Advancing the Assessment of Women's Career Choices: The Career Aspiration Scale

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2007 15: 317Journal of Career AssessmentMichael P. Gray and Karen M. O'Brien

Advancing the Assessment of Women's Career Choices: The Career Aspiration Scale

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Advancing the Assessment of Women’s Career Choices: The Career Aspiration Scale

Michael P. GrayIntercommunity Action, Inc., Philadelphia, PA

Karen M. O’BrienUniversity of Maryland, College Park

The results of five studies illustrated sound psychometric properties of the CASwhen used with adolescent, college, and postcollege samples comprised predomi-nantly of White women. The final eight-item measure demonstrated strong test-retest reliability over a 2-week period and evidenced moderate internal consistency.Convergent validity was supported by correlations with measures of career decisionself-efficacy, multiple role self-efficacy, occupational self-efficacy, attitudes towardwomen’s roles, instrumentality, and relative importance of career versus family.Discriminant validity was demonstrated through the absence of relations betweenthe CAS total score and measures of attachment to parents. Finally, a two-factorsolution consisting of the Leadership and Achievement Aspirations Scale and theEducational Aspirations Scale accounted for substantial variance in career aspira-tion among samples of mostly White women.

Keywords: career aspiration, career assessment, women’s career develop-ment, women’s career goals

The measurement of women’s career choices has evolved over time to addressthe changing roles and increasing number of women in the labor force. Originally,women’s career choices were studied dichotomously, as either having a homemak-ing or a career orientation (Betz & Fitzgerald, 1987). More recently, women’scareer choices were examined in terms of the degree of career versus family orien-tation, traditional versus nontraditional career choice, and prestigious versus non-prestigious occupational selection (Fassinger, 1990; O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993).

317

The authors express their appreciation to Shawn P. Eigenbrode and Pegah P. Tourajdi for their assistance with datacollection, entry, and analysis. Much gratitude is extended to Rebecca D. Dukstein and Lisa Y. Flores for sharingtheir data sets with us. Please address correspondence to Michael P. Gray, Intercommunity Action, Inc., 6122Ridge Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19128; e-mail: [email protected].

JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT, Vol. 15 No. 3, August 2007 317–337DOI: 10.1177/1069072707301211© 2007 Sage Publications

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These distinctions may be less relevant and too ambiguous at present, as manywomen balance career and family, and some women aspire to leadership roleswhile employed in traditional and nonprestigious careers. This study sought toadvance the study of women’s career development by investigating the psychome-tric properties of a measure of career aspiration.

Historically, career aspiration referred to an individual’s desire to select a specific career (e.g., aspiration to be a lawyer or a photographer; Farmer, 1985;Harmon, 1984; Nauta, Epperson, & Kahn, 1998). Instruments measuring this con-struct assessed the degree of commitment to a given career, and the career choicelisted often was coded according to degree of traditionality (occupations in whicha high percentage of women are employed) and prestige (the socioeconomic sta-tus associated with the occupation). Problems emerged when researchers assumedthat women who entered traditional or less prestigious careers were less achieve-ment oriented than their counterparts who pursued male-dominated occupations.For example, a woman may select a traditional, less prestigious occupation (nurs-ing) and aspire to leadership within this field, for example, performing medicalresearch, training advanced nursing students, or managing an intensive care unit.Alternatively, a woman may elect to be a physician and work few hours so she canfocus on raising her children rather than advancing in her career.

Not surprisingly, the traditional versus nontraditional or prestigious versusnonprestigious variables employed in investigations of women’s career develop-ment often failed to relate to critical career constructs, resulting in confusionabout the importance of aspiration in women’s vocational behaviors. In 1996,O’Brien articulated the need to move beyond traditional measures of careerchoice. She redefined career aspiration as the degree to which women aspire toleadership positions and continued education within their careers, and shedeveloped the Career Aspiration Scale (CAS) to measure this construct.

The utility of the proposed redefinition of career aspiration has been sup-ported by the use of the CAS in several published studies (Nauta et al., 1998;O’Brien, 1996; O’Brien & Fassinger, 1993; Rainey & Borders, 1997). Nauta et al.(1998), in a multiple group analysis of predictors of higher level career aspirationsamong women in mathematics, science, and engineering majors, employed theCAS to operationalize higher level career aspirations. Similarly, Rainey andBorders (1997) incorporated the CAS in their exploration of influential factors incareer orientation and career aspiration of early adolescent girls. However, theseresearchers utilized the CAS with minimal support for the reliability and validityof this measure.

