A CAUSAL MODEL OF THE CAREER ORIENTATION AND CAREER CHOICE OF ADOLESCENT WOMEN

The present study expanded on R. E. Fassinger's (1990) model of career choice in college women by testing 2 causal models of career choice and orientation with high school women. Ss were 409 adolescent women enrolled in their last year of high school in an all-female private liberal arts high school in a large midwestern city. Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that the career orientation and career choice of adolescent women were predicted by ability, agentic characteristics, gender role attitudes, and relationship with mother. Young women who possessed liberal gender role attitudes, were instrumental and efficacious with regard to math and careers, and exhibited moderate degrees of attachment and independence from their mothers valued their career pursuits. Adolescent women who selected nontraditional and prestigious careers showed high ability and strong agentic characteristics.