Career development, for most people, is a lifelong process of engaging the work world through

choosing among employment opportunities made available to them. Each individual undertaking
the process is influenced by many factors, including the context in which they live, their personal
aptitudes, and educational attainment (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001).
A major turning point in adolescents' lives involves the career choice that they make while in
high school and the other turning point is when to switch on to post graduate degrees. Frequently,
it is viewed by family and community as a mere start to workplace readiness; however, this
decision plays a major role in establishing youth in a career path that opens as well as closes
opportunities.
Young adults or graduates, through interaction with the context of family, school, and
community, learn about and explore careers that ultimately lead to career choice. The
interdependence of family, friends, and community culture played a critical role in shaping the
youth's occupational choice. The economic and social circumstances of the broader community
colored and influenced the youth's perceptions of appropriate career choices.
Youth in communities of more affluence appeared to have more family and school support in
career exploration, which resulted in consideration of a wider range of career options. Parents,
followed by other family members, provided valuable learning experiences through their own
role models and supporting activities that assisted in exploring career interests. Work-bound
youth's parents frequently taught skills that provided youth with a broader understanding of their
own aptitudes contributing to career choice. "My Dad works on big Caterpiller transmissions,
and some my uncles do that kind of work. We would work together, and, you know, I learned a
lot from him, how to do anything. This is why I'm a Diesel-Teck major."

Different Social and Economic Contextual Factors

College-bound and work-bound young adults are influenced by vastly different social and
economic contextual factors in their pursuit of markedly different occupational paths while
transitioning from school to work. College-bound and work-bound youth exist side-by-side in
high school, but face the transition to the workplace in different time frames and with different
expectations for career opportunities available to them.
College-bound youth had career trajectories that were future oriented, with the first step being
college participation. "College gives me a chance to test out what I want to do. I can always
switch majors. It's most important to graduate."
Work-bound youth, high school and applied college, occupational goals were identified by a
specific type of employment that drove their skill development and educational attainment. "I
had to know what I was going to do when I get out to choose a major for training. I knew what I
was good at, so I choose welding." The transition for work-bound youth was more direct and

dependent upon gaining employment that quickly shifted their roles from adolescent to adult,
binding them to adult career expectations.

"Ideal Job"

The career choice that young adults make is embedded in their perceptions of the "ideal job" and
their career decision-making maturity. Occupational choice is not a mere matching process;
rather, it is a choice made in a context of many influencing factors. The perception of the "ideal
job" acts as a filter for job appropriateness and influences the choice process. "I think, like you
have an idea of what the perfect job is in your head, exactly what you want to get up and go do
everyday."
Initial career decision-making is a cultural, developmental task that adolescents are expected to
have accomplished by the end of their high school year (Super, Savicks, & Super, 1996). Within
surveyed high schools, a wide range of difference existed in career choice maturity. In the most
affluent schools, career decisions had been made, and students were preparing to enter college or
advanced training. In the lower income schools, the lack of career decision-making was the
norm.
The lack of family involvement in the career choice process appeared to be influencing these
youth inability to make decisions. In these groups, youth perceived it was not their family's role
to assist with their decision-making process. "We don't talk about it at home. Besides it's up to
school to help me figure this out." It appeared that both the youth and their families were taking a
passive role in making a future career decision and implementing a plan of action to achieve it.