Associations of acculturation, hope, and post-graduation residency plans with career decision self-efficacy among Korean international undergraduate students
Open Access
- Author:
- In, Hyoyeon
- Graduate Program:
- Counselor Education
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- January 31, 2014
- Committee Members:
- Spencer Niles, Dissertation Advisor/Co-Advisor
Spencer Niles, Committee Chair/Co-Chair
Jerry G Trusty, Committee Member
Jeff Garis, Committee Member
Hoi Kin Suen, Committee Member - Keywords:
- Acculturation
hope
career decision self-efficacy
hope
international students
post-graduation residency plans
South Korea - Abstract:
- The purpose of this study was to examine whether the variables of acculturation to the host culture, acculturation to the home culture, and hope predict career decision self-efficacy among international undergraduate students from South Korea. The secondary goal of this study was to examine the moderating roles of hope and post-graduation residency plans in the relationship between acculturation variables and career decision self-efficacy. The final sample included 213 Korean international undergraduate students enrolled in U.S. universities. Two hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the research questions. The first regression analysis was performed to answer Research Question 1: To what extent do acculturation to the U.S., acculturation to Korea, hope, the interaction between acculturation to the U.S. and hope, and the interaction between acculturation to Korea and hope predict career decision self-efficacy? The results revealed that hope, acculturation to the U.S., and acculturation to Korea accounted for 52.5% of the variance in career decision self-efficacy. Hope was the strongest predictor followed by acculturation to the U.S. Acculturation to Korea did not make a unique contribution to the prediction of career decision self-efficacy while controlling for hope and acculturation to the U.S. No interaction effects were found between hope and acculturation variables on career decision self-efficacy. The second regression analysis was conducted to answer Research Question 2: To what extent do acculturation to the U.S., acculturation to Korea, post-graduation residency plans, the interaction between acculturation to the U.S. and post-graduation residency plans, and the interaction between the acculturation to Korea × post-graduation residency plans predict career decision self-efficacy? Post-graduation residency plans were categorized into plans to reside in the United States and plans to reside in Korea. Sixteen participants that reported their desires to secure employment in countries other than Korea and the United States were excluded from this analysis. The results indicated that acculturation to the U.S. and acculturation to Korea accounted for 19.3% of the variance in career decision self-efficacy. Both acculturation variables made unique contributions to predicting career decision self-efficacy while controlling for each other. Post-graduation residency plans did not significantly predict career decision self-efficacy controlling for the two acculturation variables, as expected. No interaction effects were found between post-graduation residency plans and the acculturation variables on career decision self-efficacy. Limitations of this study and implications for practice and future research are discussed.