Students from rural Appalachian regions often face increased career development barriers within u... more Students from rural Appalachian regions often face increased career development barriers within university spaces. As part of an NSF-funded program, we provided diverse, structured supports for a group of STEM majors from rural Appalachian backgrounds. We utilized narrative inquiry to interview 10 Program participants, which allowed us to explore which supports they described as impactful, including graduate student mentors, their fellow program peers, program coordinators, campus supports, and other various campus faculty. Participants further described being impacted in a variety of ways: as an individual person, in their research pursuits, in their future plans, academically, and financially through the program’s scholarship. Specifically, they described strategies for success and the importance of belonging as impactful. Implications for future college support programming and for how to best support the career development of rural Appalachian college students, along with suggest...
Social Cognitive Career Theory is a useful framework for understanding educational attainment and... more Social Cognitive Career Theory is a useful framework for understanding educational attainment and reducing educational inequities. A key construct for middle and high school students is college-going self-efficacy. The College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale (CGSES) has been used to measure secondary students’ confidence in their abilities to attend and persist in post-secondary education, but with 30-items, it may be too lengthy for use with other measures in SCCT-grounded research in school settings. Using two independent samples of rural Appalachian high school students, we develop and validate the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (CGSES-SF). This 14-item measure retains the full breadth of content from the original CGSES, demonstrates measurement equivalence across gender and prospective college generation status, and demonstrates good reliability and validity in these samples. Suggestions for future use of the CGSES-SF are provided.
The authors examined perceptions of key social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1... more The authors examined perceptions of key social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) variables related to college‐going and science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) careers in 10th and 11th graders (N = 892) attending 3 rural Appalachian high schools. The authors examined differences in perceptions related to gender, prospective 1st‐generation college student status, and the presence or absence of aspirations to pursue a STEMM career. Young women and young men scored similarly on all but 1 dependent variable, college‐going self‐efficacy (young women scored higher). Students who had STEMM career aspirations had higher scores on every measure than those who did not. Results suggest examining a 3rd prospective 1st‐generation college student status group—students who are unsure of their parents’ education level—as a distinct group in future research. By examining the college‐going and STEMM attitudes of rural Appalachian high school students, this stu...
Students underrepresented in higher education often require unique support throughout their caree... more Students underrepresented in higher education often require unique support throughout their career and college planning. Rural Appalachian youth characterize a large population of underrepresented students. This article describes a theory-based multiweek career education curriculum aimed at increasing career and college readiness that was delivered to over 1,300 high school students in two rural Appalachian counties. Evaluation data from 867 of these students, as well as from the program staff, are provided. Findings suggest that participants found the intervention useful, learned new information about postsecondary planning and career exploration, and received assistance planning for their futures. Implications for school-based career education with underrepresented students, in general, are discussed.
This article describes a model for developing culturally sensitive career education programs, fra... more This article describes a model for developing culturally sensitive career education programs, framed from an ecological contextual understanding. This framework allows career practitioners to build on cultural strengths and values to meet the career education needs of diverse communities. To illustrate the application of this model, we describe the cultural context of rural Appalachia and offer theoretically framed ideas of how to meet the population’s career education needs.
Open educational resources (OER) are increasingly attractive options for reducing educational cos... more Open educational resources (OER) are increasingly attractive options for reducing educational costs, yet controlled studies of their efficacy are lacking. The current study addressed many criticisms of past research by accounting for course and instructor characteristics in comparing objective student learning outcomes across multiple sections of General Psychology taught by trained graduate student instructors at a large research-intensive university. We found no evidence that use of the OER text impeded students' critical thinking compared to use of a traditional textbook, even after accounting for instructor characteristics. To the contrary, we found evidence of a slight increase in content knowledge when using an OER text. Importantly, this effect was driven by improvements from both our lowest-performing students and our highest-performing students. Moreover, student learning outcomes were not influenced by instructor experience, suggesting even novice instructors fared wel...
In this article, we address the need for the future of counseling psychology research to adequate... more In this article, we address the need for the future of counseling psychology research to adequately address issues of relevance and application of our theories across cultural groups. We bring the cultural lens approach (CLA; Hardin, Robitschek, Flores, Navarro, & Ashton, 2014) home to its roots in counseling psychology and address the approach’s application specifically within counseling psychology theory. First we provide a brief description of the CLA. Then we offer an in-depth example of how to apply the CLA to a specific theory, using Super’s (1953, 1957) Life-Span, Life-Space Theory of Career Development, and more specifically, the self-concept as an example. Importantly, we articulate how the CLA yields specific, testable hypotheses, providing multiple examples. We conclude with implications of the CLA for implementation of counseling psychology values, evaluating psychological theory, and research training. Adopting the CLA in future counseling psychology research will increase the cultural sensitivity of our work and widen the relevance and applicability of our findings.