The present investigation consisted of five studies: four that investigated thefactor structure, reliability, and validity of the CAS, and one study that examinedtest-retest reliability. The first study used mostly White college women and thesecond study examined predominantly White adolescent women. The partici-pants in the third study were a sample of postcollege women who had beeninvolved in Study 2 five years earlier. The fourth study collected data fromMexican American adolescent females. The final study used data from predom-inantly White college females.

318 JOURNAL OF CAREER ASSESSMENT / August 2007



STUDY 1: SCALE DEVELOPMENT, EXPLORATORY FACTORANALYSES, AND INITIAL RELIABILITY AND VALIDITYESTIMATES WITH COLLEGE WOMEN

The CAS was developed by O’Brien (1996). An examination of the literaturerevealed that individuals who aspired to advance within their careers often pur-sued opportunities for leadership and promotion, and they were selected to trainor supervise newer employees. Moreover, advancement within specific careersoften required that workers obtain additional training or education to prepare forincreased work responsibilities. Thus, O’Brien proposed that a measure of careeraspiration should include the three themes that emerged in the literature: (1)aspiring to leadership and promotions, (2) training and managing others, and (3)pursuing further education. Ten items were written to reflect these themes withseveral items worded in the reverse direction to guard against a positive responseset. Two counseling psychologists and two educational psychologists reviewedthe items and provided feedback, which was used to revise the measure.

The purpose of Study 1 was to collect preliminary data regarding the factor struc-ture and reliability and validity estimates of the CAS with a sample of collegewomen. We hypothesized that the instrument would evidence adequate reliabilityand that support for validity would be demonstrated through positive relationsbetween scores on the CAS and measures of attitudes toward women’s roles andmultiple role self-efficacy. That is, we expected that women who aspired to advance-ment in their careers would display liberal attitudes regarding women’s roles andconfidence in managing the multiple roles of worker, parent, and partner. The CASand a measure of relative importance of career versus family were hypothesized torelate negatively as women who aspire to advancement within their careers wereexpected to greatly value career pursuits.

MethodParticipants

A total of 228 college females from a midwestern university participated in thisstudy. Forty-eight percent were juniors and 52% were seniors, with a mean age of21.85 (SD = 3.2). Most of the participants were single (90%), and White (88%),with little Asian American (4%), African American (3%), and Native Americanand Hispanic (2%) participation.

Procedure

The CAS was administered as part of Dukstein and O’Brien’s (1995) investi-gation of multiple role self-efficacy among college women. Survey packets weredistributed during class periods, residence hall and sorority meetings, andthrough individual contacts. In all, 341 packets were distributed with 228 ques-tionnaires returned fully completed (67% return rate).

Gray, O’Brien / THE CAREER ASPIRATION SCALE 319



Instruments

Career aspiration. The CAS is comprised of 10 items on a 5-point Likert-typescale (see appendix). Participants indicated how true each statement was for themon a scale ranging from not at all true of me (0) to very true of me (4). Four itemswere reverse scored, and items were summed to obtain a total score, with a higherscore indicating greater aspiration within a given career.

Attitudes toward women’s roles. The Attitudes Toward Women’s Roles Scale, amodified version of the Attitudes Toward Women Scale (Spence & Heimreich,1972) was used in this study. Fassinger (1990) revised the original scale to consistof 20 items investigating attitudes about romantic relationships, family responsibil-ities, independence, and women’s vocational, intellectual, and educational roles insociety. An example item reads, “Women should take increasing responsibility forleadership in solving the intellectual and social problems of the day.” Participantsresponded to each statement on a scale from strongly disagree (0) to strongly agree(3). Several items were reverse scored and a total score was calculated by addingthe scores on all of the items. High scores indicated liberal attitudes towardwomen’s roles.

O’Brien and Fassinger (1993) reported an adequate internal consistency relia-bility estimate of .85. Support for validity was demonstrated by relations in theexpected direction with measures of gender role attitudes (O’Brien & Fassinger,1993).

Multiple role self-efficacy. Multiple role self-efficacy expectations were assessedusing the Modified Self-Efficacy Expectations for Role Management, adapted fromthe Leftcourt and Harmon (1993) Self-Efficacy for Role Management (SEERM)measure. Four of the seven SEERM scales, which assessed efficacy in a particularrole (e.g., parent role, worker and caretaker role, self role, and spouse/partner role),were selected. The SEERM scale construction was in progress at the time of thestudy; thus, 73 items were chosen based on exploratory factor analyses and hypoth-esized contributions to the scales of interest.

