The career fair as a vehicle for enhancing occupational self-efficacy.

Career development objectives, as codified in the American School Counselor Association's National Standards, can be overshadowed by the growing emphasis on academic standards, testing, and accountability so thematic of national educational and public policy initiatives. The career fair vehicle, which proactively employs the wisdom of social cognitive learning and self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1995), may be well suited to this challenge. In this study, 139 predominantly high school-aged adolescents attending a career fair were exposed to a variety of mostly female professionals discussing and demonstrating their professions. Pre- and post-test analysis of occupational self-efficacy, or confidence in performing the duties associated with a range of occupations, revealed that this variable was strongly influenced in the short term. The authors discuss these results in the context of self-efficacy theory as well as implications for school counselors engaged in career development.

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From the perspective of career interests and career self-efficacy, the primary reason for the time-honored "career fair" would seem to be (a) the broadening and/or clarification of students' career interests, and (b) the enhancement of students' sense of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1995) with respect to their careers of interest. Unfortunately, empirical research assessing the effectiveness of career fairs has not been significantly pursued. Career counselors seeking to positively impact the occupational self-efficacy of youth, especially minority adolescents, stand to benefit from more clarity about the effectiveness of the career fair as an impactful intervention.

At the threshold of adulthood, adolescents and young adults in the process of initially developing vocational/career plans simultaneously confront numerous social and psychological challenges. Facets intertwined with career development include emerging sexuality, increasing peer pressure, and susceptibility to a variety of social ills. Moreover, career development at this stage may have long been constrained by biases in the dominant culture via, for example, perceptions of the meaning and implications of gender, ethnicity, and economic station (Gottfredson, 1981).

Career development, in fact, finds its beginnings at the earliest developmental stages, according to some of the most prominent theorists (Betz & Hackett, 1981a, 1983; Super, 1980). Teens may have decided, with minimal awareness, to pursue certain career paths. A lack of role modeling, for example, during the elementary years might be one of the silent but powerful influences by which curiosity in certain career options is not developed (Gottfredson, 1981). Recently, Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, and Pastorelli (2001) concluded that development during the formative years is fundamental to the continuity or discontinuity of specific career pathways. For a disproportionate number of minority adolescents, career paths in professional fields may never be discussed. Twenty-one percent of Hispanics aged 16 to 19 drop out of school, as compared to 12 percent of Blacks and 8 percent of Whites (Pew Hispanic Center, 2004).

Although they make up more than 20% of the American workforce, African Americans and Hispanics fill just 6% of high-tech positions. Conversely, White males account for 40% of the workforce while occupying 68% of science, engineering, and technology positions (State Science & Technology Institute, 2001). The disproportionate representation of minorities in less traditional, high-tech positions implicates the familiar constellation of factors: dimensions of socioeconomic status, substance abuse (Champion & Kelly, 2002), and low self-esteem and depression (Zayas & Kaplan, 2000).

Research into these myriad social and psychological phenomena, from the perspective of career development and counseling, underscores the relevance of social cognitive theory and the constructs of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1986) and career self-efficacy (Betz & Hackett, 1981b). Self-efficacy, according to Hall (2003), is a critical variable related to career choice. The construct has at heart reciprocal determinism (Bandura, 1986, 2001) in which human development reflects an active interaction among the person (cognitive abilities, physical characteristics, and beliefs and attitudes), the person's behavior (motor and verbal responses and social interaction), and the environment (physical surroundings, family and friends, and other social influences) (Shaffer, 1996).

Career or occupational self-efficacy is the extent to which one judges oneself able to do the tasks inherent in a given career or vocational pursuit. Occupational self-efficacy (OSE) cognitions influence and are influenced by motivation and action. Such beliefs influence aspirations and strength of commitment to them, the quality of analytic and strategic thinking, the level of motivation and perseverance in the face of difficulties and setbacks, resilience to adversity, causal attributions for successes or failures, and vulnerability to stress and depression (Bandura et al., 2001).