The following study investigated the effect of writing systems (logographic vs. alphabetic) on th... more The following study investigated the effect of writing systems (logographic vs. alphabetic) on the temporal organization of reading aloud. More specifically, we wished to test Perfetti and Zhang's (1995) assertion that “the reader of an alphabetic system can do better at recovering the phonological form, less well at recovering the semantic category of the word” (p. 186f.). Native speakers of
There may be 2 ways to look at person-environment (P-E) fit: the extent to which the environment ... more There may be 2 ways to look at person-environment (P-E) fit: the extent to which the environment matches the person (which, in the case of person-job [P-J] fit, we term ideal-job actualization) and the extent to which the person matches the environment (which we term actual-job regard; cf. Hardin & Larsen, 2014). Adults employed full time in the United States (n = 251; 49.8% women) completed an online survey that included measures assessing these 2 perspectives on P-J fit, along with measures of job and life satisfaction. Ideal-job actualization and actual-job regard were empirically and conceptually distinct, each accounting for unique variance in overall job satisfaction, even after controlling for overall life satisfaction and remuneration. Looking at fit from these 2 frames of reference may give a more complete perspective that accounts for critical outcomes, like satisfaction, as well as suggest novel approaches to career counseling.
Developing self in work and career: Concepts, cases, and contexts.
Abstract 1. This chapter has two main objectives. First, we review the relevant literature on cul... more Abstract 1. This chapter has two main objectives. First, we review the relevant literature on culture and the self, especially in relation to vocational psychology and counseling. Second, we propose a cultural formulation approach for career assessment and counseling with ...
Since the publication of Markus and Kitayama’s pivotal article on culture and the self, the conce... more Since the publication of Markus and Kitayama’s pivotal article on culture and the self, the concepts of independent, relational, and interdependent self-construal have become important constructs in cultural psychology and research on the self. The authors review the history of these constructs, their measurement and manipulation, and their roles in cognition, emotion, motivation, and social behavior. They make suggestions for future research and point to problems still to be sorted out. Researchers interested in these constructs have many opportunities to make important contributions to the literature in a variety of fields, including health psychology, education, counseling, and international relations.
Students from rural Appalachian regions often face increased career development barriers within u... more Students from rural Appalachian regions often face increased career development barriers within university spaces. As part of an NSF-funded program, we provided diverse, structured supports for a group of STEM majors from rural Appalachian backgrounds. We utilized narrative inquiry to interview 10 Program participants, which allowed us to explore which supports they described as impactful, including graduate student mentors, their fellow program peers, program coordinators, campus supports, and other various campus faculty. Participants further described being impacted in a variety of ways: as an individual person, in their research pursuits, in their future plans, academically, and financially through the program’s scholarship. Specifically, they described strategies for success and the importance of belonging as impactful. Implications for future college support programming and for how to best support the career development of rural Appalachian college students, along with suggest...
Social Cognitive Career Theory is a useful framework for understanding educational attainment and... more Social Cognitive Career Theory is a useful framework for understanding educational attainment and reducing educational inequities. A key construct for middle and high school students is college-going self-efficacy. The College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale (CGSES) has been used to measure secondary students’ confidence in their abilities to attend and persist in post-secondary education, but with 30-items, it may be too lengthy for use with other measures in SCCT-grounded research in school settings. Using two independent samples of rural Appalachian high school students, we develop and validate the College-Going Self-Efficacy Scale-Short Form (CGSES-SF). This 14-item measure retains the full breadth of content from the original CGSES, demonstrates measurement equivalence across gender and prospective college generation status, and demonstrates good reliability and validity in these samples. Suggestions for future use of the CGSES-SF are provided.
The authors examined perceptions of key social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1... more The authors examined perceptions of key social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) variables related to college‐going and science, technology, engineering, math, and medical (STEMM) careers in 10th and 11th graders (N = 892) attending 3 rural Appalachian high schools. The authors examined differences in perceptions related to gender, prospective 1st‐generation college student status, and the presence or absence of aspirations to pursue a STEMM career. Young women and young men scored similarly on all but 1 dependent variable, college‐going self‐efficacy (young women scored higher). Students who had STEMM career aspirations had higher scores on every measure than those who did not. Results suggest examining a 3rd prospective 1st‐generation college student status group—students who are unsure of their parents’ education level—as a distinct group in future research. By examining the college‐going and STEMM attitudes of rural Appalachian high school students, this stu...
