The Influence of National Culture on Business Students' Career Attitudes – An Analysis of Eight Countries

Abstract

Despite the fact that career attitudes and their influence on career outcomes is widely researched in the field of occupations and careers, little is known about the influence of cultural norms and values on career attitudes. We propose that national cultural dimensions influence students' career planning, career adaptability, career optimism, and career-related knowledge. We test these relations using an eight country sample with more than 1,800 students. The results show that national culture has significant effect on all four career attitudes and in particular on career planning and career optimism. We discuss theoretical and practical implications and provide future research directions.