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Influence of social cognitive and gender variables on technological academic interest among Spanish high-school students: testing social cognitive career theory

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Abstract

This study tested social cognitive career theory (SCCT) in the technological domain with 2,359 high-school students in Asturias (Spain). Path analyses were run to determine the influence of gender on the SCCT model and to explain the influence of personal (emotional state, gender-role attitudes), contextual (perceived social supports and barriers), and cognitive (self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations) variables on technological interest. The results almost entirely confirm the SCCT model for Spanish high-school students in both the boys’ and girls’ samples. Further, the results show that girls and boys do not differ significantly as far as the different variables are concerned.

Résumé

L’influence des variables sociocognitives et de genre sur les intérêts académiques technologiques auprès de lycéens espagnols: Test de la théorie sociocognitive de la carrier. Dans cette étude, nous avons testé la théorie sociocognitive de carrière (SCCT) dans le domaine technologique auprès de 2,359 lycéens aux Asturies (Espagne). Des analyses de pistes causales ont été réalisées dans le but de déterminer l’influence du genre sur le modèle SCCT et d’expliquer l’influence des variables personnelles (état émotionnel, attitudes portant sur les rôles liés au genre), contextuelles (soutien social perçu et barrières), et cognitives (sentiment d’efficacité personnelle, attentes de résultat) sur les intérêts technologiques. Les résultats confirment presque entièrement le modèle SCCT pour les lycéens espagnols dans les deux échantillons de garçons et de filles, respectivement. De plus, les résultats montrent que les filles et les garçons ne diffèrent pas de manière significative sur différentes variables étudiées.

Zusammenfassung

Der Einfluss von sozial-kognitiven und geschlechtsspezifischen Variablen auf das technisch, akademisches Interesse bei spanischen High-School Studenten: Ein Test der sozial-kognitiven Karrieretheorie. In dieser Studie wurde die sozial-kognitive Karrieretheorie (SCCT) im technischen Bereich anhand von 2,359 High-School Studenten in Asturien (Spanien) überprüft. Es wurden Pfadanalysen durchgeführt, um den Einfluss von Geschlecht auf das SCCT Modell zu bestimmen, und den Einfluss von persönlichen (Gefühlszustand, Einstellung zu Geschlechterrollen), kontextuellen (wahrgenommene soziale Unterstützung und Barrieren) und kognitiven (Selbstwirksamkeitsüberzeugung, Ergebniserwartung) Variablen auf das technische Interesse zu erklären. Die Ergebnisse bestätigen das SCCT Model für spanische High-School Studenten nahezu vollständig, sowohl in der Stichprobe der Jungen, als auch der Mädchen. Zusätzlich zeigten die Ergebnisse, dass sich Mädchen und Jungen nicht signifikant in den betrachteten Variablen unterscheiden.

Resumen

La influencia del género y de variables socio-cognitivas en el interés por la tecnología de estudiantes españoles que cursan la educación secundaria: validación de la Teoría Cognitivo Social de Desarrollo de la Carrera. El estudio que presentamos ha tenido como objetivo validar la Teoría Cognitivo Social de Desarrollo de la Carrera en el ámbito tecnológico con una muestra de 2,359 estudiantes de secundaria de Asturias (España). Se ha realizado un path análisis para determinar la influencia del género en el modelo SCCT y para explicar la influencia de variables personales (estado emocional, actitudes hacia los roles de género), contextuales (percepción de apoyos y barreras sociales) y cognitivas (creencias de autoeficacia, expectativas de resultados) sobre el interés tecnológico. Los resultados obtenidos confirman la mayoría del modelo SCCT tanto en la muestra de varones como en la de mujeres. Además, los resultados verifican que las puntuaciones de chicos y chicas no difieren significativamente en las distintas variables analizadas.

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Acknowledgments

This article is based on work supported by the Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Spain) (EDU-2010-17233).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Science Education Department, Facultad de Ciencias de la Educación, University of Oviedo, Despacho 318. C/Aniceto Sela, s.n., 33005, Oviedo, Spain

    Carmen Rodríguez, Mercedes Inda & Carmen Mª Fernández

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  1. Carmen Rodríguez
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  2. Mercedes Inda
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  3. Carmen Mª Fernández
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Correspondence to Carmen Rodríguez.

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Rodríguez, C., Inda, M. & Fernández, C.M. Influence of social cognitive and gender variables on technological academic interest among Spanish high-school students: testing social cognitive career theory. Int J Educ Vocat Guidance 16, 305–325 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-015-9312-8

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