Diverse pathways of psychology majors: vocational interests, self-efficacy, and intentions

Career Development Quarterly, Sept, 2006 by Patrick J. Rottinghaus, Abigail R. Gaffey, Fred H. Borgen, Christopher A. Ralston

The authors examine the differences in vocational interests and self-efficacy of 254 undergraduate psychology majors organized by 7 career intention groups (e.g., psychological research). The explanatory power of individual General Occupational Themes (GOTs), Basic Interest Scales (BISs), and Personal Style Scales (PSSs) of the Strong Interest Inventory (L. W. Harmon, J. C. Hansen, F. H. Borgen, & A. L. Hammer, 1994) and the General Confidence Themes (GCTs) of the Skills Confidence Inventory (N. E. Betz, F. H. Borgen, & L. W. Harmon, 1996) is examined. Results show overall group differences in Holland themes. The BISs, PSSs, and GCTs appear to augment GOTs when used with clients considering psychology or other fields with diverse pathways.

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The importance of specialty choice within professional fields such as medicine, engineering, and psychology has received more attention recently (Borges, Savickas, & Jones, 2004; Hartung & Leong, 2005; Leong & Geisler-Brenstein, 1991; Zachar & Leong, 1997). In particular, psychology is a typical field offering a broad variety of career pathways, ranging from psychotherapy to marketing, law, medicine, and neuropsychological research. Offering a general guide for assisting college students in choosing a major, Rosen, Holmberg, and Holland (1994) assigned a Holland code of SIE (Social, Investigative, Enterprising) for psychology majors. As with other professional fields such as medicine (Hartung, Borges, & Jones, 2005), broad Holland-type designations have limited utility in assisting psychology students with postgraduate plans. However, counselors can incorporate more refined career assessments to facilitate individualized pathways for clients. This brief report addresses the benefits of more basic vocational interests and skills confidence in explaining career intentions of psychology majors.

Although psychology is one of the largest majors in U.S. higher education, the majority of baccalaureate degree recipients in psychology obtain employment outside of the field (American Psychological Association, 2003). A recent analysis of work activities of graduates with a BA or BS in psychology indicated that most perform management, sales, and administration activities (44%), followed by professional services (24%), teaching (13%), computer applications (11%), and research and development (8%; National Science Foundation, 1999). These varied career pathways of psychology graduates underscore the importance of using precise and thorough assessments to assist students in making career plans beyond college.

Previous studies addressing differences among psychology majors used samples of already specialized graduate students (e.g., Zachar & Leong, 1997). In contrast, the present investigation of undergraduates allows for examination of individual differences in a broader range of career pathways (e.g., business, medicine) upon graduation. Moreover, research has demonstrated the combined utility of Holland-theme-organized vocational interests and self-efficacy (Betz & Borgen, 2000) in explaining occupational and educational choices. In addition to investigating the broad Holland-type level, this study incorporated basic interests (Day & Rounds, 1997). Because these more precise measures of interests enhance the predictive validity of vocational interest measures (Ralston, Borgen, Rottinghaus, & Donnay, 2004), assessing basic domains (e.g., science, medicine, teaching) can further equip career counselors and advisers in assisting psychology majors establish career plans.

This brief report examined the roles of interests and self-efficacy in explaining the career intentions of graduating psychology majors. Similar to career aspirations, or "goals given ideal conditions" (Rojewski, 2005, p. 132), the term intentions is used in this article to reflect occupational goals of our participants who are nearing a decision point prior to graduation. First, Holland codes of participants grouped by their intentions are reported. Next, the explanatory power of the General Occupational Themes (GOTs) and the more specific Basic Interest Scales (BISs) and Personal Style Scales (PSSs) of the Strong Interest Inventory (SII; Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994) is examined along with measures of vocationally relevant self-efficacy.

Method

Participants

The present sample was composed of 254 psychology majors from a large midwestern university who were enrolled in a required psychological measurement course. This sample contained 183 (72.0%) women and 71 (28.0%) men. Seven (2.8%) were African American, 8 (3.1%) were Asian/Pacific Islander, 228 (89.8%) were European American, 5 (2.0%) were Latino/a, 1 (0.4%) was Native American, and 5 (2.0%) did not respond to the question regarding race/ethnicity. (Percentages do not equal 100% because of rounding.) This sample consisted of 1 (0.4%) sophomore, 40 (15.7%) juniors, and 213 (83.9%) seniors. Their career intentions included psychological research (n = 25), psychological practice (n = 115), education (n = 21), business (n = 26), law (n = 10), medicine (n = 23), and military/law enforcement (n = 10); there were 24 unclassified participants (primarily undecided students who listed multiple career intentions, with 3 participants seeking government-related positions). Unclassified participants were not included in the analyses.