The Career Development of Mexican American Adolescent Women.docx

The Career Development of Mexican American Adolescent
Women:
A Test of Social Cognitive Career Theory
Lisa Y. Flores
The Ohio State University
Karen M. O’Brien
University of Maryland, College Park
This study tested R. W. Lent, S. D. Brown, and G. Hackett’s
(1994) model of career choice with 364
Mexican American adolescent women. Path analyses were run to
determine the influence of contextual
and social cognitive variables on career aspiration, career
choice prestige, and traditionality. Partial
support for the model was evidenced as nontraditional career
self-efficacy, parental support, barriers,
acculturation, and feminist attitudes predicted career choice
prestige. Acculturation, feminist attitudes,
and nontraditional career self-efficacy predicted career choice
traditionality. Feminist attitudes and
parental support predicted career aspiration. The paths between
nontraditional career interests and the 3
outcome variables were not supported. Finally, none of the
background contextual variables in this study
predicted nontraditional career self-efficacy. Implications of the
results and suggestions for future
research are discussed.
Mexican American women constitute a significant portion of the
American population (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996), are

underrepresented at all levels of education (Carter & Wilson,
1993;
Lango, 1995; McNeill et al., 2001; U.S. Bureau of the Census,
1991), and are overrepresented in low-paying occupations tradi-
tionally occupied by women (Arbona, 1989; Arbona & Novy,
1991; Ortiz, 1995). Relatively little empirical research has been
conducted to identify the variables that contribute to the educa-
tional and occupational underachievement of Mexican American
women. Indeed, researchers have noted that the career develop-
ment of Hispanics has received only slight consideration in the
counseling and vocational literature (Arbona, 1990; Fouad,
1995;
Hoyt, 1989; McNeill et al., 2001), and they have questioned the
generalizability of career development theories to Hispanics
(Ar-
bona, 1990, 1995; Fitzgerald & Betz, 1994; Hackett, Lent, &
Greenhaus, 1991). The purpose of this study was to investigate
the
applicability of a current model of career choice to the
experiences
of Mexican American adolescent women and to extend the
current
model to incorporate variables that are hypothesized to be
salient
to this population.
It is well documented that Hispanics are the least educated
when
compared with other major racial/ethnic groups in the United
States and that, among Hispanics, Mexican Americans have the
lowest high school and college completion rates (47% and 6.5%,
respectively; U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1996). Mexican Ameri-
can women are less likely to graduate from college than their
male
counterparts (Ortiz, 1995; Tinajero, Gonzalez, & Dick, 1991),
and

their representation in higher education decreases significantly
at
each successive level (Carter & Wilson, 1993). Moreover, those
Mexican American women who pursue higher education
confront
many stressors and may experience psychological distress as
they
seek to reconcile their career aspirations with their familial and
cultural values (Niemann, 2001).
Education is related to occupational status, and thus, the re-
stricted employment status among Mexican American women is
not surprising given their low educational attainment. Arbona
(1989) reported that, occupationally, Hispanic women were con-
centrated in low and mid-level technical, service-oriented, and
clerical type jobs. According to Ortiz (1995), Mexican
American
women were less likely to be professionals or private business
owners and earned less money when compared with women
from
other racial/ethnic groups and Mexican American men.
Moreover,
Mexican American women who were in professional
occupations
were more likely to choose traditional and low-status
occupations
(Ortiz, 1995).
A review of the literature on Mexican American women re-
vealed inconsistencies between their educational and vocational
achievements and aspirations. For example, Arbona and Novy
(1991) reported that the majority of Mexican American college
women in their study aspired to investigative and enterprising
type
jobs. It is interesting that the percentage of women who
expected

to enter these fields was smaller than the percentage of women
who aspired to these careers, whereas the opposite was true of
those who aspired and expected to enter fields that have
typically
represented traditional career options for women. Other studies
Lisa Y. Flores, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State
University;
Karen M. O’Brien, Department of Psychology, University of
Maryland,
College Park.
This study was based on the doctoral dissertation of Lisa Y.
Flores,
which was conducted under the direction of Michael J. Patton.
An earlier
version of this article was presented at the 108th Annual
Convention of the
American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, August
2000.
We thank Nancy Betz, Mary Heppner, and Fred Leong for
helpful
feedback on earlier versions of this article; Kristopher Preacher
and Robert
MacCallum for statistical consultation; Jamilla Griffin and
Jason Quaran-
tillo for assistance with coding data; and the students, teachers,
counselors,
and administrators of the participating schools.
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to
Lisa Y.
Flores, Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University,
1885 Neil
Avenue Mall, Columbus, Ohio 43210-1222. E-mail:

[email protected]
Journal of Counseling Psychology Copyright 2002 by the
American Psychological Association, Inc.
2002, Vol. 49, No. 1, 14 –27 0022-0167/02/$5.00 DOI:
10.1037//0022-0167.49.1.14
14
revealed that Mexican American girls aspired to careers that re-
quired a college degree and to obtaining a postsecondary
education
(Hernandez, Vargas-Lew, & Martinez, 1994; Valenzuela, 1993).
Reyes, Kobus, and Gillock’s (1999) study indicated that 87% of
the girls in a sample of predominantly Mexican American 10th-
grade students aspired to nontraditional or male-dominated ca-
reers. Clearly, a difference exists between Mexican American
women’s educational and vocational aspirations and their actual
achievements, suggesting that these women may not be realizing
their educational and career potential.
Prior studies on the career development of Hispanics have
focused primarily on their educational and career aspirations
(Ar-
bona & Novy, 1991; Hernandez et al., 1994; Reyes et al., 1999)
and the factors postulated to be related to their educational
success
(Cardoza, 1991; Fisher & Padmawidjaja, 1999; Gandara, 1982;
Gillock & Reyes, 1999; Hess & D’Amato, 1996; Keith & Licht-
man, 1994; Lango, 1995; Ramos & Sanchez, 1995; Rodriguez,
1996; Valenzuela, 1993; Vasquez, 1982; Wycoff, 1996). Other
studies have examined the barriers that Hispanic students antici-
pate in their educational and career endeavors (Luzzo, 1992;
McWhirter, 1997). The research to date provides insight into the
career development of Hispanic individuals but contains limita-

tions that restrict its use.
First, several studies are descriptive in nature, and while helpful
in understanding patterns of behavior with this group, they do
not
further knowledge regarding the salient predictors of career be-
haviors. Second, several studies included racially/ethnically di-
verse samples (in which the number of Hispanics were
dispropor-
tionately small) or failed to report the ethnic background of
Hispanic participants. Because of the educational and
occupational
differences between racial/ethnic groups and among Hispanics,
investigating ethnically diverse subgroups individually seems
war-
ranted (Arbona, 1995). Another limitation of the existing
studies is
that many included both women and men. Given differences in
Mexican American women’s and men’s educational attainment,
occupational status, and socialization within the culture, women
and men should be investigated separately to understand the ef-
fects of cultural and gender role socialization on career
decisions.
Finally, few studies have assessed the influence of cultural vari-
ables, such as acculturation, on Hispanics’ career-related
behaviors
(Arbona, 1995).
One notable exception to the research described above was a
study investigating the educational plans and career
expectations
of Mexican American high school girls (McWhirter, Hackett, &
Bandalos, 1998). McWhirter and her colleagues studied the
utility
of Farmer’s (1985) model of career commitment and aspirations

