Changes in the career decidedness of early school leavers

This study investigated factors associated with changes in the occupational aspiration status (CA) of early school leavers in Newfoundland. The status of the occupational aspiration was represented by the presence or absence of an occupational goal in 1988 and 1992. Four CA groups were possible: no aspirations (NA), lost aspirations (LA), gained aspirations (GA) and maintained aspirations (MA). -- While the literature on occupational aspirations and their correlates is large, only a few studies of the process of change in aspirations have been reported. A review of the literature suggested that there would be a relationship between CA and the following variables: gender, region of residence, employment experience, education experience and perception of goal-blockages. Statistical procedures consisted of three-way and four-way crosstabulations, three- way ANOVAs and loglinear analyses, according to the nature of the variables. -- The four CA groups differed significantly in terms of the variables analyzed. Respondents in the NA group tended to be female, reside in rural regions, experience the lowest amounts of employment and education experience and perceive several goal-blockages. Similar numbers of males and females were in the LA group, with the majority living in rural areas. Employment experience was moderate, participation in education was low and they tended to perceive a lack of work and difficulty in finding work they liked as goal-blockages. There was a concentration of females in the GA group, residing in both urban and rural areas. Work experience was moderate and education experience was low. This group perceived their lack of job search skills and their education as goal- blockages. Those in the MA group tended to be males residing in urban areas. They experienced the greatest amounts of work experience and were most likely to have attended school. In general, these early school leavers perceived goal-blockages less frequently than any other group. -- Programming recommendations addressed the following issues: developing self-relevant aspirations with appropriate scripts; increasing the personal and economic realism of aspirations; coping with goal-blockages; creating employment and education opportunities; and processing experiences!. Research to focus on the specific nature of the educational and employment experience was also suggested