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Int J Educ Vocat Guidance (2009) 9:177–188 DOI 10.1007/s10775-009-9163-2

Self-efficacy beliefs and the relation between career planning and perception of barriers Paulo Cardoso Æ Joa˜o Manuel Moreira

Received: 16 March 2008 / Accepted: 29 October 2008 / Published online: 22 September 2009 Ó Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2009

Abstract This study tested the hypothesis that self-efficacy in career roles moderates the relation between perception of career barriers and career planning, in a study with Portuguese students, 488 in Grade 9 and 517 in Grade 12. The results supported the hypothesis only among Grade 9 girls, showing that perception of career barriers leads to less career planning among girls low in self-efficacy. The findings suggest that variables such as gender and psychological maturity need to be considered in understanding career planning. Re´sume´. Croyances d’auto-efficacite´ et relation entre la planification de carrie`re et la perception des barrie`res. Cette e´tude e´value l’hypothe`se, dans une e´tude mene´e sur des e´tudiants portugais, 488 en 9e anne´e et 517 en 12e, que l’autoefficacite´ dans les roˆles professionnels mode`re la relation entre la perception des barrie`res de carrie`re et la planification de carrie`re. Les re´sultats soutiennent l’hypothe`se seulement pour les filles de 9e anne´e, prouvant que la perception des barrie`res de carrie`re me`ne a` moins de planification de carrie`re parmi les filles de faible niveau d’auto-efficacite´. Les re´sultats sugge`rent que des variables telles que le genre et la maturite´ psychologique doivent eˆtre pris en conside´ration dans la compre´hension de la planification de carrie`re. Zusammenfassung. Selbsteinscha¨tzungen der eigenen Durchsetzungsfa¨higkeit und die Beziehung zwischen Berufsplanung und der Wahrnehmung von Hemmnissen. In einer Untersuchung mit portugiesischen Schu¨lern, 488 in Klasse 9 und 517 in Klasse 12, wurde die Hypothese u¨berpru¨ft, dass die Einscha¨tzung der P. Cardoso (&) Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade de E´vora, Apartado 94, 7000-554 E´vora, Portugal e-mail: [email protected] J. M. Moreira Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal

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eigenen Durchsetzungsfa¨higkeit im Hinblick auf die beruflichen Mo¨glichkeiten einen moderierenden Einfluss auf die Wahrnehmung von Karrierehemmnissen und den betriebenen Aufwand bei der Berufswahl hat. Die Untersuchung besta¨tigte diese Hypothese lediglich fu¨r weibliche Schu¨ler aus Klasse 9, indem sie zeigte, dass bei Ma¨dchen mit einer geringen Selbsteinscha¨tzung der eigenen Durchsetzungsfa¨higkeit die Wahrnehmung von Karrierehemmnissen dazu fu¨hrt, dass sie weniger Aufwand bei der Berufswahl betreiben. Die Ergebnisse lassen vermuten, dass Variablen wie Geschlecht und psychologische Reife herangezogen werden mu¨ssen, um das Vorgehen bei der Berufswahl zu verstehen. Resumen. Creencias sobre la Auto-Eficacia y la Relacio´n entre la planificacio´n de la carrera y la percepcio´n de barreras. En este artı´culo se presenta un estudio realizado con estudiantes portugueses, 488 de 98 grado y 517 de 128 grado, para contrastar la hipo´tesis de que la auto-eficacia profesional modula la relacio´n entre la percepcio´n de las barreras y la planificacio´n de la carrera. Los resultados confirmaron la hipo´tesis so´lo entre las chicas de 98 grado, indicando que la percepcio´n de obsta´culos o barreras conduce a una menor planificacio´n de la carrera entre chicas con una auto-eficacia baja. Los resultados sugieren que algunas variables como el ge´nero y la madurez psicolo´gica tienen que tenerse en cuenta para entender la planificacio´n de la carrera. Keywords

