Vocational Anticipatory Socialization

Abstract

Framed by social cognitive career theory, this study identified college students’ perceptions of the most influential sources and content of encouraging/discouraging career messages (vocational anticipatory socialization [VAS]). A survey of 873 university students found that mothers, followed by teachers/professors, friends, and fathers, were perceived to be the most influential encouraging VAS sources. However, first-generation college students were more likely to identify teachers/professors as their most influential VAS source. Friends were identified as most influential source of discouraging messages. The most frequently identified VAS messages gave career details. Mothers were most often described as conveying messages telling their children to pursue a passion for their career, while teachers/professors were frequently reported as providing career detail messages. Based on the VAS messages reported, we speculate that some VAS messages help students overcome perceived barriers by boosting self-efficacy and outcome expectations, confirming students’ individual skills and helping students envision themselves in particular career settings.