Participants indicated their confidence in managing roles on a 10-point Likert-typescale ranging from no confidence (0) to complete confidence (9). An example itemreads, “Succeed in my career, maintain a good relationship with my spouse/partner,successfully raise my children, and meet my own personal needs.” Items weresummed to compute a total score, with high scores indicative of confidence in man-aging the multiple tasks of worker, parent, and partner.

Internal reliability estimates ranged from .83 to .93 (Dukstein & O’Brien,1995). Initial test-retest reliability estimates (Leftcourt & Harmon, 1993) also pro-vided support for the reliability of the SEERM scales (ranging from .70 to .80).

Relative importance of career versus family. A single item was used to assess therelative importance of career versus family (Fassinger, 1990; Richardson, 1974).




Participants selected one of five statements that indicated their beliefs about therelative importance of career versus family (i.e., “career pursuits are far moreimportant than family pursuits,” “career pursuits and family pursuits are equallyimportant,” and “family pursuits are far more important than career pursuits”).Each statement was assigned a score from 1 to 5, with higher scores indicatinggreater value for family pursuits over career pursuits. Support for validity has beendemonstrated by relations in the expected direction with this measure and careerorientation (Fassinger, 1990).

Results

The means, standard deviations, reliabilities, and correlation matrix for themeasures are reported in Table 1. A principal components exploratory factoranalysis of the CAS was performed via a direct oblimin rotation (given that thefactors were hypothesized to be correlated because of the common underlyingconstruct and shared method variance). This analysis resulted in three factorswith eigenvalues greater than 1.00 that accounted for 64% of the variance. Afterexamination of the scree plot, factor solutions ranging from one to three factorswere studied. The two-factor solution accounted for 53% of the variance in the10 items and provided the best approximation of simple structure consistent withthe hypothesized factor structure. One item (Item 3) that loaded less than .40 onany factor was eliminated, and the factor analysis was rerun. The analysis of theremaining 9 items indicated that Item 8 loaded greater than .30 on both factors.This item was deleted and the final scale consisted of 8 items. The two-factorsolution accounted for 62% of the variance in the scale, and item-total correla-tions ranged from .29 to .65 (see Table 2).

The first factor, Leadership and Achievement Aspirations, was composed of sixitems with factor loadings ranging from .79 to .63. This factor assessed intentions


Table 1Bivariate Correlations, Internal Consistency Estimates, Means, and

Standard Deviations for Study 1 Scales

Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6

1. Career aspiration 1.002. Leadership aspiration .92 1.003. Educational aspiration .57 .20 1.004. Multiple role self-efficacy .26 .28 .07 1.005. Importance of career versus family −.26 −.22 −.21 −.01 1.006. Attitudes toward women’s roles .36 .30 .28 .21 −.31 1.00Scale alpha .77 .82 .76 .97 — .82M of scale 26.42 19.92 6.50 508.67 3.44 70.88SD of scale 4.95 4.15 1.99 68.41 .80 6.65

Note. The level of confidence for coefficients ≥ .20 is at least <.01.



to obtain promotions, manage and train others, and be recognized as a leader inone’s field. The second factor, Educational Aspirations, was composed of two itemswith factor loadings of .90 and .89. This factor assessed plans to continue one’s edu-cation in one’s field.

The following internal consistency reliability estimates were calculated for therevised instrument: CAS, .77; Leadership and Achievement Aspirations, .82; andEducational Aspirations, .76. Correlation analyses revealed the expected positivecorrelations between the CAS and measures of attitudes toward women’s rolesand multiple role self-efficacy. The expected negative correlations emergedbetween scales of the CAS and the relative importance of career versus family.Small to strong positive relationships were noted among the CAS total scale andsubscales.


Table 2Career Aspiration Scale (CAS) Items and Factor

Loadings for Studies 1, 2, and 3

Factor Loadings

Study 1 Study 2 Study 3

CAS Items Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 1 Factor 2

1. I hope to become a leader in .77 .13 .72 .13 .70 .17my career field.

2. When I am established in my .79 −.20 .83 −.13 .82 −.18career, I would like to manage other employees.

4. I do not plan on devoting energy .63 .20 .43 .18 .40 .18to getting promoted in the organization or business I am working in.

5. When I am established in .66 −.20 .54 −.21 .67 −.13my career, I would like to train others.

6. I hope to move up through .78 .06 .61 .18 .81 −.03any organization or business I work in.

10. Attaining leadership status in .74 .13 .68 .03 .62 .25my career is not that important to me.

7. Once I finish the basic level .02 .90 −.11 .88 −.13 .87of education needed for a particular job, I see no need to continue in school.

