Adaptive adjustment of vocational aspirations among German youths during the transition from school to work

Martin J. Tomasik; Sam Hardy; Claudia M. Haase; Jutta Heckhausen

doi:10.1016/j.jvb.2008.10.003

Adaptive adjustment of vocational aspirations among German youths during the transition from school to work

Martin J. Tomasik^*, Sam Hardy, Claudia M. Haase, Jutta Heckhausen

^*Corresponding author for this work

School of Education and Social Policy

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

57 Scopus citations

Abstract

The transition from school to work is a central developmental task with long-term implications for the financial and social status of individuals. We argue that dynamic adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful outcome of the school to work transition, particularly in the context of the German vocational training system. Latent growth curve analyses conducted on the self-reported occupational aspirations of German adolescents (N = 414) surveyed in a 5-wave longitudinal study during their senior school year support this assumption. Based on expectancy-value-models of achievement, we delineated an adaptive trajectory of aspirations as starting off with relatively high aspirations and subsequently gradually downgrading them until s is attained. Such a trajectory of adjustment should maximize both expectancy (i.e., probability of obtaining an apprenticeship position at all) and value (i.e., training position with promotion potential). Finally, we showed empirically that the trajectory conceptually proposed as most adaptive was characteristic for youth who reported phase-adequate goal engagement strategies as suggested by the life-span theory of control.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	38-46
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Vocational Behavior
Volume	74
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2008.10.003
State	Published - Feb 2009

Funding

Much of Sam Hardy’s work on this project took place while he was at the University of Virginia, and was funded by an Institutional Training Grant (T32) awarded to John R. Nesselroade by the National Institute on Aging. The longitudinal study on “Developmental Regulation in the Transition from School to Work” was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG Grant He 3068/3-1). Financial support was also received from the Max Planck Award for International Cooperation funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The authors appreciate Ryan Bowels, Denis Gerstorf, Kevin Grimm, Fumiaki Hamagami, John R. Nesselroade, Nilham Ram, Zhiyong “Johnny” Zhang, and Lijuan “Peggy” Wang, for statistical advice and Verona Christmas-Best for comments on style and language.

Keywords

Adjustment of aspirations
Life-span theory of control
Primary and secondary control
Transition from school to work
Vocational choice
Vocational development

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Education
Applied Psychology
Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management
Life-span and Life-course Studies

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10.1016/j.jvb.2008.10.003

Cite this

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title = "Adaptive adjustment of vocational aspirations among German youths during the transition from school to work",

abstract = "The transition from school to work is a central developmental task with long-term implications for the financial and social status of individuals. We argue that dynamic adjustments of aspirations play a decisive role for a successful outcome of the school to work transition, particularly in the context of the German vocational training system. Latent growth curve analyses conducted on the self-reported occupational aspirations of German adolescents (N = 414) surveyed in a 5-wave longitudinal study during their senior school year support this assumption. Based on expectancy-value-models of achievement, we delineated an adaptive trajectory of aspirations as starting off with relatively high aspirations and subsequently gradually downgrading them until s is attained. Such a trajectory of adjustment should maximize both expectancy (i.e., probability of obtaining an apprenticeship position at all) and value (i.e., training position with promotion potential). Finally, we showed empirically that the trajectory conceptually proposed as most adaptive was characteristic for youth who reported phase-adequate goal engagement strategies as suggested by the life-span theory of control.",

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author = "Tomasik, {Martin J.} and Sam Hardy and Haase, {Claudia M.} and Jutta Heckhausen",

note = "Funding Information: Much of Sam Hardy{\textquoteright}s work on this project took place while he was at the University of Virginia, and was funded by an Institutional Training Grant (T32) awarded to John R. Nesselroade by the National Institute on Aging. The longitudinal study on “Developmental Regulation in the Transition from School to Work” was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG Grant He 3068/3-1). Financial support was also received from the Max Planck Award for International Cooperation funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. The authors appreciate Ryan Bowels, Denis Gerstorf, Kevin Grimm, Fumiaki Hamagami, John R. Nesselroade, Nilham Ram, Zhiyong “Johnny” Zhang, and Lijuan “Peggy” Wang, for statistical advice and Verona Christmas-Best for comments on style and language. Copyright: Copyright 2009 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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Adaptive adjustment of vocational aspirations among German youths during the transition from school to work

Abstract

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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