in
explaining the educational planning and career expectations of
Mexican American adolescent women. They extended Farmer’s
model by including acculturation and perceived barriers in their
theoretical models. The results of this study indicated that their
models described the educational and career plans of a sample
of
Mexican American girls; however, only a modest amount of
vari-
ance was accounted for by the models. Thus, McWhirter et al.
encouraged researchers to include additional variables when de-
veloping future models of the career development of Mexican
American adolescent women. Moreover, McWhirter et al. sug-
gested that Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s (1994) social cognitive
career theory had promise for advancing knowledge regarding
the
career development of Mexican American women.
Lent and his colleagues (Lent et al., 1994) extended Bandura’s
(1986) social cognitive theory and Hackett and Betz’s (1981)
career self-efficacy theory to develop a social cognitive career
theory (SCCT) that hypothesized the influence of personal, con-
textual, and social cognitive factors on interest formation,
career
goals, and performance. Of interest in this study are the
proposi-
tions of SCCT that background contextual variables exert an
influence on career self-efficacy, which in turn directly
influences
career interests. In addition, Lent et al. posited that career
interests
directly influence career goals and that career self-efficacy both
directly and indirectly (through career interests) influences
career
goals. Finally, proximal contextual variables were hypothesized
to

exert direct effects on career goals (see Figure 1). Lent and his
colleagues suggested that SCCT may be used to guide inquiry
on
the career development of women and racial/ethnic minorities,
and
they recently advocated for more research to test the hypotheses
related to the contextual variables in their model (Lent, Brown,
&
Figure 1. Portions of Lent, Brown, and Hackett’s (1994) model
of career choice tested in the present study.
15MEXICAN AMERICAN WOMEN
Hackett, 2000). Recent studies provided partial support for the
model with racially diverse middle school students (Fouad &
Smith, 1996) as well as Asian American (Tang, Fouad, & Smith,
1999) and Black college students (Gainor & Lent, 1998);
however,
no studies to date have investigated the validity of SCCT with
Mexican American adolescent women.
To test this theory, when operationalizing the constructs ad-
vanced by Lent et al. (1994), we selected variables that were
hypothesized to be salient for racial/ethnic minorities or
women.
Specifically, in our model, we operationalized background
contex-
tual variables to include acculturation level, feminist attitudes,
and
mothers’ modeling through educational attainment and occupa-
tion. Multicultural researchers have identified the importance of
examining within-group differences of racial and ethnic sub-
groups, and Casas and Pytluk (1995) discussed acculturation as

one variable that differentiates Hispanic subgroups or
individuals
within a subgroup. Moreover, McWhirter et al. (1998) noted
that
acculturation was the only variable that they added to Farmer’s
(1985) model that accounted for significant variance in the edu-
cational aspirations of Mexican American girls. Other
researchers
also documented that acculturation was positively related to
edu-
cational aspirations (Ramos & Sanchez, 1995), in addition to
interest in nontraditional careers (Reyes et al., 1999), college
attendance (Hurtado & Gauvain, 1997), and achievement styles
(Gomez & Fassinger, 1994) among Hispanic students.
Other variables, specifically feminist and gender role attitudes,
have been shown to relate to the career choices of young women
(Betz, 1994; O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993), such that women with
traditional gender role attitudes exhibited lower levels of career
orientation and aspiration than women holding liberal gender
role
attitudes. Among Mexican American girls, nontraditional gender
role attitudes were positively related to higher levels of
educational
and career expectations (McWhirter et al., 1998) and academic
achievement (Valenzuela, 1993; Vasquez-Nuttal, Romero-
Garcia,
& De Leon, 1987). For Mexican American women, cultural ex-
pectations about gender roles may result in traditional gender
role
attitudes or nonfeminist attitudes (Ginorio, Gutierrez, Cauce, &
Acosta, 1995; Reid, Haritos, Kelly, & Holland, 1995), which in
turn may contribute to lower levels of career achievement.
In addition, parental factors, such as occupation and educational
level, were found to relate to academic achievement and

parental
involvement in Mexican American students’ educational and ca-
reer planning (Keith & Lichtman, 1994). With regard to the
influence of mothers, having a mother who attended college was
predictive of college attendance and persistence among Latinas
(Cardoza, 1991). However, other studies that assessed the role
of
parents’ educational or occupational attainment in children’s
edu-
cational and career aspirations reported no relation (Fisher &
Padmawidjaja, 1999; Hernandez et al., 1994; Hess & D’Amato,
1996; Lango, 1995; Reyes et al., 1999), possibly because of the
highly skewed number of parents with lower educational and
occupational levels in these samples. The influence of mothers’
educational level and occupational traditionality were included
in
the present study to determine their influence on daughters’
career
development.
According to SCCT, these background variables were hypoth-
esized to influence nontraditional career self-efficacy or confi-
dence in pursuing nontraditional career-related tasks for women
(Lent et al., 1994). In turn, nontraditional career self-efficacy
should exert a direct effect on both nontraditional career
interests
and career goals (i.e., career choice prestige, career choice
tradi-
tionality, and career aspirations). Indeed, these relations have
been
supported in prior studies, which reported that career self-
efficacy
was related to career interests and careers considered among
Hispanic students (Bores-Rangel, Church, Szendre, & Reeves,
1990; Church, Teresa, Rosebrook, & Szendre, 1992; Lauver &

Jones, 1991). In addition, research has shown that career
interests
were related to careers considered among Hispanic students
(Bores-Rangel et al., 1990; Church et al., 1992). These findings
were consistent with SCCT, which posited a direct link between
career interests and career goals.
We also hypothesized, in accordance with SCCT (Lent et al.,
1994), that the proximal contextual variables of perceived
support
from parents and perceptions of barriers will influence career
choice prestige, traditionality, and career aspirations. Among
Lati-
nas, encouragement and emotional support from families have
been found to be predictive of educational achievement
(Hernan-
dez et al., 1994; Keith & Lichtman, 1994; Ramos & Sanchez,
1995) and college attendance (Vasquez, 1982; Wycoff, 1996).
With regard to perceived barriers, Hispanic students reported
ex-
periencing more barriers to education than students from other
racial/ethnic groups (Luzzo, 1992; McWhirter, 1997), and Mexi-
can American women who experienced negative family attitudes
related to their college attendance were more likely to attend
college close to home (Wycoff, 1996). McWhirter et al. (1998)
found no relation among perceived barriers and Mexican Ameri-
can girls’ educational or career plans. However, they suggested
that the influence of perceived barriers on academic and
vocational
goals be further tested with additional samples. It is possible
that
Mexican American adolescent women’s increased levels of per-
ceived barriers to their educational or career goals may alter
their
decision making, such that they plan to pursue careers that
present

the least resistance.
In summary, this study was designed to test several tenets of
SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) with a sample of Mexican American
adolescent women. Specifically, we explored the influence of
background contextual variables, namely, acculturation level,
fem-
inist attitudes, mother’s educational level, and mother’s occupa-
tional traditionality on nontraditional career self-efficacy. Addi-
tionally, we investigated the contributions of nontraditional
career
self-efficacy, nontraditional career interests, parental support,
and
perceived barriers to career choice prestige, career choice tradi-
tionality, and career aspirations. These dependent variables
were
selected because of their importance to women’s career
develop-
ment (Fitzgerald, Fassinger, & Betz, 1995; O’Brien &
Fassinger,
1993). A secondary purpose of this study was to obtain
descriptive
information regarding participants’ demographic characteristics,
career choices, plans following high school graduation, choice
of
colleges/universities, and reasons for choosing these schools,
given the lack of data regarding this population and their career
plans.
Method
Participants
Participants were Mexican American adolescent women enrolled
in their
senior year of high school. At the same time, Mexican American

adoles-
16 FLORES AND O’BRIEN
cent men were surveyed for a later study. Participants were
drawn from two
large public high schools in a mid-sized town (a population of
approxi-
mately 30,000) in south Texas. The community is close to the
United
States–Mexican border and is heavily influenced by the
Mexican culture.
A high percentage of U.S. citizens who are of Mexican descent
live in this
area, and this is reflected in the student population at the high
schools, in
which almost 95% of the students are Mexican American.
A total of 931 surveys were distributed to students; 831 were
returned
(450 female, 381 male), resulting in an 89% overall return rate.
Women
who were in their senior year of high school and who identified
as Mexican
American were included in this study (n � 377). Of these
women, 13 were
dropped from the study because of incomplete data, resulting in
a total
sample of 364. Participants ranged in age from 16 to 21 years
with a mean
age of 17.47 (SD � 0.70). The average number of people living
at home
was 4.83 (SD � 1.71; range � 2 to 13).

