Swiss Adolescents' Career Aspirations: Influence of Context, Age, and Career Adaptability

This study investigated the content, realism, stability, and coherence of the career aspirations of 262 students in seventh grade in Switzerland (ages 13-15 years). The content analysis revealed that 82% of the participants named at least one realistic career aspiration, and aspirations showed clear resemblance to existing opportunities in the environment. Quantitative analyses confirmed the hypotheses that realism and stability of aspirations over a 10-month period could better be predicted by individual degree of career adaptability as measured by planfulness and exploration than by chronological age when grade level was controlled for. Coherence of aspirations was not related to age or adaptability. Students attending basic scholastic requirements school tracks reported more adaptability but not more realistic, stable, or coherent aspirations compared to students in advanced requirements tracks.

Using Accuracy of Self-Estimated Interest-Type as a Sign of Career Choice Readiness in Career Assessment of Secondary Students

A frequent applied method in career assessment to elicit clients’ self-concepts is asking them to predict their interest assessment results. Accuracy in estimating one’s interesttype is commonly taken as a sign of more self-awareness and career choice readiness. The study evaluated the empirical relation of accuracy of self-estimation to career choice readiness within a sample of 350 Swiss secondary students in seventh grade. Overall, accuracy showed only weak relations to career choice readiness. However, accurately estimating one’s first interest-type in a three-letter RIASEC interests-code emerged as a sign of more vocational identity and total career choice readiness. Accuracy also correlated positively with interest profile consistency, differentiation, and congruence to career aspirations. Implications of the results for career counseling and assessment practice are presented.

Holland's secondary constructs of vocational interests and career choice readiness of secondary students

The study examined the relationship between the secondary constructs of Holland’s (1997) theory of vocational interests and career choice readiness [career maturity] attitudes with 358 Swiss secondary students. The hypothesis was tested that the secondary constructs consistency, coherence, differentiation, and congruence are measures for the degree of vocational interest development. Thus, they should belong to the content domain in career choice readiness and should show meaningful relations to career choice readiness attitudes. The hypothesis was confirmed for congruence, coherence, and differentiation. Interest profile consistency showed no relation to career choice readiness attitudes. Vocational identity emerged as a direct measure for career choice readiness attitudes. Realism of career aspirations was related to career choice readiness attitudes and coherence of career aspirations. Profile elevation was positively connected to more career planning and career exploration. Differences between gender, ethnicity, and school-types are presented. Implications for career counselling and assessment practice are discussed.

Let’s collaborate, but I will be the first author! Exploring the importance of the first authorship for IS researchers

Collaboration among researchers is typically seen as the quintessence of academic excellence, leading to improvements in the research quality, capitalization on the diversity of perspectives and gains in productivity. Despite these benefits, many research teams find themselves torn by competition, antagonism and resentment. Desire to be the first author and resultant underperformance of non-first co-authors is often at the root of these conflicts. At the same time little is known about what motivates researchers in general and IS researchers in particular to engage as first authors. To fill this gap, this study uses survey methodology to explore the attitudes of IS researchers and their resulting behavior when it comes to authors order. Qualitative and quantitative evidence collected from 398 IS researchers is used to support our analysis. We find that researchers’ desire to be the first authors is mainly driven by such determinants as career aspirations, visibility, leadership and sense of ownership, and less so by the desire to satisfy their self-esteem and self-actualization needs. In addition, the value placed on being the first author appears to be the function of researchers’ career level, with Ph.D. students attaching significantly higher value to it than senior scholars.

Geschlechtsspezifische Berufswünsche und Ausbildungsentscheidungen

Dass es geschlechtstypische Berufe gibt, und dass die Berufsaspirationen und die Wahl der Berufsausbildung nach der Pflichtschulzeit zwischen den Geschlechtern deutlich differieren, ist eine vielfach empirisch belegte Tatsache. Diese geschlechtstypische Segregation bei der Berufswahl und der zum ausgewählten Beruf führenden schulischen und beruflichen Ausbildung wird bei der Erklärung oftmals (pauschal) auf die geschlechtsspezifische Sozialisation und darin vermittelte Geschlechterstereotype zurückgeführt. Im vorliegenden Beitrag werden aus strukturell-individualistischer Sicht Mechanismen der geschlechtstypischen Berufsaspiration und Berufsbildungsentscheidung beschrieben, die theoriegeleitet empirisch aufgedeckt werden sollen. Für die Analysen werden Daten der drei Wellen des DAB-Panels verwendet, die für die Deutschschweiz Informationen von 203 Schulklassen mit rund 3.300 Schülerinnen und Schüler zur Verfügung stellen. Mittels dieser Paneldaten wird für Jugendliche der Deutschschweiz gezeigt, dass der sozioökonomische Status des Elternhauses, das damit einhergehende Motiv des intergenerationalen Statuserhalts sowie der Lebenslaufplanungen wichtige Beiträge zur Erklärung der Segregation der Berufswahl nach Geschlecht liefern. Diese mit dem Sozialstatus des Elternhauses verbundenen Mechanismen sind weitaus einflussreicher als die geschlechtsspezifische Sozialisation.

