The Relationship Between Career Reasoning and Occupational Interests Among Adolescents: An Exploratory Study

• In Event: Career Development Through the Life-Span

Abstract

Promoting highly sophisticated reasoning among students regarding how one chooses and attains a desired occupation is a logically integral step toward preparing students to thoughtfully shape their career interests and aspirations into viable occupational pursuits. This paper explores the relationship between career reasoning and occupational interests (RIASEC) associated with reported aspirations among high school students. Using Howard and Walsh’s (2010) Conceptions of Career Choice and Attainment model, the authors scored interview responses of 90 10th and 12th grade students randomly selected from a larger data set of 1653 participants. Vocational interests were identified by the high point code according to Holland’s RIASEC typology (Holland, 1997). A one-way ANOVA was employed to determine the relationship between the sophistication of students’ reasoning about careers and the interest types associated with their reported aspirations.

Authors

• Sean Flanagan, Boston University

• Eleanor Castine, Boston University

• Kimberly A.S. Howard, Boston University

• Javier Martin-Fernandez, Boston University

• Kathryn Rowe, Boston University