Class participation!
 What
is one belief that has helped make
you successful?
 Who influenced this belief?
The Career
Beliefs of
Inner-City
Adolescents
Article by: Sherri L. Turner and
Julia L. Conkel Ziebell
Presented by: Kaci Arnett and
Liz DeBord
Previous Research
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Inner city adolescents encounter more
obstacles that hinder their access to career
options.
There is less opportunity for career exploration,
possibly influences developing career beliefs.
Inner city adolescents are more likely than
suburban adolescents to struggle
academically.
Many districts have only a 50% graduation
rate
As a result, adolescents may feel that they
have little control.
Krumboltz’s Happenstance
Learning Theory (HLT)
 Less
adaptive beliefs, assumptions, and
generalizations concerning career options
can have powerful negative effects on
the career development of adolescents.
Purpose of the Study
 The
researchers were interested in
exploring the career beliefs of inner city
adolescents and whether or not those
beliefs position the adolescent to be
successful in his or her future career.
Study
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Participants 97 adolescents (7th and 8th graders)
from two inner city Midwestern schools.
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Participants were recruited from their social studies
classes, and research was conducted during class
time.
The school districts that were chosen indicated
91% of their students lived at or below poverty
level.
Students were split almost equally across gender.
16.5% were African American, 15.5% were Asian
American, 3.1% were European American, 8.2%
were Hispanic American and 56.7% were Native
American.
Method
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Students answered questions from the Career
Beliefs Inventory (CBI) and rated their responses
based on a 5-point scale (Likert scale).
Items on the survey were scaled by the
researchers to ensure validity and reliability of the
instrument.
Responses to the CBI were analyzed to determine
what the students believed and whether the
beliefs would positively or negatively affect career
development.
CBI consists of 96 items, with 51 reverse scored.
Responses
Responses (cont)
Results
 70%
and 79% of the participants had
lower range scores for Success is Related
to Effort and Flexibility and Adaptability
respectively.
 The majority of the participants scored in
the higher range for the other factors
studied.
Conclusions
 Students
beliefs regarding success,
flexibility, and adaptability are likely to
have negative effects on their career
development.
 Students also exhibit some adaptive
beliefs. These beliefs could alleviate some
of the risks of maladaptive beliefs, if
encouraged and maintained.
Limitations
 No
control population to compare belief
sets of inner city and suburban student
populations.
 The study was self-report, and therefore,
may not accurately represent the
students’ views.
 Descriptions of belief sets are sample
bound and not necessarily representative
of the individual.
Discussion
 Do
agree with the generalizations made
in the literature review? What was your
reaction to these studies?
 What did you think about the sample
population of students? Did the sample
size and demographics contribute to the
results?
Discussion
 “Results
indicated that 70% and 79% of
the participants had lower scores on
Success is Related to Effort Beliefs, and on
Flexibility/Adaptability Beliefs” (p.7)
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Why would student beliefs about career
goals, effort, success, and flexibility be
important a developing adolescent?
Why might this be helpful for educators?
Can you remember anything that may
have helped you during this age?