9. I think I would like to pursue .02 .89 .26 .73 .08 .71graduate training in myoccupational area of interest.



STUDY 2: FACTOR STRUCTURE, RELIABILITY, ANDVALIDITY OF THE CAS WITH ADOLESCENT WOMEN

In Study 2, we hypothesized that a two-factor solution would emerge and ade-quate internal consistency reliability estimates would be obtained with a sample ofadolescent females. Support for the validity of the CAS would be evidencedthrough positive relations between scores on the CAS and measures of attitudestoward women’s roles, career decision self-efficacy, occupational self-efficacy, andinstrumentality. Young women who aspired to advancement in their career wereexpected to have liberal attitudes regarding women’s rights, to have confidence intheir ability to succeed in career-related tasks and in performing various work-related activities, to greatly value career pursuits, and, finally, to be described asindependent, assertive, and ambitious. Discriminant validity would be supportedby the absence of a relation between the CAS and a measure of parental attach-ment, as connection with parents was not hypothesized to be differentially relatedto various levels of career aspiration.

MethodParticipants

A total of 409 high school senior women who attended an all-female Catholic lib-eral arts high school in a large midwestern city participated in this study. Ninety-eightpercent of these women planned to attend college, with 50% tentatively decided ona career (26% traditional occupations, 20% nontraditional occupations). The meanage was 17.31 (SD = .50) and mean GPA was 2.90 (SD = .71). The majority of par-ticipants were White (80.7%), with 11.5% African American, 3.7% Latino, 1.5%Asian American, .7% Native American, and 1.0% defined themselves as Other.

Instruments

Attitudes toward women. Attitudes Toward Women’s Roles Scale was describedearlier (See Study 1).

Career decision self-efficacy. The Career Decision Scale, a modified version ofthe Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (CDMSES; Taylor & Betz, 1983),was used to assess career decision-making self-efficacy. The CDMSES was devel-oped to measure career decision-making self-efficacy across the following fivedomains: self-appraisal, occupational information, goal selection, future planning,and problem solving. Fassinger (1990) revised the measure by selecting five perti-nent items from each of the five domains represented on the CDMSES.Participants indicated their level of confidence in performing 25 tasks listed on theinventory using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from (0) no confidence at all to(4) complete confidence. An example item reads, “Describe the job duties of the




career/occupation you would like to pursue.” A total score was obtained by sum-ming the scores to all responses, with high scores representing greater confidencein making decisions regarding career choice. Construct validity was demonstratedby the expected relations between the CDMSES and math self-efficacy and instru-mentality (Fassinger, 1990).

Occupational self-efficacy. Occupational self-efficacy was assessed by theOccupational Self-Efficacy Scale (Osipow & Rooney, 1990). Participants indicatedtheir confidence in their ability to perform various activities using a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from no confidence (0) to absolute confidence (4). The measureconsisted of 60 items with four subscales consisting of 15 items each. Subscale 1measured verbal, interpersonal efficacy with an example item reading, “Gain thetrust and confidence of people.” Subscale 2 assessed quantitative, scientific, andbusiness efficacy with an example item reading, “Apply mathematical and engi-neering properties to problem solving.” Subscale 3 had a focus of physical strengthand agility efficacy with an example item reading, “Work outdoors.” The focus ofSubscale 4 was aesthetic efficacy with an example item reading, “Memorize the-atrical dialogue.” Individual factor scores were obtained by summing the 15 itemsspecific to the factor to generate a total score (A was worth 1 point and E was worth5 points). High scores indicated robust self-efficacy. Validity and reliability datawere reported for the original 230-item scale (Osipow, 1991). A test-retest reliabil-ity of .77 over a 2-week period was obtained and internal reliability correlationswere reported as high. Preliminary validity was supported by differences in self-efficacy patterns observed between students enrolled as psychology majors versusjournalism majors (Osipow, 1991).

Instrumentality. Instrumental traits such as independence, assertiveness, andambition were assessed using the BEM Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1974). Partici-pants indicated how true the particular personality characteristic was for them on a7-point Likert-type scale ranging from never or almost never true (1) to always oralmost always true (7). Examples of personality characteristics listed were“Affectionate,” “Analytical,” and “Competitive.” Items characterized as instrumen-tal items were summed and divided by the total number of masculine items rated.High scores represent high levels of instrumentality. Bem (1981) reported internalconsistency estimates for undergraduate women responding to the instrumentalitems of .84 (1973 sample) and .86 (1976 sample). A 4-week test-retest reliabilitycorrelation of .93 was also reported (Bem, 1981). Support for validity has beendemonstrated by relations in the expected direction with this measure and relatedconstructs (Bem, 1981).

Relative importance of career versus family. The single item used to assess rel-ative importance of career versus family was described earlier (see Study 1).

