Parents and Career Planning in Turkish and German Adolescents

May 10, 2008 | Torino, Italy
European Association for Research on Adolescence
UNIVERSITY OF ERFURT
Parents and Career Planning in Turkish
and German Adolescents
Symposium
Bärbel Kracke1, Aysen Güre2, & Julia Dietrich1
“Family influences on
Vocational Choice
Processes”
1University
of Erfurt, Germany
2Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Outline
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| The happy story of European conferences
| Concept Parental Support
| Replication of parental career support scales in a culture where
parental authority is valued highly
| Predicting Career Exploration as one central aspect of career
planning
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
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| Happy story
─ Jena, August 2007, European Conference of
Developmental Psychology
─ Data collection in fall/winter 2007 in Ankara
─ Torino, May 2008
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Parental Support
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| Developmental task of choosing a career is central in
adolescence
| Career exploration is a central aspect of career
preparation/planning
| Family processes are a crucial developmental context in
adolescents’ career preparation.
― Adolescents speak most frequently with their parents about career issues
(Fend, 1991; Otto, 2000);
― Adolescents name their parents as major partners in their career
preparation process (Kracke, 2001; Tynkkynen et al., 2007).
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Parental Support
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| Majority of studies have addressed general aspects of the
parent-adolescent relationship.
―
―
―
―
Attachment (Blustein, Walbridge, Friedlander & Palladino, 1991)
Individuation (Grotevant & Cooper, 1987)
Parenting styles (Tracey, Lent, Brown, Soresi & Nota, 2006)
Family climate and family dysfunction (Hargrove, Inman, & Crane, 2005;
Ryan, Solberg, & Brown, 1996)
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Parental Support
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| Qualitative interview studies illustrated which parental
behaviors were influential in adolescents´ career development
(Altman, 1997; Kracke & Noack, 2005; Oechsle et al., 2002; Phillips et al. 2001;
Schultheiss et al., 2001).
― Parental support, that is, freedom of choice while offering orientation and
instrumental support (e.g. writing applications) if needed;
― Parental over-controlling of adolescents’ career related actions and
choices;
― Lack of parental engagement in the career development process at all.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Dimensions of Parental Support
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Development of Scales addressing ….
| Support
― Encourage to explore vocational interests and abilities as well as various
occupational options
― Help to reflect career choice relevant experiences, and provide advice and
instrumental support in choosing a vocation
― Know about offspring’s progress in preparing his or her career choice
| Over-involvement
― Exert pressure in the career development process
― Want to put through own ideas about the offspring’s occupation
| Lack of engagement
― Neglect the career preparation process due to actual disinterest in the issue of
career choice or parents’ excessive demands regarding their offspring’s career
choice and in other life domains
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Aims of the Present Study
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| Replication of Dimensions of Parental Support in a Sample of
Turkish Adolescents
| Examination of Differences between German and Turkish
Adolescents regarding their judgment concerning parental
support
Expectation: Turkish adolescents report more overinvolvement than German adolescents.
| Predict Career Exploration from Parental Support
| Examine gender differences
― Amount of perceived support
― Intensity of Career Exploration
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Participants and Procedure
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| 224 German adolescents (117 female and 107 male)
| 257 Turkish adolescents (132 female and 125 male)
| 11th (n = 263) and 12th grade (n = 218)
| Age 16 to 18 (M = 16.6, SD = .64)
| Students attended schools of the higher track leading to university
studies (High-school, Gymnasium)
| Data collection
― School assessments in Erfurt, Germany, and Ankara, Turkey
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
School Systems
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| In Germany and Turkey high-school ends after 12 years
| Germany: GPA of “Abitur” counts, Turkey: central examinations
| 65% German adol., 94% Turkish adol. plans for university
studies
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Measures: Parental Support
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| Support (5 Items)
― My parents talk to me about my vocational interests and abilities.
― My parents encourage me to seek information about vocations I am
interested in.
― My parents support me in getting an apprenticeship/find a university.
― My parents give advice on the choice of careers available.
― My parents talk to me about apprenticeship opportunities in various
careers.