These dynamics serve to bolster or undermine the young adult's self-confidence regarding his or her ability to perform tasks necessary to cultivate and establish a given career. Both the direct performing of such tasks and the witnessing of others via modeling have the potential to enhance or undermine efficacy (Bandura, 1977, 1986). In the face of a given career or vocational stimulus, OSE may be experienced as an "I can" attitude combined with an increase in students' confidence in their abilities. Inherent to the career fair is the potential for modeling, wherein people engaged in certain occupations bring to life career efficacy in a small-group setting in a personal and immediate way.

A review of the related literature revealed a surprising lack of empirical research into the relative effectiveness of career fairs for students. Although no quantitative analyses were reported, Willis (1994) underscored the importance of career fair participation as a mechanism by which Black college students can engage in early networking. Similarly, Chapa (1998) asserted that organizational career fairs enabled Latino college students to interact directly with recruiters. Other authors point out the value and viability of career fairs for elementary school children (Murrow-Taylor, 1999) in different states across the country.

An extensive search yielded no empirical data about the efficacy of career fairs. Accordingly, this study was designed to assess the efficacy of a career fair on a group of predominantly adolescent females in a small, Southwestern border city.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The primary purpose of this study was to measure the effectiveness of a nontraditional career fair upon the occupational self-efficacy of a group of predominantly female adolescents. Thus, the research question was, "Would a nontraditional career fair impact the occupational self-efficacy of a group of predominantly female adolescents?" The primary dependent variable of interest thus was occupational self-efficacy. However, career interests and traditionality (the degree to which a given occupation is perceived as more suitable for exclusively women, exclusively men, or either) also were explored.

Although the fair was marketed as "nontraditional," and thus designed to broaden the career horizons of adolescent girls via exposure to primarily female professionals discussing and demonstrating aspects of their nontraditional occupations, a large number of women aged 20 and over also attended, as did a segment of adolescent males. Additionally, there were four male professionals demonstrating and discussing their occupations in nontraditional (female-dominant) roles. The primary null hypothesis was that the career fair would have no significant effect from pre-test to post-test following the intervention on the three outcome variables. The secondary null hypothesis was that there would be no gender or age-related differences between groups for the occupational self-efficacy variable.

METHODOLOGY

Population and Sample The target population for this study was predominantly high school-aged female adolescents in a small, rural city in the Southwestern United States. More than half (53%) of the residents of this city consider themselves minorities with almost 90% of the minority population being Mexican-American or of Hispanic descent (J. Albers, personal communication, 2002). The unemployment rate for the past 5 years has ranged from 20% to 25% (U.S. Census, 2001). Over 25% of the residents fall below the poverty level, almost double that of the nation, and per capita income is slightly less than $15,000 per year (U.S. Census). Thirty-seven percent of the adult residents have less than a high school education, which rises to over 75% (U.S. Census) in the southern part of the county that borders Mexico. Given the nature of the local economy, any psychoeducational programs or interventions that serve to expand the occupational horizons for adolescents may be worthwhile.

The sample consisted of 139 people attending a half-day "nontraditional career fair" during the fall of 2001. Seventy-nine (57%) of the participants were 12- to 18-year-old girls. In addition, 33 women over the age of 18 attended the fair, as did 27 predominantly high school-aged males. Because the fair was marketed predominantly to school counselors at each of the four local high schools, and secondarily to the community at large, it tended to draw mostly high school-aged female students. Although in the study year we did not ask participants to report their ethnicity, we are confident that a high proportion of attendees were Mexican American (T. Bourguignon, personal communication, December 1, 2001). A previous career fair, marketed in the same manner, drew mainly from the local high schools, and approximately three quarters of those participants listed their ethnicity as Mexican-American (Kolodinsky, McCarthy, Waters, & Schroder, 2003). The fair was sponsored by the local Private Industry Council in conjunction with a local community college and state university. From the inception, the goal was to acquaint young women with the career options that they might have previously been unaware of or deselected due to traditional constraints.

Procedures

Setting. The one-day fair was held at a local civic center. Several separate suites within the civic center were used to showcase a variety of presenters who discussed and demonstrated their experiences with careers considered nontraditional for their gender. Of those presenting, 11 females were employed in nontraditional occupations such as border patrol officer, emergency medical technician, firefighter, military officer, cable technician, computer repair technician, and water treatment technician. In addition, four males employed in nontraditional occupations such as hair stylist, nurse, respiratory therapist, and receptionist also presented.