Students underrepresented in higher education often require unique support throughout their caree... more Students underrepresented in higher education often require unique support throughout their career and college planning. Rural Appalachian youth characterize a large population of underrepresented students. This article describes a theory-based multiweek career education curriculum aimed at increasing career and college readiness that was delivered to over 1,300 high school students in two rural Appalachian counties. Evaluation data from 867 of these students, as well as from the program staff, are provided. Findings suggest that participants found the intervention useful, learned new information about postsecondary planning and career exploration, and received assistance planning for their futures. Implications for school-based career education with underrepresented students, in general, are discussed.
This article describes a model for developing culturally sensitive career education programs, fra... more This article describes a model for developing culturally sensitive career education programs, framed from an ecological contextual understanding. This framework allows career practitioners to build on cultural strengths and values to meet the career education needs of diverse communities. To illustrate the application of this model, we describe the cultural context of rural Appalachia and offer theoretically framed ideas of how to meet the population’s career education needs.
Open educational resources (OER) are increasingly attractive options for reducing educational cos... more Open educational resources (OER) are increasingly attractive options for reducing educational costs, yet controlled studies of their efficacy are lacking. The current study addressed many criticisms of past research by accounting for course and instructor characteristics in comparing objective student learning outcomes across multiple sections of General Psychology taught by trained graduate student instructors at a large research-intensive university. We found no evidence that use of the OER text impeded students' critical thinking compared to use of a traditional textbook, even after accounting for instructor characteristics. To the contrary, we found evidence of a slight increase in content knowledge when using an OER text. Importantly, this effect was driven by improvements from both our lowest-performing students and our highest-performing students. Moreover, student learning outcomes were not influenced by instructor experience, suggesting even novice instructors fared wel...
In this article, we address the need for the future of counseling psychology research to adequate... more In this article, we address the need for the future of counseling psychology research to adequately address issues of relevance and application of our theories across cultural groups. We bring the cultural lens approach (CLA; Hardin, Robitschek, Flores, Navarro, & Ashton, 2014) home to its roots in counseling psychology and address the approach’s application specifically within counseling psychology theory. First we provide a brief description of the CLA. Then we offer an in-depth example of how to apply the CLA to a specific theory, using Super’s (1953, 1957) Life-Span, Life-Space Theory of Career Development, and more specifically, the self-concept as an example. Importantly, we articulate how the CLA yields specific, testable hypotheses, providing multiple examples. We conclude with implications of the CLA for implementation of counseling psychology values, evaluating psychological theory, and research training. Adopting the CLA in future counseling psychology research will increase the cultural sensitivity of our work and widen the relevance and applicability of our findings.
The following study investigated the effect of writing systems (logographic vs. alphabetic) on th... more The following study investigated the effect of writing systems (logographic vs. alphabetic) on the temporal organization of reading aloud. More specifically, we wished to test Perfetti and Zhang's (1995) assertion that “the reader of an alphabetic system can do better at recovering the phonological form, less well at recovering the semantic category of the word” (p. 186f.). Native speakers of
There may be 2 ways to look at person-environment (P-E) fit: the extent to which the environment ... more There may be 2 ways to look at person-environment (P-E) fit: the extent to which the environment matches the person (which, in the case of person-job [P-J] fit, we term ideal-job actualization) and the extent to which the person matches the environment (which we term actual-job regard; cf. Hardin & Larsen, 2014). Adults employed full time in the United States (n = 251; 49.8% women) completed an online survey that included measures assessing these 2 perspectives on P-J fit, along with measures of job and life satisfaction. Ideal-job actualization and actual-job regard were empirically and conceptually distinct, each accounting for unique variance in overall job satisfaction, even after controlling for overall life satisfaction and remuneration. Looking at fit from these 2 frames of reference may give a more complete perspective that accounts for critical outcomes, like satisfaction, as well as suggest novel approaches to career counseling.
Developing self in work and career: Concepts, cases, and contexts.
Abstract 1. This chapter has two main objectives. First, we review the relevant literature on cul... more Abstract 1. This chapter has two main objectives. First, we review the relevant literature on culture and the self, especially in relation to vocational psychology and counseling. Second, we propose a cultural formulation approach for career assessment and counseling with ...
Since the publication of Markus and Kitayama’s pivotal article on culture and the self, the conce... more Since the publication of Markus and Kitayama’s pivotal article on culture and the self, the concepts of independent, relational, and interdependent self-construal have become important constructs in cultural psychology and research on the self. The authors review the history of these constructs, their measurement and manipulation, and their roles in cognition, emotion, motivation, and social behavior. They make suggestions for future research and point to problems still to be sorted out. Researchers interested in these constructs have many opportunities to make important contributions to the literature in a variety of fields, including health psychology, education, counseling, and international relations.
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