Self-efficacy  Career planning  Perception of career barriers

Under the influence of economic, technological, social, and political transformations, careers have ceased to be a predictable sequence of stages following a secure and stable occupational pathway. Instead, they tend to be ruled by change and unpredictability (Van Esbroeck, 2008). In this context, young people are in a particularly challenging position. The Portuguese situation is exemplary. In 2008, about 70% of new jobs were temporary and the unemployment rate reached 7.8%. Young people looking for their first job are particularly affected, and the number of unemployed persons has been rising even among degree holders (Instituto Nacional de Estatı´stica, 2008). Research on the perception of career barriers shows that adolescents are aware of this reality (Creed, Patton, & Bartrum, 2004; Hill, Ramirez, & Dumka, 2003). The research on this population shows that age differences in the perception of career barriers have more to do with the magnitude and number of barriers perceived than with the type of barriers (Patton, Creed, & Watson, 2003). Cardoso (2009) found a similar type of increase in Portuguese students’ perceptions of barriers between Grades 9 and 12. The task-specific nature of career barriers leads to differences in the main obstacles perceived across a range of career-related events: (a) access to higher education is especially limited by school grade averages (Cardoso, 2009), (b) remaining in school is made difficult by financial needs, peer pressure, and lack of time or skills (Hill et al., 2003), (c) the school-to-work transition is most hindered by lack of job security, such as short-term contracts or the absence of a contract

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(Cardoso, 2009), and (d) the occupational path is potentially vulnerable to sexual and ethnic discrimination and work–family role conflict (Cardoso, 2009; Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2001). The patterns of the adolescents’ and adults’ perception of potential obstacles in their careers tend to differ according to the specific group of persons they belong to. Female adolescents tend to score higher than males in measures of perception of career barriers (Cardoso, 2009; Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2001; McWhirter, 1997), the greatest discrepancy being for gender discrimination and role conflict. Ethnic discrimination is the kind of barrier that is most specific for adolescents from ethnic minorities (Cardoso, 2009; Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2001; McWhirter, 1997). Research on the processes underlying perceptions of career barriers can clarify the role of these representations in career development. At first, perception of barriers was believed to hinder both confidence and positive attitudes towards career development (Green-Black, 1988). This initial idea was questioned in the light of socio-cognitive emphasis on the importance of self-efficacy expectations as a variable in the process of barrier perception (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 2000; Swanson & Woitke, 1997). Research using different self-efficacy measures has revealed a negative relation between self-efficacy and perception of barriers (Creed et al., 2004; Luzzo, 1996; McWhirter, Rasheed, & Crothers, 1997). Different theories of career development consider planning important in facing career challenges (e.g. Savickas, 2005). Studies on self-regulation also show that formulating plans facilitates the control of goal-directed action (Gollwitzer, Fujita, & Oettingen, 2007). The studies on the relation between the dimensions of vocational maturity, including career planning, and the perception of career barriers reveal a negative relation between these variables (Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2001; Luzzo, 1995; Luzzo & Hutcheson, 1996; Patton et al., 2003). In certain circumstances, however, this relation may be positive. Luzzo (1995) found that among university students young women had significantly greater career maturity, but were also more aware of barriers than young men. Similar results were obtained by Cardoso and Ferreira Marques (2001) for high school students. Luzzo (1996) suggests that perceptions of barriers may have increased career planning among young women. This explanation has been further explored by Luzzo and Hutcheson (1996). These authors hypothesised that the perception of career barriers could stimulate career maturity attitudes in individuals who believe that career decisions are made internally and are controllable. The present study is part of a larger project to develop new measures on career roles self-efficacy and the perception of career barriers adapted for use with Portuguese adolescents (Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2008). Within this project, specific attention is given to the clarification of the relationship hypothesised by Luzzo and Hutchinson (1996) and the adolescents’ self-regulatory processes in facing the challenges of career development. The hypothesis that self-efficacy in career roles has a moderating effect on the relation between the perception of barriers and career planning attitudes is tested. According to this hypothesis, it can be expected that among participants with high self-efficacy expectations the perception of more or higher barriers would predict more positive career planning

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attitudes and behaviour. The opposite effect is expected among participants with low self-efficacy expectations. Taking into account the task-specific nature of perceptions of career barriers (Lent et al., 2000), the hypothesis is tested in two subsamples of participants, Grades 9 and 12, facing different transitions in the Portuguese school system. Crystallisation of vocational plans is required by ninth graders, as vocational choices for Grade 10 imply a commitment to a school path or work transition, while twelfth grade participants are required to specify a vocational choice, which implies a school-tocollege transition or a second school-to-work transition. At each school level, gender differences are considered because several studies indicate that career barriers are perceived as more challenging by women (Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2001; Luzzo, 1995, 1996; Luzzo & Hutcheson, 1996). On the basis of these results, it is hypothesised that, among girls, the moderating effect of self-efficacy expectations would be greater than among boys with the same level of self-efficacy expectations.