Program. After attending a brief initial orientation hosted by a counselor from a local community college at which the logistics of the day were described, students were ushered in groups of a dozen or so to several of the breakout sessions in which they were exposed to the career models. Most participants appeared to stay in cohort groups from their own high schools. For professional school counselors considering something similar, allowing students to remain with friends if they choose seems worthwhile. It may help students to feel comfortable in this new situation and also provide them with a natural resource for talking about their experience afterward.

Before listening to and observing the first occupational demonstration, students were asked to complete the pre-intervention survey. During the breakout sessions, presenters were asked to discuss key elements of their occupation, answered questions from students, demonstrated the tools of their trade, and provided related experiential activities for the students. Students rotated between activity stations at 15-minute intervals, and they were able to experience most of the activity stations before the end of the fair. During lunch, students listened to an inspirational speaker discussing the importance of following one's occupational dreams regardless of one's perceived gender-based restraints. The speaker was an active-duty female pilot from the local U.S. Marine base. Immediately upon completing lunch, all students were asked to complete the post-intervention survey--the same survey as in the morning but on the back side of the morning survey. The directions instructed the participants to complete the "afternoon" portion of the survey without consulting their morning scores.

Instrument. The questionnaire was entitled "Career Attitudes Survey" and was sprit into three equal parts. The survey instructions asked students to rate their interest in 10 different occupations. They then were asked to estimate their confidence in their ability to complete the duties associated with these same 10 occupations, and lastly, to rate whether these occupations were "better suited for" males, females, or either. The 10 occupations used were from Betz and Hackett's (1981a) Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale (OSES). The OSES includes 20 occupations that represent 10 careers traditionally held by males and 10 traditionally held by females according to Department of Labor statistics.

Due to an interest in keeping the survey to one page and as brief as possible because of the inherent time constraints of the fair, and also due to the interest in examining the additional career interest and traditionality variables, we chose 10 of the original 20 OSES occupations. One OSES occupation, the probation/parole officer role, was changed to border patrol officer because it was known ahead of time that a border patrol officer would be present, and because members of this occupation were readily visible at all times in this border city. It was decided that this exchange also would be considered reasonable as the probation/parole officer from the OSES and border patrol officer roles both are considered highly male-dominant. The final 10 occupations selected represented a range of male-dominant (border patrol officer, lawyer, and sales manager) and female-dominant occupations (dental/medical technician, secretary, elementary teacher, social worker, and travel agent), as well as two occupations that are relatively equally male/female-dominant (school administrator and accountant).

OSES instructions are as follows: "Indicate how much confidence you have that you could successfully perform the job duties of the following occupations if you had the necessary training or education." The current survey used these same instructions followed by the 10 occupations as described previously.

According to the OSES manual (Betz & Hackett, 1981a), internal consistency reliability coefficients have ranged from .89 to .95, while test-retest reliability over a 1-week gap has spanned from .55 to .70 (Hackett & Campbell, 1987). Concurrent validity research across all 20 of the OSES occupations was examined by Zilber (1988; in Betz & Hackett, 1981a), with a resultant r of .73.

Students were asked to estimate their interest in these same 10 OSES occupations using a like, indifferent, and dislike coding scale created by the researchers. For the traditionality component, participants then were asked to indicate whether these 10 occupations were "better suited for" males, females, or either gender. The career interest and traditionality variables were considered experimental because they did not involve a previously validated instrument.

RESULTS

Occupational Self-Efficacy

A dependent t test was performed (see Table 1) in order to measure the overall effect of the career fair intervention on all participants' OSES scores across all 10 occupations. In other words, we were interested in whether the participants, regardless of age, gender, or type of occupation, experienced an increase in occupational confidence after observing and listening to the career models. The repeated measures analysis revealed a significant pre-post test difference (t= -4.857, df = 126, p < .001). As mentioned, attendees generally fell into one of the following three subgroups: adolescent girls (younger than 20), adult women (over age 19), and males. Additional t tests were performed to assess the same generalized effect with respect to each of these subgroups. Pre-post comparisons indicated that each of these subgroups experienced a generalized increase in their OSES (Table 1).