Parental attachment. Level of attachment to parents was assessed by the motherand father attachment subscales of the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment




(Armsden & Greenberg, 1987). Each subscale consists of 25 items, which assessedthree broad dimensions of attachment (degree of mutual trust, quality of commu-nication, and extent of anger and alienation). Participants indicated how true eachstatement was for them on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from almost never ornever true (0) to almost always or always true (4). Sample items include “My motherrespects my feelings” and “My father helps me to understand myself better.”Several items were reverse-scored with the two subscales summed independently.High scores indicate strong attachment to the parents. Test-retest reliability over 3weeks for parental attachment was .93 (Armsden & Greenberg, 1989). Papini,Roggman, and Anderson (1991) reported an internal consistency of .89 for themother subscale and .88 for the father subscale. Support for the validity of this mea-sure was demonstrated by a positive correlation with college adjustment (Lapsley,Rice, & Fitzgerald, 1990) and a negative correlation with depression (Armsden,McCauley, Greenberg, Burke, & Mitchell, 1990).

Procedure

In addition to the instruments described above, the CAS and a demographic sur-vey were administered as part of the O’Brien (1996) and O’Brien and Fassinger(1993) investigations examining the career development of a sample of adolescentwomen. Participation was voluntary and included 86.6% of the senior class. Studentswere given 1 hr to complete the counterbalanced measures.

Results

The means, standard deviations, reliabilities, ranges, and correlation matrixfor the measures used in Study 2 are reported in Table 3. A principal componentsexploratory factor analysis of the eight items that loaded on the CAS in Study 1was performed via a direct oblimin rotation (given that the factors were hypothe-sized to be correlated). This analysis resulted in three factors with eigenvaluesgreater than 1.00 that accounted for 64% of the variance. After examination ofthe scree plot, factor solutions ranging from one to three factors were studied.The two-factor solution accounted for 52% of the variance in the eight items andprovided the best approximation of simple structure consistent with the hypoth-esized factor structure (see Table 2).

The first factor, Leadership and Achievement Aspirations, was composed of sixitems with factor loadings ranging from .83 to .43. This factor assessed intentionsto obtain promotions, manage and train others, and be recognized as a leader inone’s field. The second factor, Educational Aspirations, was composed of two itemswith factor loadings of .88 and .73. This factor assessed plans to continue one’s edu-cation in one’s field. The placement of the items on the two factors replicated thefindings of Study 1.

The following internal consistency reliability estimates were calculated for thetotal score of the instrument and for scale scores for each of the factors: CAS, .72;Leadership and Achievement Aspirations, .72; and Educational Aspirations, .63.Correlation analyses revealed the expected positive correlations between the




326

Tabl

e 3

Biv

aria

te C

orre

latio

ns, I

nter

nal C

onsi

sten

cy E

stim

ates

, Mea

ns, a

nd S

tand

ard

Dev

iatio

ns fo

r St

udy

2 Sc

ales

Mea

sure

12

34

56

78

910

1. C

aree

r asp

iratio

n1.

002.

Lea

ders

hip

aspi

ratio

n.9

41.

003.

Edu

catio

nal a

spira

tion

.61

.30

1.00

4. Im

port

ance

of c

aree

r ver

sus f

amily

−.20

−.17

−.16

1.00

5. A

ttach

men

t to

mot

her

.09

.07

.06

.17

1.00

6. A

ttach

men

t to

fath

er.1

2.1

2.0

7.0

5.2

51.

007.

Car

eer d

ecisi

on se

lf-ef

ficac

y.5

5.5

0.3

6−.

16.1

8.0

91.

008.

Instr

umen

talit

y.4

2.4

1.2

4−.

21−.

03.0

1.2

81.

009.

Atti

tude

s tow

ard

wom

en’s

role

s.3

3.2

5.3

4−.

14.0

6−.

02.3

7.1

21.

0010

. Occ

upat

iona

l sel

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cacy

.48

.45

.30

−.04

.15

.10

.58

.31

.19

1.00

Scal

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.72

.72

.63

—.9

6.9

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3.36

89.7

381

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0267

.79

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5.16

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1.92

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20.4

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405.

67

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CAS and measures of attitudes toward women’s roles, career decision self-efficacy, occupational self-efficacy, and instrumentality. The expected negativecorrelations emerged between the CAS scales and a measure of the relativeimportance of career versus family. The expected absence of relations emergedbetween the CAS and a measure of attachment to mother. However, an unex-pected small positive correlation emerged between the CAS and a measure ofattachment to father. Moderate to strong positive relationships were notedamong the CAS total scale and subscales.