Eighteen percent of the students (n � 65) reported that they
were
first-generation Mexican American, with 37.9% (n � 138)
second gener-
ation, 11.3% (n � 41) third generation, 19.2% (n � 70) fourth
generation,
and 10.7% (n � 39) fifth generation. With regard to
acculturation level,
17% (n � 61) were categorized as “very Mexican oriented,”
38% (n �
138) “Mexican oriented to approximately balanced bicultural,”
34% (n �
123) “slightly Anglo oriented bicultural,” 10% (n � 37)
“strongly Anglo
oriented,” and 1% (n � 5) “very assimilated, Anglicized.”
The educational level of the female and male head of household,
respectively, was as follows: completed elementary school, 24%
and 21%;
attended high school, 25% and 23%; high school graduate, 19%
and 21%;
attended college/university, 14% and 12%; college/university
graduate,
10% and 12%; and graduate or professional degree, 2% and 1%.
Eighty-seven percent (n � 317) of the students planned to
attend a 2- or
4-year college/university following their high school
graduation, with the
remaining students indicating plans to attend technical school
(5.5%), work
(3.2%), enlist in the military (2.1%), and marry or stay at home
(0.5%).
Among students with intentions to continue their education at a
2- or 4-year
college/university, almost half (43.2%, n � 137) reported that

they would
work either full time (1.9%, n � 6) or part time (41.3%, n �
131). Over
a third (39.1%, n � 124) planned to attend the local 4-year
university,
and 19.2% (n � 61) planned to attend the local 2-year
community college.
The most often cited reasons for choosing to attend the college
or univer-
sity of their choice were because it was close to home and
family (36.5%,
n � 116), had a good program of study (10.7%, n � 34), was a
good
college/university (6.9%, n � 22), and was affordable or
inexpensive to
attend (4.1%, n � 13). Sixty-eight percent (n � 214) indicated
that they
would rely on financial aid (e.g., loans, grants, and work study)
to finance
their education, whereas 31.5% (n � 100) hoped to earn
scholar-
ships, 26.5% (n � 84) planned to receive financial support from
their
parents or other family members, and 25% (n � 78) planned to
work.
Procedure
Data collection occurred during the fall semester of the school
year.
Student participation was solicited through English IV classes
because
every senior was required to enroll in this class. Data collection
occurred
across 4 days, and Lisa Y. Flores met with every English IV
section (n �

46) at both schools. English teachers escorted their students to a
central
room at the beginning of the class period and stayed to monitor
students’
behaviors.
Packets containing an informed-assent form, an entry form for
cash
prizes, and the research instruments were distributed to students
as they
entered the room. The questionnaires were counterbalanced to
avoid order
effects from fatigue. Participants were told that the investigator
was inter-
ested in studying the career development of Mexican American
adoles-
cents. Students were told that it would take them most, if not
all, of the
class period to complete the questionnaires and were
encouraged to work
quickly. The investigator told the students that two of the
surveys looked
very similar (each listed the same occupations and educational
programs),
but these surveys asked students to rate either interests or skills.
Students
were informed of a possible follow-up study and were invited to
participate
in future studies. As an incentive to participate in the study,
students who
completed and returned the surveys were eligible for a random
drawing for
cash prizes (10 prizes for $20 and 1 prize for $50).
Instruments

Acculturation level. The Acculturation Rating Scale for
Mexican
Americans (ARSMA–II; Cuellar, Arnold, & Maldonado, 1995)
was a
30-item scale that assessed association with and identity with
the Mexican
and Anglo cultures on two independent subscales. Participants
responded
to the items using a 5-point scale ranging from not at all (1) to
extremely
often or almost always (5). An acculturation score was
calculated by
subtracting the mean score for items on the Anglo Orientation
Subscale
(AOS) from the mean score for items on the Mexican
Orientation Subscale
(MOS). On the basis of their acculturation score, participants
were cate-
gorized into one of the five acculturation levels described by
Cuellar et al.
(1995). Levels range from very Mexican oriented (1) to very
assimilated
(5). Middle categories represented bicultural individuals. Thus,
high scores
were indicative of a strong orientation toward the Anglo
culture.
The ARSMA–II, as well as prior to its revision, the ARSMA, is
one of
the most widely used measures to assess acculturation among
Mexican
Americans, and evidence suggests that it is a reliable and valid
instrument.
Adequate internal consistency coefficients have been reported
for the two

subscales with multiple samples (range from .79 to .83 for the
AOS and .87
to .91 for the MOS; Cuellar et al., 1995; Cuellar & Roberts,
1997;
Lessenger, 1997). Reliability coefficients of .77 for the AOS
and .91 for the
MOS were obtained in the present study.
Cuellar and his colleagues also reported a test–retest reliability
estimate
for the AOS and MOS over a 2-week interval of .94 and .96,
respectively.
Concurrent validity was assessed by comparing scores on the
ARSMA–II
with scores on the ARSMA and yielded a correlation coefficient
of .89.
Concurrent validity for the ARSMA–II was further supported
when its two
subscales correlated in the expected direction with the dominant
group and
ethnic group subscales of the Stephenson Multigroup
Acculturation Scale
(Stephenson, 2000). Lessenger (1997) provided additional
support for
concurrent validity when she reported that acculturation scores
on the
ARSMA–II correlated positively with other acculturation
measures. Con-
struct validity was supported when acculturation scores on the
ARSMA–II
were compared across generations, and differences were found
between
generation levels in the expected directions (Cuellar et al.,
1995; Lessen-
ger, 1997).

Feminist attitudes. The Attitudes Toward Feminism and the
Women’s
Movement Scale (FWM; Fassinger, 1994) was used to measure
feminist
attitudes. The FWM is a 10-item scale that assessed attitudes
about the
feminist movement. Participants rated their agreement with the
items along
a 5-point scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly
agree (5).
Scale scores were obtained by averaging the items; high scores
reflect
profeminist attitudes.
Fassinger (1994) reported that the FWM had high internal
consistency
(� � .89), and O’Brien and Fassinger (1993) reported an
internal reliability
coefficient of .82 for the FWM with a sample of adolescent
women.
Cronbach’s alpha for this sample was .68. Enns and Hackett
(1990)
reported a 2-week test–retest reliability coefficient of .81 with
female
college students. Convergent validity for the FWM was
supported when the
FWM was positively correlated with measures assessing
attitudes toward
women, gender roles, and feminism (Enns & Hackett, 1990;
Fassinger,
1994). In addition, the FWM correlated positively with items
assessing
feminist identification and favorability toward the women’s
movement
(Fassinger, 1994). Finally, Enns and Hackett (1990) reported
that the FWM

correlated in the expected directions with both interest and
involvement in
feminist activities. Divergent validity estimates revealed that
the FWM was
not measuring gender role characteristics, dogmatism, and
social desirabil-
ity (Fassinger, 1994).
Mother’s level of education. A single item asked participants to
indi-
cate the highest level of education completed by their mother.
Options
ranged from elementary school to graduate/professional school.
High
scores represented high levels of education.
Mother’s occupational traditionality. An item asked participants
to
indicate their mother’s occupation, which was later categorized
according
to traditionality. Traditionality of mother’s career was
computed on the
basis of the percentage of women employed in a given career
and was
obtained through the Statistical Abstract of the United States
(1998), a
publication of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. The U.S. Census
Bureau
relies on information from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
and Em-
ployment and Earnings to report these data. Scores ranged from

