certainty and career self-efficacy, but it had no effect on career adaptability. Our results also showed that My Career Story (MCS) had a stronger effect on Grade 12 students. Focus group participants reported on the usefulness of MCS, as well as on its benefits, which include increased information as well as a sense of direction, self-discovery, connection, and increased self-awareness. Grade 9 participants expressed more difficulties in narrating self-experience than Grade 12 participants did. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.

Acculturation and Hope as Predictors of Career Decision Self-Efficacy Among Korean International Undergraduate Students

This study examined the role of acculturation to the host culture, acculturation to the home culture, and dispositional hope in career decision self-efficacy (CDSE) in a sample of 213 Korean international undergraduate students enrolled in U.S. universities. The findings revealed that hope and acculturation to the host culture uniquely and positively predicted CDSE. Acculturation to the home culture was positively related to CDSE but did not account for unique variance in CDSE beyond that accounted for by hope. Hope was the strongest predictor of CDSE. As expected, acculturation to the host culture and acculturation to the home culture were not significantly related, suggesting that one does not necessarily require sacrifice of the other. No interaction effects were found between hope and acculturation variables on CDSE. Limitations of this study and implications for future research and practice are discussed.

The Reliability and Factor Structure of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale-SF With African Americans

The present study, based on a sample of 220 African American college students, sought to examine the utility of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale (CDSE) for African Americans. Values of coefficient alpha indicated reliability similar to that found in predominantly White samples. A four-factor structure best represented the data, with a large first factor emphasizing information gathering and decision making. However, the factor structure could also be interpreted relative to time orientation, from most immediate tasks (“choose a major") to those further away temporally (“choosing a career," “interviewing for a job," and “changing jobs if needed"). The students studied herein reported higher levels of career decision self-efficacy than found in previous samples, but cautions in interpreting this finding are suggested. Overall, more research on both measuring career decision self-efficacy and providing career decision interventions within African American samples is recommended.

Career Self-Efficacy: Exemplary Recent Research and Emerging Directions

This article discusses what the author views as exemplary work illustrating important directions in research on the applications of Bandura's self-efficacy theory to career theory, assessment, and counseling. The author begins with research on measuring career self-efficacy, following which research testing the postulated behavioral consequences of career self-efficacy expectations is discussed. Notable studies of the learning experiences postulated to lead to the development of strong expectations of efficacy are reviewed. Studies of the possible relationships of efficacy expectations to parallel measures of vocational interests are included. Finally, exemplary studies applying the theory to the career development of diverse groups, studies of interventions designed to increase career self-efficacy, and new research attempting to integrate self-efficacy theory with personality constructs are included. The article is not intended as a comprehensive review of this research but rather to provide highlights of some of the excellent work being done in this area.

The Five-Factor Model and Career Self-Efficacy

The present study investigates the hypothesis that the big five personality factors could exert two kinds of effects on career self-efficacy: (a) generalized or nonspecific effects and (b) domain-specific, content-correspondence effects. The hypothesis is examined using relationships of the NEO Five-Factor Inventory to 24 distinct domains of career-related self-efficacy—confidence for the six Holland themes, 17 basic dimensions of vocational activity represented by the Expanded Skills Confidence Inventory, and career decision self-efficacy. Findings suggest generalized effects for conscientiousness and extraversion in that both correlated positively with a broad range of self-efficacy domains, while neuroticism displayed significant negative relationships with nearly all forms of career self-efficacy. Content correspondence was shown in significant correlations of openness to experience with self-efficacy for creative and intellectual pursuits. Findings are evaluated in light of recent empirical and theoretical developments relating to the integration of trait and social-cognitive perspectives.

Strategies for Coping with Career Indecision

The goal of the present research was to test the convergent and divergent validity of the Strategies for Coping with Career Indecision (SCCI) model and questionnaire, which comprises three main coping styles— Productive coping, Support-seeking, and Nonproductive coping—using three samples of young adults deliberating about their career choice. Study 1 tested the association between the SCCI and career decision-making profiles, using a sample of 390 young adults. Study 2 tested the relations between the SCCI and emotional and personality-related career decision-making difficulties, using a sample of 454 young adults. Finally, Study 3 tested the associations between the SCCI and career decision self-efficacy as well as the five dimensions of the Big Five Inventory, using a sample of 451 young adults. All three studies also tested the SCCI’s incremental validity by assessing its ability to predict individuals’ stages in the career decision-making process over and above the other measures. The results supported the convergent and divergent validity and partially supported the incremental validity of the SCCI. The theoretical and counseling implications are discussed and suggestions for future research are presented.