We then looked at changes in OSES, within each subgroup, by specific career (see Table 2). A two-tier confidence level was used. The more stringent level of .005 was included so as to minimize the potential for inflation of Type I error. To assist in interpretation, the listing of the careers within each table was guided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics gender-dominance rankings (U.S. Department of Labor, 1999). The list begins with the most traditionally male-dominant career (border patrol) and proceeds to the least traditionally male-dominant career (dental/medical technician). From a female perspective, therefore, the list proceeds from the most nontraditional career category to the least nontraditional category.

Girls reported statistically significant increases in OSES for 4 of the 10 career tracks: border patrol officer (t = -2.6, p < .05), sales manager (t= -3.3, p < . 005), accountant (t = -2.3, p < .05), and school administrator (t = -2.1, p < .05). The women had only one significant OSES increase, elementary school teacher (t = -2.1, p < .05). The males' scores increased significantly for 3 of the 10 careers: accountant (t = -2.4, p < .05), school administrator (t = -3.8, p < .005), and elementary teacher (t = -2.4, p < .05).

Career Interests

A Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test indicated that for all participants combined, across all 10 occupations, career interest scores significantly increased from pre-test to post-test (z = -3.350, p < .001). There were 253 positive ranking shifts (e.g., rating for a given career changed from dislike in the pre-test to like in the post-test, or from indifferent to like) wherein participants reported more interest in a career at post-testing, as compared to 169 shifts in the other direction. Overall interest increased significantly for two careers: border patrol (z = -2.62, p < .01) and school administrator (z = -2.96, p < .01).

Traditionality

Participants were asked to rate each occupation in terms of suitability for men, for women, or both. More than 70% rated 9 of the 10 occupations surveyed as suitable for either gender at both pre- and post-test. As such, with one exception, there was insufficient variability to warrant additional analyses in accordance with Lewis and Burke's (1949) chi-square guidelines. The singular exception was the border patrol occupation. Prior to the career fair, 58% of participants rated this career as exclusively suited for men, with just 35% rating it as suitable for either gender. After witnessing the female border patrol agents' presentation, only 1.5% of the participants rated this occupation as exclusively for males, with 85% rating it as suitable for either gender. These pre- to post-test changes were found to be significant (z = -8.28, p < .001) via the Wilcoxon analysis.

DISCUSSION

A central purpose of this project was to measure the effectiveness of a nontraditional career fair on occupational self-efficacy. Psychologically, OSE captures a sense of "can do" and the ability to imagine oneself in an occupation. Most of the participants in the study were female adolescents from high schools in a small, Southwestern American city. They watched and listened to adult career models, most of whom were adult females working in traditionally male-dominated occupations.

The career fair produced a statistically significant, generalized increase in occupational self-efficacy. The main finding therefore supported Betz and Hackett's (1981b) contention that occupational self-efficacy can be influenced by exposure to career models. The adolescent female attendees, upon witnessing successful women models discussing and demonstrating their work, altered their beliefs concerning what they previously understood to be "men's work." They reported feeling more competent, capable, and positive about these occupations. Markus and Nurius (1986) have described this sort of increase in career-related confidence as growing out of an expansion of one's perceived possible selves, attributing this development to knowing or being exposed to someone in a hoped-for occupation (Markus, Cross, & Wurf, 1990).

Occupational self-efficacy scores were generally strong, but not necessarily uniform across all careers. A possible explanation is that the approach we employed is only effective at increasing OSE for certain career tracks. But this would not explain why the adult women's OSE shifts were less robust. More likely, a sort of critical window exists after which career modeling may have diminishing returns. The goal of professional school counselors should be to expand both career interests and a related sense of efficacy before young adults sell themselves short and forego opportunities.

In addition to the primary focus on OSE, the impact of the career fair on career interests and traditionality was assessed. In general, these findings should be interpreted cautiously. Career interests were gauged with perhaps too narrow a Likert scale. A large number of participants chose the "like" option both at pre- and post-testing. A more appropriate assessment scale might have detected the sort of broad-spectrum increase that was observed for the OSES results. Recent research by Tracey (2002) and Nauta, Kahn, Angell, and Cantarelli (2002) postulates a reciprocal relationship between self-efficacy and career interest, and as such, these two variables should ideally continue to be studied together.

