Self-Authorship and Women's Career Decision Making

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TR Number

Date

2005

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Johns Hopkins Univ Press

Abstract

Current career literature provides little insight into how women interpret career-relevant experiences, advice, or information, particularly when it is contradictory. This paper uses findings from interviews with 40 college women to provide empirical confirmation for the link between self-authorship and career decision making. Findings underscore the role of inter-connectivity in women's decision making, particularly involving parents, and distinguish ways that this can reflect self-authorship. Self-authorship provides the theoretical framework to understand how students respond to career advice and suggests that students may reject career advice when it requires the cognitive complexity to engage diverse viewpoints. Findings endorse educational activities that require students to juggle competing knowledge claims to make complex decisions.

Description

Keywords

efficacy expectations, gender differences, college-students, science majors, choice, options, Performance, attitude, school, life

Citation

Creamer, Elizabeth G.; Laughlin, Anne (2005). Self-Authorship and Women's Career Decision Making. Journal of College Student Development 46(1), 13-27. doi: 10.1353/csd.2005.0002