Method Participants Participants included 1005 Portuguese adolescents attending state schools: 583 (58%) girls and 422 (42%) boys, with ages ranging between 13 and 23 years (M = 16.5; SD = 1.82). Among them, 488 were in Grade 9, with ages between 13 and 19 years (M = 14.5; SD = 1.02) and 517 were in Grade 12, aged between 16 and 23 years (M = 17.5; SD = 1.07). Self-reported ethnicity was 962 white Portuguese and 25 black Afro-Portuguese. Among the latter, 23 were AfroPortuguese and only two were born in African countries. Measures Perception of career barriers is measured using a revised version of the the Perception of Career Barriers Inventory (IPBC; Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2008). The IPBC, developed for use with Portuguese adolescents and young adults, is based on the social-cognitive conceptualisation of the perception of career barriers (Lent et al., 2000; Swanson, Daniels, & Tokar, 1996; Swanson & Woitke, 1997) and on the processes used in the construction of the Career Barriers Inventory—Revised (Swanson et al., 1996). In the present study, the original version of the IPBC was slightly adapted. Three items were added to the Indecision scale and two to the Lack of Support scale in an attempt to improve their reliability and content validity. The revised version of the inventory (IPBC-R) consists of 74 items, organised into 11 scales: General Discrimination (three items), Sexual Discrimination (seven items), Ethnic Discrimination (five items), Lack of Support (ten items), Health (five items), Role Conflict (15 items), Restriction of Opportunities (five items), Indecision (six items), Inadequate Training (six items), Lack of Confidence (seven items), and Lack of Interest (five items). Scores are computed by averaging the item scores. Participants

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are asked to indicate the degree of difficulty presented by each barrier to their career development on a seven point scale ranging from 1 (it’s not and will never be a barrier for me) to 7 (it will completely hinder me). In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was .98, while scales provided results with Cronbach’s alphas ranging from .78 to .92, with a median of .85. Test–retest reliability correlations (with a 4 week interval) ranged from .72 to .81 with a median of .78. Each of the 74 items had its highest correlation with the scale to which it was assigned, revealing good convergent and discriminant validity. Scale intercorrelations were moderate to high, ranging from .47 to .85, with a median of .71. A scale-level factor analysis revealed that one factor explained 61.9% of the variance, suggesting that the IPBC-R can be a general measure of perception of career barriers. Self-efficacy was measured using the Career Roles Self-Efficacy Inventory (ICARPC, Vale, 1997). This measure assesses expectations concerning self-efficacy in the five career roles—student, worker, leisure, homemaker, and citizen— conceptualised by Super (1980). It is composed of 50 items, with 10 per role scale. Sample items are: ‘‘Organising my study activities at home’’ (Student scale), ‘‘Performing the different tasks involved in my favourite job’’ (Worker scale), ‘‘Organising my leisure activities’’ (Leisure scale), ‘‘Taking part in home and family activities that help define the lifestyle I would like to have’’ (Homemaker scale), and ‘‘Organising community meetings’’ (Citizen scale). Respondents are required to rate, on a scale from ranging from 1 (no confidence at all) to 10 (total confidence), their level of confidence in their ability to successfully perform the ten activities characterising each of the career roles (Vale, 1997). In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha for the total scale was .93, with separate scales providing results with alphas ranging from .83 to .92, with a median of .86. Items within each scale had statistically significant correlations (p \ .01) among themselves and with their own scale scores (convergent validity). Correlations were lower with other scales items and with their total scores (discriminant validity). These results are similar to those obtained by other studies, supporting the validity of this measure for Portuguese adolescents (Candeias, 2000; Vale, 1997). Career planning was measured using the Portuguese version of the Career Development Inventory—School, Career Planning Scale (CDI-S, Super, Thompson, Lindeman, Jordaan, & Myers, 1979). This attitude scale assesses awareness of the need for career choices and degree of engagement in career planning, such as being able to anticipate the vocational future or being skilled at sequencing the activities needed to pursue career goals. The Portuguese version of the CDI-S shows good psychometric indicators, namely the confirmation of a two-factor structure (attitudinal and cognitive) and good levels of reliability, always above .70, especially in the Career Planning and Exploration scales (Ferreira Marques & Caeiro, 1981). In the present study, Cronbach’s alpha for the Planning scale scores was .82. Procedure After obtaining permission from the local school authorities for the study, the researchers invited the students to participate during class hours. Information about the nature of the research was given, and anonymity and confidentiality were

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assured. Informed, written consent was sought from the parents of those students who agreed to take part. Questionnaires were administered to small groups of 15–20 participants. During data collection, which was carried out by researchers during class hours, the voluntary nature of participation was re-emphasised. The measures were arranged in four different orders, with approximately equal numbers of each arrangement in the final sample.

