THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY BACKGROUND
"Family background factors found to be associated with career development include parents‘ socioeconomic status (SES), their educational level, and biogenetic factors such as physical size, gender, ability, and temperament" (Penick and Jepsen 1992, p. 208). In a study of the influences on adolescents‘ vocational development reported by Mortimer et al. (1992), the variable that had the most effect on educational plans and occupational aspirations was parental education.
Mortimer et al. also report that parents with postsecondary education tend to pass along its importance to their children--a finding supported by other studies. Montgomery (1992) notes that females talented in math viewed their career choices as reflective of interests that stemmed from early family influence and educational opportunities. Marso and Pigge (1994) found that the presence of teachers in the family was a significant factor influencing teacher candidates‘ decisions to teach. DeRidder (1990), however, points out that lower levels of parent education can retard adolescents‘ career development. "Being born to parents with limited education and income reduces the likelihood of going to college or achieving a professional occupational goal and essentially predetermines the child‘s likely vocational choice" (p. 4).
Family income is another aspect of family background that influences the career development of youth, especially for girls (Mortimer et al. 1992). One reason for this may be that families with limited economic resources tend to direct them first to the males of the family, giving less hope and encouragement for further education to the daughters in the family. Also, some parents--especially working class or lower-income parents--may hold values that place girls in the homemaker role and reflect less emphasis on occupational preparation (ibid.). Given this disposition, it is understandable that the self-efficacy of girls with respect to career opportunities is linked to the economic support they can expect to receive from their parents.
THE INFLUENCE OF FAMILY PROCESSES
Although much of the research on the role of family in vocational and career development has focused on family background, the investigation of family processes viewed in relation to life roles offers additional insight into the influences of the family. Family processes of interaction, communication, and behavior influence what the child learns about work and work experiences. Attitudes about school and work, educational and career goals and aspirations, and values have a long-term impact on a youth‘s career choices, decisions, and plans. "Parents as daily models provide cultural standards, attitudes, and expectations and, in many ways, determine the eventual adequacy of self-acceptance and confidence, of social skills and of sex roles. The attitudes and behaviors of parents while working or discussing their work is what the children respond to and learn" (DeRidder 1990, p. 3).
Through the process of educating their children about life roles, parents can influence the employability skills and values that children subsequently adopt. Grinstad and Way (1993) report one mother‘s message to her daughter on the theme of becoming self-sufficient:
You have to have a way to take care of your family.
And she (her mother) says you cannot depend on a man.
And she said you have to think about number one and
that‘s you. And she said how are you going to make a
living, how are you going to support your children, if
you don‘t have some kind of training. (p. 50)
The interaction of many individual variables in family process is a significant factor to consider in studying family influence on career development. Middleton and Loughead (1993) suggest that adolescents‘ career aspirations be examined from an interactionist perspective rather than a unilateral process of influence, "focusing on the context and situations in which adolescents‘ career development occurs" (p. 163).
NEGATIVE EFFECTS OF PARENTAL INFLUENCE
Middleton and Loughead (1993) present three categories to describe types of parental involvement in adolescents‘ career development: (1) positive involvement, (2) noninvolvement, and (3) negative involvement. The greatest anxiety adolescents feel about their career decisions or exploration, quite understandably, is in response to parents‘ negative involvement.
Parents in the "negative involvement" category are often controlling and domineering in their interactions with their children. The children of such parents often pursue the careers selected by their parents rather than those they desire so as not to disappoint their parents or go against their wishes. Likewise, they feel a strong sense of frustration and guilt when they do not meet their parents‘ expectations.
The burden of following a parent‘s narrowly defined expectations of success has resulted in "mental health problems, estranged parent-child relationships, or in socially delinquent behaviors" (ibid., p. 243). Penick and Jepsen (1992) note that "adolescents from enmeshed families may have difficulty mastering career development tasks because they are unable to distinguish their own from parental goals and expectations" (p. 220). Disengagement of family and adolescents has similarly negative effects. "Adolescents from disengaged families may lack familial support and interaction, resulting in limits on self-knowledge and task orientation that interferes with mastery of career development tasks" (ibid.).
See the FamilyIQ course entitled, 'Family Systems' for more information.
REFERENCES
Clayton, K. et al. THE ROLE OF FAMILY IN THE EDUCATIONAL
AND OCCUPATIONAL DECISIONS MADE BY MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS.
Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational
Education, 1992. (ED 357 270)
Clayton, K. et al. FAMILY INFLUENCES OVER THE OCCUPATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL CHOICES OF MEXICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS. Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education, 1993. (ED 367 786)
DeRidder, L. THE IMPACT OF PARENTS AND PARENTING ON CAREER DEVELOPMENT. Knoxville, TN: Comprehensive Career Development Project, 1990. (ED 325 769)
Grinstad, J. A., and Way, W. L. "The Role of Family in the Vocational Development of Family and Consumer Education Teachers: Implications for Vocational Education," JOURNAL OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION RESEARCH 18, no. 4 (1993): 43-80.
Kim, E. Y. "Career Choice among Korean-American Students." ANTHROPOLOGY & EDUCATION QUARTERLY 24, no. 3 (September 1993): 224-248.
Marso, R., and Pigge, F. "Personal and Family Characteristics Associated with Reasons Given by Teacher Candidates for Becoming Teachers in the 1990‘s: Implications for the Recruitment of Teachers." Paper presented at the Annual Conference of the Midwestern Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, October 15, 1994. (ED 379 228)
Middleton, E. B., and Loughead, T. A. "Parental Influence on Career Development: An Integrative Framework for Adolescent Career Counseling," JOURNAL OF CAREER DEVELOPMENT 19, no. 3 (Spring 1993): 161-173.
Montgomery, J. "Factors that Influence the Career Aspirations of Mathematically Precocious Females." Paper presented at the Asian Conference on Giftedness: Growing Up Gifted and Talented, Taipei, Taiwan, July 1992. (ED 352 267)
Mortimer, J. et al. INFLUENCES ON ADOLESCENTS‘ VOCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education, 1992. (ED 352 555)
Penick, N., and Jepsen, D. "Family Functioning and Adolescent Career Development." CAREER DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY 40, no. 4 (March 1992): 208-222.
Eric Digest ED389878, 1995