6 to 99,
with high scores representing careers with high concentrations
of women.
This indicator of career orientation has been used in previous
studies of
women’s career development (O’Brien, 1996; O’Brien &
Fassinger, 1993;
O’Brien, Friedman, Tipton, & Linn, 2000).
Nontraditional career self-efficacy. Self-efficacy expectations
with re-
gard to nontraditional occupations were assessed using a short
form of the
occupational self-efficacy questionnaire used by Church et al.
(1992). The
self-efficacy questionnaire used in this study was comparable
with career
self-efficacy measures used by Betz and Hackett (1981) and
Lauver and
Jones (1991). The original occupational questionnaire contained
a total
of 31 occupations for which participants rated their confidence
in their
ability to successfully learn to perform the job. The
nontraditional career
self-efficacy scale used for this study was modified to include
seven
male-dominated occupations (e.g., electronic equipment
repairer, police
officer, mechanical engineer). Occupations were categorized
according to
the percentage of women in the occupation according to U.S.
census data
(U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1998). A brief description of the
occupation
was provided for each job title.

Participants were asked to rate their confidence in their ability
and skills
to successfully learn to do the jobs. Participants responded to
the items
using a scale ranging from very unsure (1) to very sure (4).
Although
studies typically use 5-point scales to measure strength of self-
efficacy, we
followed the reasoning of Bores-Rangel et al. (1990), whose
sample
predominantly consisted of Hispanic students, that students may
depend-
ably and meaningfully discriminate these four bipolar levels.
Occupational
self-efficacy scores for male-dominated occupations were
obtained by
averaging the responses to the items. High scores reflected
strong levels of
nontraditional career self-efficacy.
Church et al. (1992) reported an internal consistency reliability
of .95 for
the 31-item self-efficacy scale with a sample of predominantly
Hispanic
racial/ethnic minority high school students. Convergent validity
was sup-
ported with a sample of Mexican American boys when
nontraditional
career self-efficacy was positively related to nontraditional
career interests,
consideration of nontraditional careers, and selection of careers
dominated
by men (Flores, 2000). Divergent validity estimates indicated
that nontra-
ditional career self-efficacy was not related to acculturation or

feminist
attitudes (Flores, 2000). Church et al. reported that the self-
efficacy scale
was not measuring aptitude. An alpha coefficient of .81 for the
short
version of the nontraditional self-efficacy scale was obtained in
the present
study.
Nontraditional career interests. Students’ nontraditional
occupational
interests were assessed using the same male-dominated
occupations on the
nontraditional career self-efficacy scale. Participants were
asked to indicate
their interest in the jobs listed on a scale ranging from dislike
(1) to like (3);
this scale is similar to ones used in other career interest
inventories. Scoring
the nontraditional career interests scale consisted of summing
the items and
dividing by the number of items to obtain a mean score. High
scores
reflected strong levels of interest for the nontraditional or male-
dominated
occupations.
Church et al. (1992) reported an internal consistency reliability
of .86 for
the 31-item interest scale with a sample comprising mainly
Hispanic
students. Construct validity was supported when the original
scale corre-
lated positively with another interest measure (Church et al.,
1992). In
addition, among a group of Mexican American boys, it

correlated posi-
tively with nontraditional career self-efficacy, consideration of
nontradi-
tional careers, and choice of nontraditional careers, providing
support for
convergent validity (Flores, 2000). It was not related to feminist
attitudes
(Flores, 2000). Cronbach’s alpha was .74 for the present study.
Parental support. The Career Support Scale (CSS; Binen,
Franta, &
Thye, 1995) was used to assess the amount of perceived support
and
encouragement that participants received in their career pursuits
from their
parents. The CSS was adapted by assessing support from both
parents
concurrently rather than individually and by reducing the
number of items
(10 items that were cross-listed on both Mother and Father
subscales were
retained). Sample items included “My parents agree with my
career goals”
and “My parents and I often discuss my career plans.”
Participants re-
sponded to the 10 items using a 5-point scale ranging from
almost never (1)
to almost always (5). Scale scores were obtained by averaging
the items.
High scores reflected strong levels of perceived support from
parents.
Reliability estimates were .87 for the 22-item Mother–CSS and
.90 for
the 18-item Father–CSS (Binen et al., 1995). Internal
consistency for the

modified CCS used in the present study was .76. Discriminant
validity
estimates indicated that the Mother and Father subscales were
not signif-
icantly correlated with social desirability (Binen et al., 1995).
Perceived occupational barriers. The Perceptions of Barriers
scale
(POB; McWhirter, 1997) was a 24-item scale that assessed
ethnic and
gender-related occupational and educational barriers. Because
the present
study assessed career choice goals, only those items of the POB
that
measured participants’ job-related barriers were included. Eight
items,
which assessed anticipated future gender and ethnic
discrimination in the
workplace, were used for this study. Individuals responded to
the items
using a scale ranging from strongly agree (1) to strongly
disagree (5).
Scale scores were derived by averaging the responses. High
scores re-
flected low anticipation of gender or ethnic discrimination in a
career.
McWhirter (1997) reported an alpha coefficient of .89 for the
job
discrimination items, and a reliability estimate of .91 was
obtained with the
present sample. Construct validity was supported when
McWhirter (1997)
found significant differences in anticipated job discrimination
between
Mexican American and European American students, boys and

girls, and
Mexican American girls and European American girls in the
expected
directions.
Career choice prestige and traditionality. Participants were
asked to
list their top three career choices. The traditionality rating of
the top career
choice was obtained with the same procedure for mothers’
occupational
traditionality.
Career choice prestige was determined on the basis of Stevens
and
Featherman’s (1981) socioeconomic index of occupational
status. Scores
ranged from 13 to 89, with high scores indicating prestigious
careers. This
indicator of career choice has been used in previous studies of
women’s
and racial/ethnic minorities’ career development (O’Brien,
1996; O’Brien
& Fassinger, 1993; O’Brien et al., 2000; Tang et al., 1999).
Career aspiration. The Career Aspiration Scale (CAS; O’Brien,
1992)
contained 10 items that assessed participants’ goals and plans
within their
career field. Example items included “I plan on developing as
an expert in
my career field” and “I do not plan on devoting energy in
getting promoted
in the organization or business I am working in.” Participants
indicated
whether the items applied to them by using a 5-point scale

ranging from not
at all true of me (0) to very true of me (4). Scale scores were
derived by
calculating the mean score for the items. High scores indicated
strong
aspirations in one’s career pursuits.
Internal consistency of the CAS has been reported as .76
(O’Brien &
Fassinger, 1993) with female high school students and .77
(Dukstein &
O’Brien, 1994) and .80 (Nauta, Epperson, & Kahn, 1998) with
female
undergraduate students. In the present study, a reliability
coefficient of .61
was obtained. Convergent validity for the CAS was supported
by relations
with multiple role self-efficacy, career decision-making self-
efficacy, and
career salience (O’Brien, Gray, Tourajdi, & Eigenbrode, 1996).
Discrimi-
nant validity was demonstrated through the absence of relations
between
the CAS and social desirability, as well as a negative relation
between the
CAS and a measure of the relative importance of career versus
family
(O’Brien et al., 1996).
Demographic information. A demographic information survey
was