Swiss residents' speciality choices--impact of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goals

BACKGROUND: The medical specialties chosen by doctors for their careers play an important part in the development of health-care services. This study aimed to investigate the influence of gender, personality traits, career motivation and life goal aspirations on the choice of medical specialty. METHODS: As part of a prospective cohort study of Swiss medical school graduates on career development, 522 fourth-year residents were asked in what specialty they wanted to qualify. They also assessed their career motivation and life goal aspirations. Data concerning personality traits such as sense of coherence, self-esteem, and gender role orientation were collected at the first assessment, four years earlier, in their final year of medical school. Data analyses were conducted by univariate and multivariate analyses of variance and covariance. RESULTS: In their fourth year of residency 439 (84.1%) participants had made their specialty choice. Of these, 45 (8.6%) subjects aspired to primary care, 126 (24.1%) to internal medicine, 68 (13.0%) to surgical specialties, 31 (5.9%) to gynaecology & obstetrics (G&O), 40 (7.7%) to anaesthesiology/intensive care, 44 (8.4%) to paediatrics, 25 (4.8%) to psychiatry and 60 (11.5%) to other specialties. Female residents tended to choose G&O, paediatrics, and anaesthesiology, males more often surgical specialties; the other specialties did not show gender-relevant differences of frequency distribution. Gender had the strongest significant influence on specialty choice, followed by career motivation, personality traits, and life goals. Multivariate analyses of covariance indicated that career motivation and life goals mediated the influence of personality on career choice. Personality traits were no longer significant after controlling for career motivation and life goals as covariates. The effect of gender remained significant after controlling for personality traits, career motivation and life goals. CONCLUSION: Gender had the greatest impact on specialty and career choice, but there were also two other relevant influencing factors, namely career motivation and life goals. Senior physicians mentoring junior physicians should pay special attention to these aspects. Motivational guidance throughout medical training should not only focus on the professional career but also consider the personal life goals of those being mentored.

Gender Stereotypes and Gendered Vocational Aspirations among Secondary School Students

Research Topic/Aim: Horizontal gender inequalities appear to be rather stable, with girls more often choosing ‘female' service professions, and boys choosing career paths related to science, technology, engineering or mathematics, since measures to bring more women into typical ‘male' jobs and more men into typical ‘female' jobs did not turn out to be sustainable. This paper focuses on gender stereotypes, namely non-egalitarian patriarchal gender-role orientations and gender associations of the school subjects German and mathematics. Dealing with and abolishing such gender stereotypes may be key strategy to reach sustainability regarding more equal vocational choices. Thus, gender stereotypes will be theorised and empirically analysed as a major predictor of gender-typical vocational perspectives considering interest in these school subjects as a mediating factor. Furthermore, we focus on structural patriarchy as a root of gender-role orientations, and teacher gender regarding its impact on gendered images of subjects. Theoretical and methodology framework: Our analyses of gender segregation in vocational aspirations and vocational choice center on Gottfredson's (2002; Gottfredson and Becker, 1981) Theory of Circumscription, Compromise and Self-Creation. One of the main assumptions of this theory is that people associate jobs with particular sexes and those jobs that do not fit particular gender roles are not considered. Empirical analyses are based on survey data of eighth-graders in the Swiss canton of Bern (N = 672). Structural Equation Models (SEM) for male and female students are estimated. Conclusions/Findings: Results reveal different patterns for boys and girls; for boys, gender-typical (male) vocational perspective could be explained via gender role orientations, interest in mathematics and gender associations of the school subjects, for girls, the factors under consideration could be empirically linked to ‘atypical vocational perspective'. Relevance to Nordic educational research: The study focuses on gender relations in society and how they are reproduced. Gender segregation in vocational choice and at the labour market is a universal issue - affecting both egalitarian and non-egalitarian gender regimes in similar ways. Although in general Northern countries appear to be more equal regarding gender inequality, gender segregation is rather persistent (Jarman, Blackburn and Brooks, 2012) and therefore remains a relevant topic.

Arguments for and against a career in surgery: a qualitative analysis

To evaluate arguments given by board-certified surgeons in Switzerland for and against a career in surgery.

Factors associated with educational aspirations among adolescents: cues to counteract socioeconomic differences?

Our study aims to follow this effort and to explore the association between health, socioeconomic background, school-related factors, social support and adolescents' sense of coherence and educational aspirations among adolescents from different educational tracks and to contribute to the existing body of knowledge on the role of educational aspirations in the social reproduction of health inequalities. We expect that socioeconomic background will contribute to the development of educational aspirations, but this association will be modified by available social and individual resources, which may be particularly favourable for the group of adolescents who are on lower educational tracks, since for them such resources may lead to gaining a higher educational level.