Self-Efficacy and Vocational Outcome Expectations for Adolescents of Lower Socioeconomic Status: A Pilot Study

Abstract

Relationships between contextual support, perceived educational barriers, and vocational/educational self-efficacy and outcome expectations were examined for a group of 114 ninth graders from lower socioeconomic backgrounds. Results of this exploratory pilot study indicated that sibling and peer support accounted for a significant amount of variance in vocational/educational self-efficacy beliefs. Vocational/educational self-efficacy beliefs also significantly predicted vocational outcome expectations, and contextual supports and barriers did not account for any unique variance associated with vocational outcome expectations. Results are discussed in relation to social cognitive career theory. Implications for counseling and future research are presented.