Summary The foregoing review of the career barriers literaturepresents a mixed picture. On the one hand, students andworkers do perceive barriers to their career progress; but onthe other hand, barrier ratings are often found to besomewhat modest in size and have not been shown to beconsistently related to important career outcome or processvariables in the mostly student samples in which they havebeen studied. This is not to say that barriers are notconsequential for many Individuals. Indeed, they are likelyto be especially salient for those who have been victimizedby various forms of oppression. However, several concep-tual and methodological issues—such as the manner inwhich barriers have been defined, failure to consider thecontext and temporal specificity of barriers, noncorrespon-dence between barriers and outcome criteria (in terms ofcontent and developmental task), infrequent attention tomediating and moderating variables, understudy of nonstu-dent samples, and use of designs that do not explorepotential causal effects of barriers—may have partly ob-scured the impact of perceived barriers and the mechanismsthrough which they affect career behavior.Despite these considerations, recent career barriers re-search has constructed an important conceptual and method-ological foundation for further inquiry, and the program-matic research of Swanson, McWhirter, and Luzzo and theircolleagues has been particularly pivotal. In the remainder ofthis article, we attempt to build on this foundation, offering amodest set of suggestions for future research on careerbarriers and their conceptual partner, career supports. Thesesuggestions are premised on the need to clarify or elaboratecertain aspects of SCCT having relevance for the conceptu-alization and assessment of contextual variables.

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Contextual supports and barriers to career choice: A social cognitive analysis.

Preface All individuals exist in social, political, historical, and economic contexts, and psychologists are increasingly called upon to understand the influence of these contexts on individuals’ behavior. The “Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists” reflect the continuing evolution of the study of psychology, changes in society at large, and emerging data about the different needs of particular individuals and groups historically marginalized or disenfranchised within and by psychology based on their ethnic/racial heritage and social group identity or membership. These “Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists” reflect knowledge and skills needed for the profession in the midst of dramatic historic sociopolitical changes in U.S. society, as well as needs of new constituencies, markets, and clients. The specific goals of these guidelines are to provide psychologists with (a) the rationale and needs for addressing multiculturalism and diversity in education, training, research, practice, and organizational change; (b) basic information, relevant terminology, current empirical research from psychology and related disciplines, and other data that support the proposed guidelines and underscore their importance; (c) references to enhance ongoing education, training, research, practice, and organizational change methodologies; and (d) paradigms that broaden the purview of psychology as a profession.

Guidelines on Multicultural Education, Training, Research, Practice, and Organizational Change for Psychologists

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT; R. w. Lent, S. D. Brown, & G. Hackett, 1994) and general social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1999, 2000) posit somewhat different relations between contextual variables and choice actions. The authors tested the predictions of these 2 model variations. Participants (328 students in an introductory engineering course) completed measures of SCCT's person (self-efficacy, coping efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, academic goals) and contextual variables (environmental supports and barriers) related to the pursuit of engineering majors. Findings indicated good support for a model portraying contextual supports and barriers as linked to choice goals and actions (i.e., persistence in engineering) indirectly, through self-efficacy, rather than directly, as posited by SCCT. Implications for future research on SCCT's choice and environmental hypotheses are discussed.

http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/cou/50/4/458.pdf

Relation of Contextual Supports and Barriers to Choice Behavior in Engineering Majors: Test of Alternative Social Cognitive Models.

This article provides an overview of a social cognitive framework for understanding career interest, choice, and performance processes. Derived primarily from Bandura's (1986) general social cognitive theory, the framework features several variables (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, personal goals) through which people help to guide their own career development. It also includes a discussion of how these variables interrelate with other aspects of persons (e.g., gender) and their environments (e.g., supports, barriers) within the process of career development. The framework is intended as a base both for unifying existing career theories and for conceptualizing developmental and remedial career interventions.

Social Cognitive Approach to Career Development: An Overview

Social cognitive career theory proposes that contextual supports and barriers play key roles in the career choice process, yet little research has examined hypotheses involving these variables. Participants (111 1 college students) completed measures of math/science-related course self-efficacy, coping efficacy, outcome expectations, interests, goals, and perceived contextual supports and barriers. Findings indicate that self-efficacy and outcome expectations were jointly predictive of interests and choice intentions. Support and barrier percepts produced only weak direct relations to choice, though barrier percepts were found to moderate interest-choice relations. A model portraying barriers and supports as linked to choice indirectly (via their impact on self-efficacy) produced better fit to the data than did a model specifying barriers and supports as directly linked to choice. Implications for future research and counseling are discussed.