included to obtain age, gender, race/ethnicity, grade level,
number of
people living at home, family income, plans following high
school grad-
uation, parents’ level of education, and parents’ occupations. If
participants
were planning to continue their education following high
school, informa-
tion regarding their major of study, choice of college/university
to attend,
sources of financial support for education, and reasons for
choosing the
college/university was obtained.
Results
The means, standard deviations, ranges, and reliability coeffi-
cients for each of the measured variables, along with a
correlation
matrix, are presented for the full sample in Table 1.
Model Predicting Mexican American Adolescent Women’s
Career Choice Prestige
The original sample of 364 Mexican American young women
was randomly split into two samples. A sample consisting of
262
women was used to test the original models, and a validation
sample consisting of 102 women was set aside for confirmation
purposes in the case that any of the models were revised. A path
analysis was conducted using the EQS (Version 5.7) statistical
package (Bentler & Wu, 1995).
The hypothesized model predicting career choice prestige tested
the paths from acculturation level, feminist attitudes, mothers’
educational level, and mothers’ occupational traditionality to

non-
traditional career self-efficacy; nontraditional career self-
efficacy
to nontraditional career interests; and nontraditional career self-
efficacy, nontraditional career interests, parental support, and
per-
ceived future barriers to career choice prestige. The exogenous
variables, which included the background and proximal
contextual
variables, in the model were allowed to covary.
Adequacy of model fit was determined by using a variety of
goodness-of-fit measures, including the chi-square test, the
com-
parative fit index (CFI), the goodness-of-fit index (GFI), the
root-
mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA), and the
standard-
ized root-mean-squared residual (SRMR). The CFI and RMSEA
goodness-of-fit measures are preferred indexes by which to
assess
model fit (Loehlin, 1998).
If a model provides adequate fit, a small chi-square value and a
nonsignificant p value are expected. Values for the CFI and GFI
indexes range from 0 to 1; models with values above .90 have
traditionally been considered models with good fit (Loehlin,
1998); however, values of .95 and higher are suggested today as
the baseline to assess model fit. Models with RMSEA and
SRMR
values around or below .05 (“close fit”) are considered
acceptable
models (Loehlin, 1998). To further test the adequacy of the
model,
Hu and Bentler (1999) recommended joint criteria to minimize

the
dual threats of rejecting the right model and retaining the wrong
model. Specifically, a model can be retained if the CFI is .96
and
the SRMR is �.10, or the RMSEA is �.06 and SRMR is �.10.
See Table 2 for a summary of the goodness-of-fit indices for the
career prestige model.
The chi-square statistic for the model predicting career choice
prestige was significant, suggesting a poor fit. However, given
that
the chi-square statistic is overly stringent in its evaluation of
exact
fit (Quintana & Maxwell, 1999), other indexes were studied.
Examination of the CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR indexes implied
that
the data fit the model poorly, indicating that the fit between the
data and model could be improved. Thus, the model was
rejected.
We attempted to identify modifications to the model to improve
the fit of the model and followed the suggestions of MacCallum,
Roznowski, and Necowitz (1992) that changes be made only
when
they are theoretically meaningful. The Lagrange multiplier test
suggested that the model could be improved by adding paths
from
acculturation level and feminist attitudes to career choice
prestige.
The influence of acculturation level on career choice prestige
was
consistent with prior research, which indicated that among
racial/
Table 1
Means, Standard Deviations, Ranges, Reliability Coefficients,

and Correlations Among the Measured Variables
Variable M SD Range � 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
1. Acculturation level 2.42 0.93 1–5 —
2. Attitudes toward feminism 3.43 0.43 1–5 .68 .15* —
3. Mothers’ level of education 2.65 1.37 1–6 �.47* �.13* —
4. Mothers’ occupational
traditionality
85.08 17.31 16–99 .09 .09 �.21* —
5. Nontraditional career
self-efficacy
1.75 0.68 1–4 .81 .03 .07 �.04 �.01 —
6. Nontraditional career interests 1.45 0.43 1–3 .74 .05 .12*
�.12* .05 .59* —
7. Career choice traditionality 56.58 27.02 6–99 .23* .15*
�.17* .12* �.18* �.12* —
8. Career choice prestige 64.43 18.59 13–89 �.17* �.01 .16*
�.11 .09 �.01 �.44* —
9. Career aspiration 2.48 0.53 0–4 .61 .11* .31* �.12 .01 .10*
.12* .02 �.05 —
10. Parental support 4.16 0.72 1–5 .76 �.09 .03 .14* �.02 �.09
�.08 �.03 .13* .13* —
11. Perceived occupational barriers 3.97 0.81 1–5 .91 .05 .04
.06 �.01 �.07 �.12* .07 �.11 �.03 .12* —
Note. Statistics are reported for the full sample of 364 Mexican
American adolescent women.
* p � .05.

ethnic minorities in the United States, levels of acculturation
can
directly and indirectly influence career choice and career expec-
tations (Leong & Chou, 1994; McWhirter et al., 1998; Tang et
al.,
1999). Adding the path from feminist attitudes to career choice
prestige was justified on the basis of prior research that
supported
the relation between feminist attitudes (Fassinger, 1990;
O’Brien
& Fassinger, 1993) and career outcomes, such as educational
achievement or career choices.
The model was rerun with these changes, and the fit indexes
indicated a superior fit to the data (see Table 2 for a summary
of
the fit indexes for the initial and revised model predicting
career
choice prestige). Comparing the chi-square statistic for the
initial
and the revised models allows a determination of whether the
modifications resulted in significant improvement in the
model’s
fit (Quintana & Maxwell, 1999). The revised model was a
signif-
icant improvement over the initial model, �2 difference(2, N �
262) � 39.94, p � .01.
Because revisions were made to the original model and because
modifications were based on data from the calibration sample, it
was necessary to validate the revised model using the second
sample. The modified model was run with the validation
sample,

and the fit indexes with this group were satisfactory (see Table
2).
To determine whether the corresponding paths had the same
values
across both groups, we performed a multiple group analysis
with
Group 1 as the calibration sample (n � 262) and Group 2 as the
validation sample (n � 102). This analysis runs the model
simul-
taneously for both groups and follows a two-step procedure.
First,
the revised model was tested and the path values were estimated
for each group. Next, we tested the revised model again with all
paths constrained to have equal values across both groups. A
comparison of the chi-square statistic for the multiple group
anal-
ysis with no constraints and the multiple group analysis with
constraints determines whether these models were significantly
different. If the chi-square difference between the constrained
and
nonconstrained models is significant, the path coefficients
differ
across samples. The model predicting career prestige resulted in
a
nonsignificant chi-square value, �2(11, N � 364) � 24.95, p �
.05, indicating that the paths values were not significantly
different
across the two groups. Thus, the modified model was replicated
satisfactorily with the two samples of Mexican American
adoles-
cent women, providing support for the revised model. Table 3
presents the results of the multigroup comparisons for the model
predicting career choice prestige.
The next step involved running the revised model using the

combined sample of 364 Mexican American adolescent women
given that the model was replicated for both groups. See Table
2
for a summary of the fit indexes. The squared multiple
correlation
coefficient (R2) was obtained by squaring the residual
coefficient
of the criterion variable and subtracting that value by 1. The R2
for
the model of career prestige indicated that 8% of the variance in
career choice prestige was accounted for by acculturation level,
feminist attitudes, nontraditional career self-efficacy, nontradi-
tional career interests, parental support, and perception of
future
barriers. See Figure 2 for the revised model predicting Mexican
American girls’ career choice prestige.
Career Choice Traditionality
The hypothesized model predicting career choice traditionality
tested the same paths identified in the career prestige model,
Table 2
Summary of Model-Fit Statistics
Model �2 df p CFI GFI RMSEA 90% CI for RMSEA SRMR
Hypothesized career choice prestige modela 50.28 12 �.01 .84
.96 .11 (0.080, 0.143) .07
Revised career choice prestige modela 10.34 10 .41 .99 .99 .01
(0.000, 0.069) .03
Revised career choice prestige modelb 13.31 10 .21 .96 .97 .06
(0.000, 0.129) .05
Revised career choice prestige modelc 19.14 10 .04 .97 .99 .05
(0.011, 0.084) .04

