A Cross-Cultural Study on the Vocational Identity of American and Korean University Students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the cross-cultural differences in vocational identity between American and Korean university students using the Vocational Identity Status Assessment. A total of 881 university students in both the United States and South Korea were sampled in this study assessing vocational identity. We compared means of latent variables (six dimensions of Vocational Identity Status Assessment in the present study) using latent mean analysis. The results indicated that Korean students showed higher scores on Career Self-doubt and Career Flexibility, whereas American students showed higher scores on In-breadth Exploration, In-depth Exploration, Commitment Making, and Commitment Identification. These results indicated the components of vocational identity that should be considered while providing career guidance to college students from diverse backgrounds. Implications for understanding the cultural differences of college students’ vocational identity and the need for conducting cross-cultural comparison studies to provide insights about the vocational development of college students in cross-cultural settings are discussed.