STUDY 3: FACTOR STRUCTURE, RELIABILITY, ANDVALIDITY OF THE CAS WITH POSTCOLLEGE WOMEN

The purpose of Study 3 was to use a sample of postcollege women to explorethe factor structure of the CAS, and to obtain reliability and validity estimates. Itwas hypothesized that adequate internal consistency reliability estimates wouldbe obtained and that support for the validity of the CAS would be evidencedthrough positive relations between scores on the CAS and a measure of careerdecision self-efficacy (as women who aspired to advancement were expected tobe confident in accomplishing career-related tasks). The CAS scales and a mea-sure of relative importance of career versus family were expected to exhibit neg-ative correlations because highly aspiring women were thought to greatly valuecareer pursuits. Discriminant validity would be supported by the absence of arelation between the CAS and a measure of parental attachment as connectionwith parents was not expected to relate to the desire to advance in one’s career.

MethodParticipants

In all, 207 women who graduated 5 years previously from an all-female privateCatholic liberal arts high school in a large midwestern city participated in thisstudy. The mean age of the individuals was 22.22 (SD = 0.44) with 62% com-pleting college. Ninety percent of the women reported that they were single, and5% reported that they had children. The majority of participants were White(88%), with 6% African American, 3% Latino, 2% Asian American, .5% Biracial,and .5% defined themselves as Other.

Instruments

Parental attachment. Level of attachment to parents was assessed by themother and father attachment subscales of the Inventory of Parent and PeerAttachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987), described earlier (see Study 2).




Career decision self-efficacy. The Career Confidence Scale, a modified version ofthe Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy Scale (Taylor & Betz, 1983), was used toassess career decision self-efficacy. This measure was described in Study 2.

Relative importance of career versus family. The single item used to assess therelative importance of career versus family (Fassinger, 1990; Richardson, 1974)was described in Study 1.

Procedure

In addition to the instruments noted above, the CAS and a demographic sur-vey were administered as part of the O’Brien, Friedman, Tipton, and Linn (2000)longitudinal analysis of attachment, separation, and women’s vocational devel-opment. Surveys were sent to 374 of the 409 students who were surveyed 5 yearsearlier in 1991 and whose data were analyzed and presented in O’Brien (1996).Respondents who completed and returned their surveys received $10 for theirparticipation. Two hundred seven women, a 55% return rate, returned their sur-veys. The individuals who participated in the present study were a subset of thesample described in Study 2.

Results

The means, standard deviations, reliabilities, ranges, and correlation matrix forthe measures used in Study 3 are reported in Table 4. A principal componentsexploratory factor analysis of the eight-item CAS was performed via a direct obliminrotation (given that the factors were hypothesized to be correlated). This analysisresulted in three factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.00 that accounted for 70%of the variance. After examination of the scree plot, factor solutions ranging fromone to three factors were studied. The two-factor solution accounted for 70% of thevariance in eight items and provided the best approximation of simple structureconsistent with the hypothesized factor structure (see Table 2).

The first factor, Leadership and Achievement Aspirations, was composed of sixitems with factor loadings ranging from .82 to .40. This factor assessed intentionsto obtain promotions, manage and train others, and be recognized as a leader inone’s field. The second factor, Educational Aspirations was composed of twoitems with factor loadings of .87 and .71. This factor assessed plans to continueone’s education in one’s field. The item-factor loadings from the previous twostudies were replicated for this sample of postcollege women.

The following internal consistency reliability estimates were calculated for thetotal score of the instrument and for scale scores for each of the factors: CAS, .75;Leadership and Achievement Aspirations, .78; and Educational Aspirations, .56.Correlation analyses revealed the expected positive correlations between theCAS and a measure of career decision self-efficacy. The expected negative cor-relations emerged between the CAS scales and a measure of the relative impor-tance of career versus family. The expected absence of relations emergedbetween the CAS and a measure of attachment to the mother and attachment to




the father. Moderate to strong correlations were noted among the total and sub-scales of the CAS.

STUDY 4: FACTOR STRUCTURE, RELIABILITY, ANDVALIDITY OF THE CAS WITH MEXICAN AMERICANADOLESCENT WOMEN

The purpose of Study 4 was to use a sample of Mexican American adolescentwomen to explore the factor structure of the CAS, and to obtain reliability andvalidity estimates. It was hypothesized that a two-factor solution would emergeand adequate internal and consistency reliability estimates would be obtained.Support for the validity of the CAS with a Mexican American adolescent femalepopulation would be evidenced through positive relations between scores on theCAS and measures of career self-efficacy, as young women who desired advance-ment in their careers were expected to be confident in pursuing career-relatedtasks. Discriminant validity would be supported by the absence of a relationbetween the CAS and a measure of acculturation, as career aspiration was notexpected to relate to the degree with which young women embraced Mexican orAnglo cultural practices.