Hypothesized career choice traditionality modela 36.35 12 �.01
.89 .97 .09 (0.056, 0.122) .06
Revised career choice traditionality modela 11.31 10 .33 .99 .99
.02 (0.000, 0.073) .03
Revised career choice traditionality modelb 13.48 10 .20 .96 .97
.06 (0.000, 0.130) .05
Revised career choice traditionality modelc 18.92 10 .04 .97 .99
.05 (0.010, 0.083) .04
Hypothesized career aspiration modela 34.65 12 �.01 .89 .97
.09 (0.053, 0.119) .06
Revised career aspiration modela 11.36 11 .41 .99 .99 .01
(0.000, 0.066) .03
Revised career aspiration modelb 12.52 11 .33 .99 .97 .04
(0.000, 0.114) .05
Revised career aspiration modelc 18.47 11 .07 .98 .99 .04
(0.000, 0.076) .04
Note. CFI � comparative fit index; GFI � goodness-of-fit
index; RMSEA � root-mean-square error of approximation; CI
� confidence interval;
SRMR � standardized root-mean-squared residual.
a Calibration sample (n � 262). b Validation sample (n � 102).
c Full sample (n � 364 Mexican American girls).
Table 3
Summary of Multigroup Analyses Between Split Sample of
Mexican American Adolescent Women
Model �2 df
Career choice prestige model, no constraints 23.64 20
Career choice prestige model with constraints 48.59 31
Comparison of career choice prestige models 24.95* 11
Career choice traditionality model, no constraints 23.88 22
Career choice traditionality model with constraints 30.13 32
Comparison of career traditionality models 6.25* 10

Career aspiration model, no constraints 24.79 20
Career aspiration model with constraints 33.39 31
Comparison of career aspiration models 8.60* 11
Note. Significance test refers to chi-square difference tests
between con-
strained and nonconstrained models.
* p � .05.
except that career choice traditionality was used as the criterion
variable. The contextual variables in the model were allowed to
covary.
The chi-square statistic for the model predicting career choice
traditionality was significant, suggesting that the model demon-
strated poor fit. Examination of the CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR
implied a poor fit with the data; however, the GFI indicated an
adequate fit. On the basis of Hu and Bentler’s (1999) criteria,
the
model of career choice traditionality was rejected.
Again, attempts were made to identify modifications to the
model based on suggestions that were theoretically sound.
Adding
paths from acculturation level and feminist attitudes to career
choice traditionality were suggested by the Lagrange multiplier,
and these additions were justified on the basis of previous
research
(Fassinger, 1990; Leong & Chou, 1994; McWhirter et al., 1998;
O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993; Tang et al., 1999) that found
relations
among acculturation levels, feminist attitudes, and career

choice.
The model was rerun with the modifications and the fit indices
improved (see Table 2 for a summary of the fit indexes for the
initial and revised model predicting career choice
traditionality).
The values on the CFI and GFI exceeded .95, and the RMSEA
and
SRMR values were less than .05. Further, the revised model met
Hu and Bentler’s (1999) recommended criteria for model accep-
tance. The chi-square difference test indicated that the revised
model was a significant improvement over the initial model, �2
difference(2, N � 262) � 25.04, p � .01.
Consistent with the previous method of analysis, the revised
model predicting career choice traditionality was tested on the
validation sample. On the basis of the fit indexes (see Table 2),
the
revised model was supported with this sample. We performed a
multiple group analysis to determine if the path coefficients in
the
modified model predicting career choice traditionality could be
replicated in the second sample. The chi-square difference
between
the constrained and nonconstrained models resulted in a nonsig-
nificant chi-square value, �2(11, N � 364) � 6.25, p � .05,
indicating that the values for the paths were not significantly
different across the two groups. Thus, the revised model and the
corresponding path values were validated with the validation
sam-
ple. Table 3 presents the results of the multiple group
comparisons
for the model predicting career choice traditionality.

Because the model was replicated with an independent sample,
the calibration and validation samples were combined, and the
revised model was run using the full sample. See Table 2 for a
summary of the fit indexes. The squared multiple correlation
coefficient in the revised model of career traditionality
indicated
that 11% of the variance in career choice traditionality was ac-
counted for by acculturation level, feminist attitudes, nontradi-
tional career self-efficacy, nontraditional career interests,
parental
support, and perception of future barriers. See Figure 3 for the
revised model predicting Mexican American girls’ career choice
traditionality.
Career Aspiration
The hypothesized model predicting career aspiration tested the
same paths identified in the previous models, except that career
aspiration was used as the criterion variable. The exogenous
vari-
ables in the model were allowed to covary.
The chi-square statistic for the model predicting career aspira-
tions was significant, suggesting that the model demonstrated
poor
fit. Examination of the CFI, RMSEA, and SRMR fit indexes
indicated a poor fit with the data; however, the GFI indicated
adequate fit. By using Hu and Bentler’s (1999) criteria, the
original
model was rejected.
Respecifications to the model were suggested on the basis of the
Lagrange multiplier modification index. The addition of a path
from feminist attitudes to career aspiration was suggested and
was

supported by prior research (Fassinger, 1990; O’Brien & Fass-
inger, 1993).
Figure 2. Respecified model predicting Mexican American
adolescent women’s career choice prestige.
*p � .05.
The revised model was reestimated and the fit indices improved
(see Table 2 for a summary of the fit indexes for the initial and
revised model predicting career aspiration). Examination of the
chi-square differences between the two models indicated that
the
revised model was an improvement over the initial model, �2
difference(1, N � 262) � 23.29, p � .01.
The revised model was estimated on the validation sample, and
the fit indexes (see Table 2) suggested that this model
adequately
fit the data. We performed a multiple group analysis to
determine
if the path values in the modified model predicting career
aspira-
tion would generalize to other samples in the population. The
chi-square difference between the constrained and
nonconstrained
models resulted in a nonsignificant chi-square value, �2(11, N
�
364) � 8.60, p � .05, indicating that the values of the paths
were
not significantly different across the two groups. Thus, the
revised

model and the path coefficients were supported with the
validation
sample. Table 3 presents the results of the multiple group com-
parisons for the model predicting career aspiration.
Again, both of the samples were combined, and a path analysis
of the revised model was performed using the full sample. See
Table 2 for a summary of the fit indexes. The squared multiple
correlation coefficient for the model of career aspiration
indicated
that 13% of the variance in career aspiration was accounted for
by
feminist attitudes, nontraditional career self-efficacy, nontradi-
tional career interests, parental support, and perception of
future
barriers. See Figure 4 for the revised model predicting Mexican
American girls’ career aspiration.
There were no significant paths between the background con-
textual variables of acculturation level, feminist attitudes,
mothers’
educational level, mothers’ occupational traditionality, and non-
traditional career self-efficacy. Nontraditional career self-
efficacy
predicted nontraditional career interests in all models; however,
nontraditional career interests did not predict any of the three
criterion variables of career choice prestige, career choice tradi-
tionality, or career aspiration. Acculturation, nontraditional
career
self-efficacy, parental support, and perceived barriers had
signifi-
cant effects on career choice prestige. Acculturation level and
feminist attitudes had a significant positive effect, and nontradi-
tional career self-efficacy had a significant negative effect, on
choice of traditional careers, but parental support and perceived

