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Owner: Elisabeth Graf
Owner Email: elisabeth2.graf@tu-dortmund.de
Paper Title: Domain-Specific Career Aspirations, Motivation, and Achievement in Math and Reading Across Adolescence (Poster 26)
Session Title: Motivation, Emotion, and Engagement Across Contexts
Paper Type: Poster Presentation
Presentation Date: 4/23/2025
Presentation Location: Denver, CO
Descriptors: Career Development, Motivation, Self-Concept
Methodology: Quantitative
Author(s): Elisabeth Graf, TU Dortmund University; Joerg-Tobias Kuhn, TU Dortmund University; Nele McElvany, TU Dortmund University
Unit: Division C - Learning and Instruction
Abstract: Based on expectancy-value and dimensional comparison theory, domain-specific motivational beliefs (e.g., self-concept) are important predictors of adolescents’ career aspirations. However, we know relatively little about how domain-specific career aspirations evolve across adolescence, and whether they predict future domain-specific motivation. This study used longitudinal data from Germany (N=8,289) to evaluate the stability, trajectories, and predictors for math- and reading-related career aspirations. Further, we investigated whether within- and cross-domain associations to self-concept and motivation change over time, as well as if career aspirations predict future self-concept and motivation. We observed increasing stability and importance levels of math- and reading-related career aspirations. We found longitudinal within- and cross-domain effects mainly for the reading domain, and discuss implications for career orientation.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3102/2185935