Results After removing three outlying scores, the correlation matrices for all the main variables in the study, together with their means and standard deviations, were calculated separately for Grades 9 and 12 (Table 1). Career barriers and career planning have a significant negative relation only for girls. Self-efficacy in career roles is positively related to career planning and negatively related to perception of career barriers. The hypothesis that self-efficacy beliefs regarding career roles moderate the relation between the perception of career barriers and career planning was tested separately for boys and girls in Grades 9 and 12, employing a hierarchical multiple regression approach (Baron & Kenny, 1986). Initially, the distribution of the IPBC-R results was normalised using the reciprocal transformation method, followed by subtraction from the maximum to maintain the sign of the effects. Afterwards, all predictors and the dependent variable were standardised to reduce multicollinearity and render the resulting coefficients easier to interpret (Jaccard & Turrisi, 2003). Finally, the interaction component was calculated by multiplying self-efficacy by perception of career barriers. In both analyses, the Career Planning scale score was the dependent variable. The ICARPC and the IPBC-R scores were introduced as predictors in the first block. The multiplicative component was then introduced in the second block. Table 1 Correlation matrix of the main variables in the study—Grade 9 and Grade 12 Variables

Grade 9

Grade 12

Career barriers

Career planning

Self-efficacy

Career barriers

Career planning

Self-efficacy

M

M

M

M

M

M

Career barriers

F

F

-.09 -.15* -.11

Career planning

.45**

F -.16*

F

F

F

.04 -.27** -.26** -.28**

.36**

.22** -.27**

M

2.57 2.72 60.93 57.61

7.23

7.38

2.67 2.83 66.10 65.26

7.22

7.37

SD

1.08 1.15 14.08 13.83

1.17

1.21

1.02 1.13 12.09 12.23

1.05

1.07

Note: Grade 9: N = 487, Male—N = 223, Female—N = 264. Grade 12: N = 515, Male—N = 197, Female—N = 318 * p \ 0.05, ** p \ 0.01, two-tailed

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Table 2 Results of the regression analysis predicting perception of career barriers, in Grade 9 girls Step 1

Variables

B

Constant

-.366

.058

.310

.056

Career barriers

-.120

.055

Constant

-.449

.059

.412

.059

-.088

.054

.217

.052

Self-efficacy 2

Self-efficacy Career barriers Self-efficacy 9 Career barriers 2

SE B

Beta

.328*** -.127* .435*** -.093 .255***

2

Note: N = 264. R = .142 for Step 1 (p \ .001); D R = .054 for Step 2 (p \ .001) * p \ .05; *** p \ .001

For Grade 9 girls, the overall equation was significant (F(3, 263) = 21.06, p \ .001), explaining 19.7% of the variance in career planning, and with selfefficacy and the interaction component proving statistically significant (see Table 2). In this model, self-efficacy beliefs were the best predictor of career planning (b = .435), followed by the component of interaction between selfefficacy and career barriers (b = .255), and finally, the career barriers component (b = -.093). The introduction of the interaction component in the second block makes a significant contribution (F(change) (3, 263) = 17.33, p \ .001), adding 5.4% to the explained variance. This result confirms our hypothesis for Grade 9 girls. The form of this interaction effect can be interpreted using the regression coefficients. Jaccard and Turrisi (2003) state that these coefficients were obtained with all variables standardised except the interaction component. The component for interaction between self-efficacy beliefs and career barriers has a positive sign, meaning that the more positive the self-efficacy beliefs related to career roles, the greater the positive effect of career barrier perceptions upon career planning. Table 2 allows us to determine the standardised effect of career barriers upon career planning at different levels of self-efficacy. When self-efficacy is at its average level, the standardised regression coefficient equals the B coefficient presented in Table 2 (-.088), but when self-efficacy is high (1 SD above the mean), the standardised regression coefficient can be estimated by adding the value obtained for the interaction component, yielding .129. That is, among participants with high selfefficacy expectations regarding career roles, perception of more and/or greater career barriers would predict more favourable career planning attitudes and behaviours. In contrast, for those feeling lower self-efficacy (z = -1), the standardised regression coefficient can be estimated by subtracting the value obtained for the interaction component, yielding -.305, showing that perception of career barriers leads to reduced confidence and less favourable attitudes towards career development. For Grade 9 boys (F(2, 222) = 20.19, p \ .001), Grade 12 boys (F(3, 196) = 3.51, p \ .05), and Grade 12 girls (F(2, 512) = 37.48, p \ .01), the overall equation, as well as the specific variables self-efficacy and perception of career barriers, yielded statistically significant results, explaining 21.7, 5.2, and 16,5% of the