MethodParticipants

A total of 364 high school senior women who identified as Mexican Americanparticipated in this study. Participants were drawn from two large public highschools located in a community in South Texas close to the Mexico-United




Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

1. Career aspiration 1.002. Leadership aspiration .55 1.003. Educational aspiration .94 .24 1.004. Attachment to father .07 .04 .07 1.005. Attachment to mother .08 .06 .08 .39 1.006. Career decision self-efficacy .49 .45 .38 .25 .25 1.007. Importance of career versus family −.32 −.22 −.29 .16 .12 −.16 1.00Scale alpha .75 .78 .56 .95 .96 .93 —M of scale 33.36 24.68 8.67 84.49 93.02 77.00 3.60SD of scale 5.22 4.49 1.81 20.71 18.80 13.25 .83

Note. The level of confidence for coefficients ≥.15 is at least <.05.



States border. Ninety-five percent of the individuals that attended these schoolsidentified as Mexican Americans. The mean age was 17.47 (SD = .70); 39.1%planned to attend the local 4-year university and 19.2% planned to attend thelocal 2-year community college.

Instruments

Career self-efficacy. Career self-efficacy expectations were assessed using a shortform of the occupational questionnaire employed by Church, Teresa, Rosebrook,and Szendre (1992). The original instrument requested that participants rate theirconfidence in their ability to successfully learn to perform 31 occupations. Thisstudy used a modified inventory that included 21 occupations selected to equallyrepresent female-dominated (e.g., high school teacher), male-dominated (e.g.,police officer), and gender-balanced (e.g., human resource manager) occupations.Each job title was accompanied by a brief description of the occupation.

Participants were asked to rate their confidence in their ability to successfullylearn to perform each occupation using a Likert-type scale ranging from very unsure(1) to very sure (4). Scores for each subscale (female-dominated, male-dominated,and gender-balanced occupations) were obtained by summing the responses foreach scale. High scores indicate strong levels of self-efficacy.

An internal consistency reliability of .95 was reported for the 31-item scalewith a sample of predominantly Hispanic high school students (Church et al.,1992). No relation between measures of career self-efficacy and aptitude pro-vided support for divergent validity (Church et al., 1992).

Acculturation. Acculturation was assessed by the two subscales of the Accul-turation Rating Scale for Mexican Americans (ARSMA-II; Cuellar, Arnold, &Maldonado, 1995). The ARSMA-II was a 30-item scale developed to assess lan-guage preference, association with, and identification with the Mexican andAnglo cultures (with high scores indicating a strong orientation to the culture).The Anglo Orientation Subscale consisted of 13 items and the MexicanOrientation Subscale consisted of 17 items. Participants responded to the itemsusing a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from not at all (1) to extremely often oralmost always (5). Scores were obtained by summing the items for each subscale.

Cuellar et al. (1995) reported internal consistency coefficients of .83 for theAnglo Orientation Subscale and a .88 for the Mexican Orientation Subscale, andtest-retest reliability estimates of .94 and .96, respectively. Differences in ARSMA-IIscores across five generations in the expected direction were considered support forconstruct validity.

Procedure

In addition to the instruments described above, the CAS and a demographic sur-vey were administered as part of the Flores and O’Brien (2002) investigation of theapplicability of social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994) to the




career goals of Mexican American adolescent women. Students enrolled in anEnglish IV class were solicited to participate and were given the class period to com-plete the counterbalanced measures. Students who completed and returned the sur-veys were eligible for a random drawing for cash prizes (10 prizes of $20 and 1 prizeof $50).

Results

The means, standard deviations, reliabilities, ranges, and correlation matrixfor the measures used in Study 4 are reported in Table 5. A principal componentsexploratory factor analysis of the CAS was performed via a direct oblimin rotation(given that the factors were hypothesized to be correlated). This analysis resultedin two factors with eigenvalues greater than 1.00. The two-factor solutionaccounted for 49% of the variance in the eight items and provided the bestapproximation of simple structure. The factor structure from the previous threestudies was not replicated.

The first factor was composed of five items with factor loadings ranging from.75 to .57. This factor assessed intentions to obtain promotions, manage and trainothers, and be recognized as a leader in one’s field. The second factor was com-posed of three items with factor loadings from .77 to .72. This factor assessed alack of desire to obtain promotions, acquire further education, and attain lead-ership status within one’s career.