The role of contextual supports and barriers in the choice of math/science educational options: A test of social cognitive hypotheses

No comprehensive model of the career development of racial and ethnic minorities has yet been developed; even less attention has been devoted to models of the career development of racial and ethnic minority women. One of the more promising career theories that may prove satisfactory in accounting for ethnicity in career development is Bandura's (1986) social cognitive theory (Lent & Brown, 1996; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994). In this article, the authors selectively review the literature on African American women's career development to clarify how social cognitive mechanisms may be operating. The primary focus of this conceptual analysis is on the central elements of social cognitive theory, namely, self-efficacy and outcome expectations. Implications for counseling are presented.

Social Cognitive Theory and the Career Development of African American Women

This article provides a review of the literature on the educational and career development of women of color within the context of social cognitive career theory ( Lent, et al, 1994 , Lent, et al, 1996 ). Specifically, possible gender, ethnic, racial, and cultural influences on career self-efficacy and outcome expectations are explored to delinate the potential mechanisms whereby ethnicity, culture, and ethnic and racial identity development, in interaction with gender, affect career choice and adjustment. Suggestions for future research on social cognitive career theory and the career development of women of color are presented.

Applications of social cognitive theory to the career development of women of color

Trends in career development research with racial/ethnic minorities: Prospects and challenges.

The authors present a case of a 15-year-old Mexican American adolescent girl who is uncertain about her educational and career future. The ecological model of career development (E. P. Cook, M. J. Heppner, & K. M. O'Brien, 2002) is applied to the case. The authors suggest career counseling interventions for this client and discuss potential concerns and issues that may arise in career counseling with this client. The race/gender ecological model of career development (Cook, Heppner, & O'Brien, 2002) is a promising approach to understanding the career development of racially and ethnically diverse individuals. In this article, we present the case of a Mexican American adolescent girl, Laura, who is uncertain about her career possibilities. The case describes Laura's family history, her extended and nuclear family, and her school environment. Laura's feelings about gender and cultural messages, as well as her hopes and fears, are described in the case narrative. Then, the ecological model is applied to Laura's case. We suggest interventions based on Laura's case and discuss potential barriers in the career counseling process. Case Example My name is Laura, I am 15 years old, and I was born in Arizona. My grandparents moved here from Mexico. They owned a store in Mexico but had to sell everything they owned when they moved to the United States and started with almost nothing when they arrived. They never regretted their decision, even though by U.S. standards they were very poor. My grandfather was a butcher, and my grandmother stayed at home and raised nine children. They hoped that moving to the United States would provide better opportunities for their children. None of their kids (including my father) graduated from high school. In fact, most quit before high school. All of the boys were expected to either work at the butcher shop with my grandfather or to find another job that would help support the family. The girls helped take care of their younger siblings. My parents have been married for 16 years. I have a younger sister, age 13, and two younger brothers, ages 12 and 8. My father is a mechanic. He's been with the repair shop for many years and does some work at home to make extra money. My mother was the first in her family to graduate from high school. She's a housewife, but after my youngest brother started school, she started working part-time as a receptionist. At first, my father didn't want her to work, but she insisted. My father agreed that we could use the money. She is usually home when we return from school and does all of the chores at home. My sister and I help her with the chores, but my brothers don't do anything. My father says that housework is a girl's job and that his boys aren't going to do girl's work. It makes me angry when he says things like this. I don't think it is fair that he treats my sister and me differently from my brothers. I am close to my mother. She tells my sister, brothers, and me that we could be anything we want to be. She tells my sister and me that we should do well in school and get good jobs so that we can take care of ourselves. She says that our education is very important and talks to our teachers often to see how we are doing in our classes. I attend one of the high schools in my hometown with over 1,300 students in my freshman class. But, I hear that these numbers will decrease over the next few years. In fact, I heard that a girl in my gym class is withdrawing from school because she is pregnant. Some of my classmates travel north during the summer with their families. They are called migrant workers because they travel to other places during peak harvesting times to seek employment. One of my good friends, Lourdes, does this. She doesn't start the school year until October and then leaves sometime in April. The school counselor came into one of my classes last week to talk to us about colleges and universities. …

Angela M. Byars

Papers

Social Cognitive Theory and the Career Development of African American Women

Applications of social cognitive theory to the career development of women of color

Trends in career development research with racial/ethnic minorities: Prospects and challenges.

Expanding Career Options and Optimizing Abilities: The Case of Laura.