barriers had no significant effects. Finally, higher parental
support
and higher levels of feminist attitudes were predictive of higher
levels of career aspiration. Nontraditional career self-efficacy
and
perceived barriers did not significantly predict Mexican
American
women’s career aspirations.
Descriptive Statistics
A wide range of careers, representing both traditional and non-
traditional occupational fields, were identified as potential
careers
for this sample. The top two occupations endorsed by these
women
were traditionally female occupations (teacher � 16% and
nurse � 11.3%). Eleven percent intended to be doctors, and
over
6% chose physical therapy as their future occupation. A total of
76
occupations were reported. (Contact Lisa Y. Flores for a
complete
list.)
Discussion
This study was the first to test the validity of SCCT (Lent et al.,
1994) in explaining the career-related goals of Mexican
American
adolescent women. Consistent with SCCT, nontraditional career
self-efficacy predicted nontraditional career interests. In
addition,
nontraditional career self-efficacy had a positive effect on
career
choice prestige and a negative effect on career choice

traditional-
ity. As hypothesized by Lent et al., the proximal contextual
vari-
ables of parental support and perceived future occupational
barri-
ers directly predicted career choice prestige, and parental
support
was predictive of career aspiration.
adolescent women’s career choice traditionality.
*p � .05.
However, several SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) propositions were
not supported by data from this sample of Mexican American
women. Specifically, relations did not emerge between the
back-
ground contextual variables (i.e., acculturation level, feminist
at-
titudes, mothers’ educational level, and mothers’ occupational
traditionality) and nontraditional career self-efficacy.
Interestingly,
nontraditional career interests did not exert an influence on any
of
the outcome variables tested in this study. Moreover, the
proximal
contextual variables did not influence career traditionality, and
nontraditional career self-efficacy did not predict career
aspiration.
Finally, although not posited by SCCT, adding paths from
acculturation level and feminist attitudes to career choice

prestige
and career choice traditionality were suggested based on the
data
and increased the amount of variance explained in each model.
Also, the addition of the path from feminist attitudes to career
aspiration improved the model explaining Mexican American
ad-
olescent women’s career aspirations.
Explication of potential reasons why several SCCT (Lent et al.,
1994) propositions were not replicated in this sample of
Mexican
American women seems warranted. First, support for the SCCT
hypotheses related to the formation of self-efficacy beliefs was
not
demonstrated by our models. Specifically, SCCT hypothesized
that background contextual variables would have an indirect
effect
on nontraditional career self-efficacy through learning
activities.
Although learning opportunities were not measured in this
study,
contextual factors would be expected to exert an influence on
career self-efficacy, assuming their relationship to learning
oppor-
tunities. However, acculturation level, feminist attitudes,
mothers’
educational attainment, and mothers’ career traditionality did
not
predict nontraditional career self-efficacy. These findings sug-
gested that other contextual variables, not assessed in the
present
study, may account for the variance in Mexican American wom-
en’s nontraditional career self-efficacy. Researchers might
inves-
tigate the contributions of related academic and social

experiences,
persuasion, and familial expectations in future models to
account
for the role of learning experiences in the development of
Mexican
American women’s nontraditional career self-efficacy.
With regard to acculturation and nontraditional self-efficacy,
previous research demonstrated a relation between these
variables
with another racial/ethnic minority group (Tang et al., 1999).
The
nonsignificant relation with this sample may be due to defining
acculturation level along a single continuum and the
distribution of
the sample, which was overwhelmingly bicultural (n � 237).
Future studies should conduct multisample analyses on the basis
of
acculturation level to determine if differences are present
among
nonacculturated, bicultural, and highly acculturated individuals.
Feminist attitudes also were not related to nontraditional career
self-efficacy, a finding that has been consistently reported in
samples of predominantly White women (O’Brien, 1996;
O’Brien
& Fassinger, 1993). It is possible that the lack of variability in
scores on the measure assessing feminist values made detecting
a
relation with career self-efficacy difficult. Alternatively,
feminist
beliefs may not be salient for this sample of Mexican American
women, perhaps demonstrated by mean scores in the mid-range
on
this instrument. At times, the feminist movement has been criti-

cized for focusing on the needs and values of White women
(Espin, 1994). It is possible that moderate beliefs about
feminism
combined with little variability in scores on this measure may
have
contributed to the lack of predictive validity of this variable
with
regard to confidence in pursuing nontraditional occupations.
In addition to acculturation and feminist attitudes not predicting
nontraditional career self-efficacy, mothers’ educational level
and
mothers’ career traditionality did not influence confidence in
pur-
suing nontraditional occupations. There may be other factors in
the
mother– daughter relationship that influence the strength of the
relation to nontraditional career self-efficacy. Indeed, O’Brien
et
al. (1996) found that high school girls’ relationships with their
mothers often included conflictual feelings. These feelings
could
affect mothers’ influence on their daughters’ career decision
mak-
ing. Future research studies should assess the quality of
mother–
adolescent women’s career aspirations. *p � .05.
daughter relationships to ascertain the predictive ability of
moth-

ers’ influence on daughters’ career self-efficacy. Alternatively,
these girls may have looked to their fathers for career role mod-
eling, a finding reported by O’Brien et al. (2000). Seeking other
family members for career role modeling may be common
among
Mexican American girls, especially because Mexican American
women tend to be employed in traditional career fields. Indeed,
over a third of this sample reported that their mothers were
homemakers. Thus, we suggest that future studies also assess
the
influence of additional role models beyond mothers, including
fathers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, siblings, and peers.
An additional SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) proposition that was not
supported was the hypothesized relation between nontraditional
career self-efficacy and career aspiration. Although
nontraditional
career self-efficacy appears to exert an influence on the types of
careers Mexican American adolescent women choose, this con-
struct did not contribute to their aspiration or goals within a
given
career. Programs that expose Mexican American women to non-
traditional careers and provide opportunities for increased self-
efficacy in performing tasks associated with nontraditional
occu-
pations could enhance the relation between self-efficacy and
aspiration and perhaps increase the number of Mexican
American
adolescent women who develop interests in and choose
nontradi-
tional, prestigious careers (see O’Brien, Dukstein, Jackson,
Tom-
linson, & Kamatuka, 1999, for an example of a career interven-
tion). Moreover, O’Brien and her colleagues suggested that
educational and career planning occur far in advance of
graduation

from high school. Indeed, prior research recommended the
imple-
mentation and evaluation of career-oriented workshops, classes,
or
summer programs with middle school and high school students
who are at risk for educational and vocational underachievement
(O’Brien et al., 1999; O’Brien et al., 2000). Fouad (1995) noted
the
need for such interventions to focus specifically on Hispanic
students. Programs that demystify the college experience,
improve
decision-making skills, and assist participants in learning about
themselves, colleges/universities, and careers could enhance
career
self-efficacy.
Also, the SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) proposition that career
interests influence career goals was not supported by our data; a
similar finding was reported with Asian American college
students
(Tang et al., 1999). For this sample of Mexican American
women,
factors other than interests, such as confidence in their abilities
to
carry out the duties of the career, had a stronger influence on
career
goals. Alternatively, it is possible that Mexican American
adoles-
cent women may not have the luxury of choosing a career based
on
their interests. If this finding is replicated in other samples, we
recommend that Lent et al. consider revising their proposition
to
reflect the lack of salience of interests in predicting the career
paths of women of color. Moreover, psychologists might recon-
sider the use of a traditional approach to career counseling with