The Outcomes of Vocational Interventions

The purposes of this article are to (a) summarize the status of career intervention research since Spokane and Oliver’s seminal meta-analysis of vocational intervention outcome and (b) discuss in more detail a recently proposed method for determining whether career interventions make a difference in the lives of clients (clinical significance). Although several excellent meta-analyses of the career intervention outcome literature have appeared since 1983, we briefly summarize the meta-analytic results, discuss future research directions that were suggested by the meta-analyses, and evaluate our progress in addressing suggestions. The bulk of the article focuses on summarizing how clinical significance of career outcomes can be addressed, presenting normative data that can be used to address clinical significance questions with several widely used outcome measures, and illustrating clinical significance calculations using published career intervention studies.

An Examination of the Relationship Between Athletic Identity and Career Maturity in Student-Athletes

This study explored the extent to which athletic identity, belief of financial sustainability through participation at the professional level, scholarship status, and career decision-making self-efficacy predicted career maturity in college athletes. In addition, whether the relationship between athletic identity and career maturity differed depending upon scholarship status, belief of sustaining oneself financially as a professional athlete, and career decision-making self-efficacy was explored. Participants were 221 student-athletes from a large southeastern university. Participants provided demographic information and completed the Athletic Identity Measurement Scale, Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale—Short Form, and Career Decision Scale. Hierarchical regression analyses revealed that athletic identity was inversely related to career maturity. In addition, career decision-making self-efficacy was related to career maturity, with high career decision-making self-efficacy associated with higher career maturity. Future research is needed to further explore psychological variables that may explain the relationship between athletic identity and career maturity.

The Effect of Career Cruising on the Self-efficacy of Students Deciding on Majors

We analyzed the impact of a self-assessment instrument on the self-efficacy of those deciding on majors in a university setting. Using a pre- and post-test methodology, we employed Career Cruising to measure career decision-making self-efficacy. Participants completed the Career Decision Self-Efficacy–Short Form (CDSE-SF) with dependent variables of academic advising and the levels of self-efficacy among the CDSE-SF five subscales: Accurate Self-Appraisal, Gathering Occupational Information, Goal Selection, Planning for the Future, and Problem Solving. The data were subjected to paired and independent t tests to measure any differences in mean scores. The results indicated a slight increase in career self-efficacy for students who participated in both Career Cruising and academic advising.

VaMoS

Knowing our values, motives, and skills enables us to achieve a better match of person and job characteristics, which leads to satisfaction and well-being. However, discrepancies between one’s individual values, motives, and skills occur frequently and entail strain and lower satisfaction. We developed an instrument to address this problem systematically, VaMoS (Affective Values, Cognitive Motives and Skills) (1) provides an efficient way to assess important characteristics with only one questionnaire and (2) detects conflicts between them, which can be solved using career counseling to enhance satisfaction and improve work–life balance. A first online study ( n = 341) was used to reduce the initially developed items based on statistical properties. A second sample ( n = 574) confirmed the statistical model and gave initial evidence of the validity of the theoretical model: A discrepancy between affective values, cognitive motives, and skills was positively related among others with strain and negatively related to work–life balance and satisfaction.

Analysis of the Construct Validity and Measurement Invariance of the Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale

The Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale–Short Form (CDSE-SF) is one of the most frequently used instruments to assess individual levels of career-related self-efficacy. This study used the partial credit model within the framework of item response theory to examine the content, structural, substantive, and generalizability aspects of validity for the CDSE-SF in a sample of 534 Australian high school students aged between 14 and 19 years. The results showed clear evidence of multidimensionality for the CDSE-SF. Furthermore, there was strong support for the content, structural, and substantive aspects of validity when using the five subscales individually. The evidence of measurement invariance was found across grade levels; however, there were individual items that exhibited differential item functioning across gender, achievement level, and age-groups. The implications for career counseling and research are discussed.

A Two-Wave Longitudinal Study of Career Calling Among Undergraduates

This two-wave longitudinal study investigated the reciprocal relations between five possible predictors of career calling (presence of life meaning, search for life meaning, career decision self-efficacy, personal growth initiative, and intrinsic religiousness) among a sample of undergraduate college students over a 6-month period. Using structural equation modeling, two models were tested. The first model included all five predictor variables and was a poor fit for the data; the second model included only search for life meaning and personal growth and displayed improved model fit. Results from the second model indicated that search for life meaning and personal growth at Time 1 significantly predicted calling at Time 2, whereas calling at Time 1 was a nonsignificant predictor of either Time 2 outcomes. These findings suggest the more one is searching for his or her meaning in life and intentionally engaging in self-improvement, the more likely she or he is to later experience a calling.