engleski

Vocational identity statuses of adolescents: association with background factors, gender stereotyping and career maturity

Research indicates that a more mature vocational identity is related to different positive career- related outcomes, while not fully formed identity can lead to undesirable outcomes and less congruent person-job fit. To better understand underlying factors that could shape vocational identity development in adolescence, this study aims to determine how vocational identity formation is associated with socioeconomic status, parental support, gender stereotyping, and career maturity. Participants in the study were 1912 secondary school students (61% girls) from Croatia, ages ranging from 14 to 18 years. Data were collected during April 2021 via an online questionnaire that students completed, either in school or at home. Besides collected sociodemographic measures, students also completed Vocational Identity Status Assessment (VISA ; Porfeli, Lee, Vondracek, & Veingol, 2011), career- related parental support scale, measures of career gender stereotyping of self and others and career maturity measures. Results indicate that among six different identity statuses, Moratorium and Diffused identity statuses are characterised by lower career adaptability, less adaptable responses regarding career construction, more career decision difficulties, and weaker endorsement of gender stereotype attitudes. In contrast, other identity statuses are characterised by greater career maturity and less gender self-stereotyping, as well as other more positive background characteristics such as higher socioeconomic status and more parental support. Among them, adolescents with Foreclosed identity status show somewhat higher levels of vocational maturity than other statuses. In sum, our results draw attention to additional assistance for a group of adolescents that are identified as ones in Moratorium and Diffused identity statuses because they could be at higher risk of undesirable career-related outcomes. Our results also point out the importance of career-related parental support, socioeconomic status, and gender stereotyping as a mechanism through which adolescents develop their vocational statuses.

vocational identity, gender stereotypes, gender roles, career maturity, socioeconomic status

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