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variance in career planning, respectively. In these three sub-samples, self-efficacy was the best predictor (b = .453, .236, and .234, respectively). Perception of career barriers was a significant predictor only among Grade 12 girls (b = .242). The interaction component did not make a significant contribution to the model in any of these three sub-samples. However, its effect was greater among Grade 12 girls (b = .058) than 12 grade boys (b = .018). These results, although far from significant, are in the direction predicted by the hypothesis that the moderating effect of career roles’ self-efficacy will be greater in girls than in boys with the same level of self-efficacy expectations. In searching for an explanation of why the interaction component was significant only for Grade 9 girls, a 2 9 2 MANOVA was used to explore whether particularly high or low levels of some of the variables involved would be found in this group. Significant multivariate effects were found for gender (F(3, 996) = 7.36, p \ .001, g2p = .02) and school level (F(3, 996) = 23.98, p \ .001, g2p = .07), but not for their interaction (F(3, 996) = 0.84, p [ .10). All variables yielded significant effects for gender. Perception of career barriers (F(1, 998) = 4.94, p \ .05, g2p = .005) and self-efficacy regarding career roles (F(1, 998) = 4.40, p \ .05, g2p = .004) were significantly higher among girls, while career planning attitudes were significantly less favourable (F(1, 998) = 6.14, p \ .05, g2p = .006; see Table 1 for means and standard deviations). The grade level effect was significant only for career planning attitudes (F(1, 998) = 58.32, p \ .001, g2p = .055), and not for perception of career barriers (F(1, 998) = 2.29, p [ .10) or self-efficacy regarding career roles (F(1, 998) = 0.02, p [ .10). Descriptive statistics (see Table 1) show that career planning attitudes improve between Grades 9 and 12. It seems, therefore, that the only group for which our interaction hypothesis is confirmed (Grade 9 girls) is the one with the least favourable career planning attitudes.

Discussion The results reveal that self-efficacy in career roles has a negative relation with the perception of career barriers and is the best predictor of this variable in boys and girls in both grades. These results corroborate others showing a negative relation between self-efficacy and career barriers (Creed et al., 2004; Luzzo, 1996; McWhirter et al., 1997) and confirm the socio-cognitive framework theory concerning the central role of self-efficacy expectations when facing career barriers (Lent et al., 2000; Swanson et al., 1996). The results also show that even selfefficacy which is not specific to vocational decision-making can influence beliefs and processes related to career development. A negative relation was also found between career planning and perceived barriers at both grade levels (Table 1). This is consistent with Super’s model of career maturity, which considers career planning as an important dimension of career barriers management (Super & Overstreet, 1960). Moreover, this result is in accordance with self-regulation theory, which states that the act of planning supports the implementation of goals through the anticipation of hindrances (Gollwitzer et al., 2007).