Importantly, the career fair attendees were particularly impacted by exposure to the border patrol officers. There was an overall significant boost in interest level for this occupation, and a concomitant significant increase in understanding that this occupation is suitable for both females and males. Apparently, many of these girls had likely "written off" this career prior to the career fair. Although this occupation is so ubiquitous in this border city along the U.S. and Mexican border, it is very likely that most of the career fair attendees had never or rarely actually witnessed a female border patrol agent. To have their perceptions so powerfully altered as a result of exposure to these career models seems to speak volumes about the potential potency of the career fair intervention.

The durability of changes in OSE, brought about by the students' participation in the career fair, is also an important consideration for future research. More empirical data are needed in terms of viable, follow-up interventions that serve to sustain increases in OSE. Experiential, site-based programs or externships could be organized for students. Best practices research would seek to shed light on the forms of modeling and mentoring (storytelling, hands-on activities, factual explanation, and/or inspirational speech) that hold the most promise for both girls and boys.

CONCLUSION

One third of the American School Counselor Association's National Standards is devoted to career development, and within this context, counselors are expected to help students develop career awareness, employment readiness, and career information acquisition skills and understand how their education, the world of work, and personal qualities coexist (ASCA, 2002). Further, following Gysbers and Henderson's lead (2001), the ASCA National Model[R] also calls for the school counselor's role to encompass career exploration and planning via a guidance curriculum, and helping students plan for the future through individualized planning (ASCA, 2005). Career fairs that get students experientially engaged in learning about occupations and the people that work in them help students achieve these goals.

Professional school counselors, although pulled in many directions in the anxious era of increasing accountability (Myrick, 2003), and in an ever-evolving profession that often remains vaguely defined both within and outside the profession (Baker & Gerler, 2004), can nonetheless have an important impact on the career development of all K-12 students. The career fair would appear to offer an effective and efficient vehicle to aid counselors' work in promoting students' career development.

References

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Pit Kolodinsky is an assistant professor and coordinator of master's programs in community and school counseling at Northern Arizona University, Yuma. E-mail: [e-mail]

Vincent Schroder is an adjunct professor of psychology at Saint Leo University, Saint Leo, FL.

George Montopoli is an associate professor of mathematics and Scott McLean is a professor of speech communication at Arizona Western College, Yuma.

Peter A. Mangan is an assistant professor of psychology and

William Pederson is an assistant professor of social work at Northern Arizona University.

Table 1. Pre- and Post-Test Occupational Self-Efficacy Scale Means

                        n      M      SD         t

Total
Pre-conference         130   55.39   19.09   -4.86 ***
Post-conference        130   61.87   22.21

Girls (up to age 19)
Pre-conference          73   55.73   18.18   -3.10 **
Post-conference         73   67.84   23.08

Women (overage 19)
Pre-conference          33   54.29   22.18   -2.44 *
Post-conference         33   60.88   27.10

Males (all ages)
Pre-conference          24   55.38   20.93   -3.69 ***
Post-conference         24   68.25   23.27

* p < .05. ** p < .01. *** p < .001.

Table 2. Pre--and Post-Test Occupational Self-Efficacy
Scale Means and t Values for Girls

Occupation             BLS   n    Pre-M          Post-M   t

Border patrol          14%   73   5.5            6.3      -2.6 *
Lawyer                 29%   73   6.4            6.9      -1.4
Sales manager          41%   73   5.5            6.5      -3.3 **
Accountant             59%   73   4.6            5.3      -2.3 *
School administrator   64%   73   5.6            6.5      -2.1
Travel agent           70%   73   6.0            6.5      -1.9
Social worker          72%   73   5.9            6.0      -.24
Elementary teacher     83%   73   5.9            6.3      -1.4
Secretary              98%   73   7.5            7.6      -.54
Dental/medical tech    98%   73   4.9 [degrees]  5.1      -.63

* p < .05. ** p < .005.