Mexican American women, as other factors beyond matching
interests and careers may be stronger determinants to their
career
decisions. Counselors also need to assess if career choices are
consonant with interests, and if not, they should explore the
obstacles that may be preventing them from pursuing careers in
which they have interests.
Finally, modifications to the model suggested that acculturation
level significantly influenced the selection of nontraditional,
highly prestigious careers, and feminist attitudes was a
significant
predictor of career traditionality and career aspiration. Women
who were more oriented toward the Anglo culture tended to
choose less prestigious and more traditional careers. Also,
women
with higher levels of feminist attitudes were more likely to
choose
traditional careers and have higher career aspiration. These rela-
tions were contrary to prior research that suggested that
nontradi-
tional gender role attitudes were positively related to Mexican
American women’s educational and career choices (McWhirter
et
al., 1998; Valenzuela, 1993; Vasquez-Nuttal et al., 1987). One
possible explanation for these findings is that acculturated
women
may be aware of the sociopolitical atmosphere for women in
workplaces that are dominated by men and thus may choose to
avoid those careers. Results also indicated that women who as-
cribed to feminist beliefs were more likely to be goal oriented
within their chosen career. Indeed, O’Brien et al. (2000)
reported
this same phenomenon among a sample of White college women
and suggested that women may choose nontraditional, less

presti-
gious careers to balance personal and work demands, yet may
desire to achieve within their career. As such, it is reasonable to
expect that these adolescents may perceive more opportunities
for
advancement in traditional careers for women.
Several of Lent et al.’s (1994) propositions were supported by
our data. First, nontraditional career self-efficacy was found to
have a direct influence on Mexican American women’s
nontradi-
tional career interests, career prestige, and career traditionality.
As
nontraditional career self-efficacy increased, nontraditional
career
interests also increased. Furthermore, higher levels of nontradi-
tional career self-efficacy were related to the selection of
nontra-
ditional and prestigious careers. These findings support the
SCCT
propositions that people develop interests in areas in which they
have a strong sense of agency, and they select careers in which
they feel confident about their ability to complete the tasks nec-
essary for the career.
Second, results of the present study provided empirical support
for Lent et al.’s (1994) proposition that the presence of support
and
few perceived barriers has a positive effect on career goals.
Mex-
ican American adolescent women who perceived support from
their parents for their career pursuits and who anticipated fewer
barriers chose prestigious careers, and women who perceived
their
parents to be supportive of their career goals had stronger levels
of

career aspiration. This finding contradicts an earlier study that
found that perceptions of barriers were not predictive of the
career
expectations of Mexican American girls (McWhirter et al.,
1998)
and replicates those studies that found that emotional support
from
the family was predictive of educational plans and career expec-
tations (Gandara, 1982; Hernandez et al., 1994; Keith &
Lichtman,
1994; Ramos & Sanchez, 1995; Vasquez, 1982; Wycoff, 1996).
These findings suggest that Mexican American adolescent
women may choose highly prestigious careers on the basis of
the
approval of others or their family obligations. Indeed, with the
exception of feminist attitudes, parental support contributed
more
to the prediction of Mexican American women’s selection of
prestigious careers than any other variable assessed in this
study.
These findings are important given the emphasis placed on the
family unit in the Mexican American culture and are consistent
with vocational decision-making behaviors among Asian Ameri-
cans, a group who similarly place a high value on family (Leong
& Gim, 1995; Leong & Serafica, 1995). Mexican American
women from traditional families may not have the support to
pursue nontraditional educational and vocational aspirations if
they conflict with cultural norms and family expectations.
Coun-
selors should address these factors when working with Mexican

American women.
These findings highlight the salience of addressing cultural
and familial expectations when providing career counseling to
Mexican American women. Furthermore, counseling psychol-
ogists should be encouraged to develop innovative career in-
tervention programs for Mexican American adolescents that
involve parents and other family members. Parental involve-
ment in vocational interventions could facilitate the lines of
communication between children and their parents about career
development and job requirements, which could assist students
in planning for their future. Moreover, parents and children
could clarify the expectations and dreams that each holds re-
garding educational and career attainment. Researching the
effectiveness of these programs in students’ educational and
career planning is strongly recommended.
The importance of family also was reflected in the educational
goals of these young women. Most of the participants who
planned
to continue their education beyond high school indicated that
they
would enroll in the local 2-year community college or 4-year
state
university. Indeed, students reported that the proximity of the
college/university to home was one of the most important
factors
in choosing a college/university. Remaining geographically
close
to their families while attending college seems to be a salient
consideration in the educational planning of Mexican American
women. It is unknown, however, whether these young women
choose to stay close to home because of familial expectations or
personal preferences. It is also unclear whether this choice pro-
vides needed support to pursue their educational and career
aspi-

rations or if their future opportunities are limited by this
decision.
Research is needed to understand how attending college in the
same hometown facilitates or hinders attrition and graduation
rates
as well as the career orientation of Mexican American women.
Future researchers should also consider incorporating additional
variables not included in the SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) model of
career choice given that the hypothesized models only
accounted
for 8%, 11%, and 13% of the variance in the prediction of
prestige,
traditionality, and career aspiration, respectively. Because the
proximal contextual variable of support contributed to Mexican
American women’s career choice prestige and career
aspirations,
consideration of other contextual variables that may contribute
to
their career goals is warranted. Indeed, analyses revealed that
the
background contextual variables of acculturation level and
femi-
nist attitudes have a direct influence on the prestige level and
traditionality of Mexican American women’s career choices that
are not represented in Lent et al.’s proposed model.
Furthermore,
environmental factors related to the school (i.e., vocational
guid-
ance programs in the school) are not included in Lent et al.’s
model
but should be investigated.
The reliability estimates for the scales used to assess feminist
attitudes and career aspiration were relatively low, and thus, the
findings related to these constructs should be interpreted with

caution. For example, it is possible that significant path coeffi-
cients may emerge in the career aspiration model with a more
reliable scale. Given the paucity of research with Mexican
Amer-
icans, future studies should attempt to improve on the
psychomet-
ric properties of the measures used in this study and to develop
new instruments for use in research with this population. Addi-
tional testing of the revised model with several samples of Mex-
ican American women is necessary to determine if these results
can be generalized. Research is also needed to evaluate the
validity
of Lent et al.’s (1994) model with Mexican American boys and
men.
As noted earlier, only a modest amount of variance in the
criterion variables was accounted for by the social cognitive and
contextual variables assessed in this study. Additional variables
that may contribute to career goals should be considered in
future
studies with Mexican American women. For example,
researchers
have suggested that socioeconomic status and student ability
may
be important variables to assess among Mexican Americans and
female participants (e.g., Fassinger, 1990; Lauver & Jones,
1991;
McWhirter et al., 1998). Moreover, given that teen pregnancy
and
marriage occur with some frequency in this population,
assessing
pregnancy and marriage rates at this age could provide data re-
garding how these events affect the educational and career aspi-
rations of young women. Relatedly, although this study included
an assessment of several environmental influences on women’s

career development, the focus was on individual variables.
Addi-
tional research is needed to investigate the ways in which the
social environment limits the educational and occupational
oppor-
tunities of Mexican American women.
Finally, a longitudinal study that assesses the career orientation
of Mexican American women at periodic intervals following
high
school graduation is recommended. Such a study would provide
information regarding the factors that affect the vocational
devel-
opment of Mexican American women over the course of their
lives. A longitudinal study would also provide useful
information
regarding the factors that contribute to college graduation
among
Mexican American women. Future studies could investigate the
barriers encountered by students who do not complete college
and
explore the characteristics shared by those who successfully
com-
plete college. Counseling psychologists could then develop
empir-
ically based interventions to optimize success in college.
In conclusion, the results of this study advanced knowledge
regarding the explanatory power and limitations of SCCT (Lent
et
al., 1994) in describing the career development of Mexican
Amer-
ican adolescent women. Because Mexican American women are
largely underrepresented in higher education and in
nontraditional,
high-prestige occupations, investigating their educational and

ca-
reer aspirations at a critical decision-making time of their lives
(in
their senior year of high school) seems critically important.
Such
information could inform counseling interventions aimed at this
population to enable Mexican American women to pursue aca-
demic and career opportunities that correspond with their ability
and maximize their potential for educational and vocational
success.
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Received February 2, 2000
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Accepted March 21, 2001 �

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