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The hypothesis that self-efficacy beliefs related to career roles moderate the relation between the perception of career barriers and career planning was supported only among Grade 9 girls. The same effect was not significant among Grade 12 participants and Grade 9 boys, who showed more favourable overall career planning attitudes. The hypothesis was thus supported only for groups showing relatively unfavourable career planning attitudes: Grade 9 girls in the present case. However, it is possible that in Grade 12 participants, greater psychological maturity and the need for goal specification may have contributed to a clearer self-concept, better goal definition and, consequently, more positive career planning attitudes and behaviour. This explanation is supported by research on self-regulation stressing the importance of goal definition as a key determinant of whether an individual carries out the behaviour necessary for goal attainment (Carver & Scheier, 1998). Furthermore, research on career development has also revealed a positive relation between vocational identity and career planning (Greef, Wells, Hyland, & Muchinsky, 1985). Therefore, both the developmental nature of career planning and the demands of developmental tasks could explain the progress made between Grade 9 and Grade 12 in this attitudinal dimension of career maturity. After the introduction of the interaction component (Table 2), results showed that the perception of career barriers was not a significant predictor of career planning. This, again, is in accordance with other studies revealing that barrier perceptions do not explain significant variance in high school students’ educational plans or career expectations when gender is not taken into account (Luzzo, 1996; Luzzo & Hutcheson, 1996). By considering mediating and moderating variables including gender and grade, this study is a response to a recent call for the consideration of methodological issues that may throw light on the impact of perceived barriers and the mechanisms through which they affect career behaviour (Lent et. al, 2000). As far as gender is concerned, the results support the hypothesis that the moderating effect of self efficacy in career roles will be greater for girls than for boys with the same level of self-efficacy expectations. This may be related to the fact that girls in our sample showed less positive attitudes towards career planning. It was also found that the relation between career planning and perceived barriers was significant only among girls at both grade levels, suggesting gender specificities in the perception of career barriers. Such gender specificities revealed at both grade levels suggest that gender and the cultural context, whilst influencing adolescents’ perceptions of career barriers, may affect the role of these perceptions in career planning. Girls’ awareness of the negative impact of gender discrimination and role conflict in their career may have a specific impact on their beliefs and self-regulatory processes in career development. This explanation is supported by research suggesting that the kind of barriers may have a greater impact on girls’ career development than the number or strength of the barriers. In Portugal, girls outnumber boys in higher education, but with no apparent impact in the context of work, where women still have fewer benefits and lower status than men (Instituto Nacional de Estatı´stica, 2006), which is most certainly due to career barriers like role conflict and discrimination. Portuguese research on career barriers shows that girls are aware of this social reality (Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2001, 2008).

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Group differences, particularly those of gender, highlight one of the potential lines of research introduced by the current study. One important topic for future research, therefore, would be to find out whether the conditions for the verification of our hypothesis are actually created by less positive career planning attitudes or by something about the female gender. Further research is likely to show other significant differences, for example related to ethnicity. Indeed, the importance of this demographic variable (Cardoso & Ferreira Marques, 2008) suggests the need to include it in further research. In further investigations, it would also be important to consider a measure of vocational identity in order to test the explanation suggesting the role of goal definition as an important determinant of planning in general (Carver & Scheier, 1998) and career planning in particular (Greef et al., 1985), thereby ascertaining whether goal definition acts as a determinant of the conditions under which the hypothesis is verified. In the case of the present study, the small number of participants from ethnic minorities is clearly a limitation. A second limitation of this study relates to the fact that our self-efficacy measure does not apply specifically to career decision making. Future research could clarify whether the hypothesis would be confirmed using a self-efficacy measure which is more specifically directed to career development tasks, such as planning and decision-making, as in other studies (Creed & Patton, 2003; Luzzo, 1996). The third limitation is the low variance explained by the regression models used in this research. Even though analyses focusing on the interaction effects of continuous variables often explain only a small amount of variance (McClelland & Judd, 1993), the present findings should be taken as exploratory and subject to replication by future research.

Counselling implications The findings of this study provide a rationale for career counselling that takes into account the variables included in this study when promoting personal agency in career development. The results also suggest that helping adolescents increase their self-efficacy is fundamental for promoting the self-regulatory processes of career development. Luzzo’s proposals (2000; Luzzo & Hutcheson, 1996) are good examples of this type of counselling strategy. The counsellor may start by helping clients to identify educational and occupational barriers, and then try to promote beliefs (self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and causal attributions) which enhance career planning, career exploration attitudes, and skills to overcome the perceived barriers. The results also show that such interventions should start as early as possible, given that increased maturity may make career planning less vulnerable to the perception of career barriers, as suggested by the results. Examples of this kind of practices are proposed by Pinto (2002), Pinto, Taveira and Fernandes (2003) for the Portuguese context. In a globalised economy, where competitiveness based on cost reductions, increased productivity, and work flexibility creates new opportunities, but also unstable jobs and unemployment, this focus is particularly relevant for those at risk of being discriminated against at work.

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