Cronbach’s Alpha | German: Alpha = .82 | Turkish: Alpha = .78
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Measures: Parental Support
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| Over-involvement (6 Items)
― My parents have their own ideas about my future vocation and try to
influence me accordingly.
― My parents interfere too much with my vocational preparation.
― My parents try to put through their ideas of my future vocation.
― My parents would talk me out of a vocation they don’t like.
― My parents try to push me in a certain direction regarding my future
vocation.
― My vocational preparation comes rather from my parents than from myself.
Cronbach’s Alpha | German: Alpha = .72 | Turkish: Alpha = .88
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Measures: Parental Support
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| Lack of engagement (5 Items)
― My parents are not really interested in my future vocation.
― My parents don’t care about my vocational preparation.
― My parents cannot support my vocational preparation, because they know
too little about different vocations.
― My parents cannot support my vocational preparation, because they are
too busy.
― My parents cannot support my vocational preparation, as they face
difficulties at work themselves.
Cronbach’s Alpha | German: Alpha = .74 | Turkish: Alpha = .84
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Dependent Measure
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| Career exploration (5 Items, Kracke, 1997)
― e.g. “I talk to as many people as possible about occupations I am
interested in.”
― I try to get information about occupations I am interested in in many
possible ways (e.g., reading, talking, internet, internships).
― T try to find out about my vocational interests.
― I try to find out which occupations best fit my strengths and weaknesses.
― I consider various occupations and try to get extensive information about
all alternatives.
Cronbach’s Alpha | German: Alpha = .59 | Turkish: Alpha = .67
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
1. Preliminary Conclusion
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| Scales of parental support and career exploration
developed in German adolescents could be
replicated in Turkish adolescents.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
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| Correlations between Parental Career Support
Dimensions
Support
Over-Involvement
Lack of Engagement
LOE
-.07 / .08
.11 / .21**
-.64***/ -.32*** a)
German
Turkish
a) The difference between the correlations is significant.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
2. Preliminary Conclusion
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| Scales of parental support correlate in a similar way
in German adolescents and Turkish adolescents.
| In the German sample support and lack of
engagement are significantly higher negatively
correlated than in the Turkish sample.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
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Percentages of positive statements regarding
Parental Support measures and Career
Exploration
Support
German
Turkish
72.1%
78.6%
Over-Involvement
8.8%
Lack of Engagement
9.7%
7.0%
72.1%
79.4%
Career Exploration
26.8% Chi² = 24.91, df=1,***
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
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Parental Support and Career Exploration
Support
Over-Involvement
Lack of Engagement
Exploration
German
Turkish
.22**
.40*** a)
.06
-.07
-.03
-.15*
a) The difference between the correlations is significant.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
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| Gender Differences in Parental Support measures and
Career Exploration
Girls
Boys
77.6%
73.6%
Over-Involvement
8.2%
8.4%
Over-Involvement
15.4%
21.6% Chi² = 2.96, df =1, +
Career Exploration
80.4%
71.4% Chi² = 5.29, df = 1, *
Support
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Summary of Results
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| Three scales of parental support could be replicated in the
Turkish Sample.
| Turkish Adolescents report more over-involvement than
German Adolescents.
| Girls reported slightly less over-involvement than boys.
| Girls reported more career exploration than boys.
| Career exploration was significantly positively related with
parental support in both samples.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
Discussion
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| Concept of specific parental support behaviors could be
replicated in a Sample of Turkish Adolescents.
| Different aspects of support affect Career Exploration.
| More similarities than differences in the German and Turkish
adolescents.
| Cultural difference in the role of parents could be demonstrated
regarding involvement in adolescents´ career exploration.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
How to go on ….
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| More advanced statistics to test for similarities and
differences are needed (SEM).
| Future research will address to examine other
aspects of career planning, e.g. certainty about
plans, help from friends, school.
| Further research should acknowledge possible
sample differences, e.g. academic orientation.
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning
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| Thank you and hopefully see you again in Vilnius!
Bärbel Kracke, Aysen Güre, & Julia Dietrich | Parents and Career Planning