Internal consistency reliability estimates of .51, .67, and .61 were calculated forthe total score and Factors 1 and 2, respectively. Both factors were correlated with




Measure 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

1. Career aspiration 1.002. Leadership aspiration .94 1.003. Educational aspiration .69 .39 1.004. Career self-efficacy—gender neutral .07 .09 .03 1.00

occupations5. Career self-efficacy—predominantly .12 .12 .08 .51 1.00

female occupations6. Career self-efficacy—predominantly .13 .14 .06 .80 .57 1.00

male occupations7. Acculturation—Anglo orientation .02 .03 .02 .19 .05 .20 1.008. Acculturation—Mexican orientation .22 .24 .07 −.03 .04 −.02 −.33 1.00Scale alpha .51 .67 .61 .76 .73 .81 .77 .90M of scale 26.59 20.47 6.05 16.03 17.84 12.28 49.60 61.50SD of scale 4.51 3.57 1.70 5.10 4.89 4.74 7.04 13.86

Note. The level of confidence for coefficients ≥.10 is at least <.05.



the total score, but not with one another. Given that the results of the factor analy-sis were dissimilar from the factors that evolved in the other three studies and thatthe reliability estimates were quite low, validity estimates will not be discussed.

STUDY 5: TEST-RETEST RELIABILITY STUDY WITHCOLLEGE WOMEN

The final study in this investigation assessed the test-retest reliability of theCAS. We hypothesized that career aspiration is a stable construct and, thus,strong positive correlations between total and scale scores over a 2-week intervalwere expected.

MethodParticipants

The sample consisted of 56 college women enrolled in undergraduate psy-chology courses at a large eastern university. The mean age was 21.05 (SD =1.92) with a majority of the participants being White (53%), and the remainingbeing 17% Asian American, 8% African American, 2% Latina, 2% Other, and 1%Biracial (17% did not report race).

Procedure

Two undergraduate research assistants provided an overview of the study tostudents enrolled in two undergraduate psychology courses. Ninety-nine individ-uals volunteered to complete the CAS and a demographic survey measure inclass. Two weeks later, the undergraduate research assistants asked the volunteersto complete the measure again. Fifty-six of the original 99 volunteers completedthe measure a second time (a return rate of 78%) in class. The volunteersreceived course credit.

Results

Results indicated that total scores on the CAS were stable over time (r = .84,p < .01). Scores on the Leadership and Achievement Aspiration scale as well as the Educational Aspiration scale also exhibited stability over time (r = .84, p < .01; r = .71, p < .01, respectively).

DISCUSSION

Overall, the results of four studies provided support for a valid and reliablemeasure of career aspiration when used with adolescent, college, and postcollege




samples comprised mainly of White women. The final eight-item measure demon-strated strong test-retest reliability over a 2-week period and evidenced moderateinternal consistency across Study 1, Study 2, and Study 3. Convergent validity wassupported by correlations with measures of attitudes toward women’s roles, careerdecision self-efficacy, multiple role self-efficacy, occupational self-efficacy, instru-mentality, and relative importance of career versus family. Discriminant validitywas demonstrated through the absence of robust relations between the CAS scoresand measures of attachment to parents. Finally, a two-factor solution consisting ofa subscale measuring leadership and achievement aspirations and a subscale assess-ing educational aspirations accounted for variance in career aspiration in samplesof White women.

The enhanced complexity of our assessment of career aspiration (beyond that ofoccupational choice, traditionality, or prestige) advances understanding of women’scareer choices. In the past, a woman who chose to study education would be labeledas selecting a traditional and nonprestigious career. However, this woman may haveelected to become a teacher en route to pursuing graduate education to become aprincipal or even a school superintendent. Other women may aspire to leadershippositions independent of continuing their education. For example, a woman inrestaurant management may train and manage employees, and aspire to own herown business, yet be adamantly opposed to continuing in school. Hence, a complexand dynamic process is revealed when considering educational and leadership aspi-rations in addition to career choice.

Several questions emerged from findings related to the subscales of the CAS. Theitems loading on the first scale (titled Leadership and Achievement Aspirations)appeared to assess aspirations for leadership, promotions, and training/managing others in one’s career, and demonstrated robust psychometric properties. However,inconsistent estimates of internal consistency were obtained for the EducationalAspirations subscale across samples. Clearly, caution is warranted when using theCAS total score or the Educational Aspirations subscale.

Furthermore, the two scales were not strongly interrelated, suggesting thatthey may not be subcomponents of a single construct or, alternatively, they mayreflect different (nonrelated) aspects of career aspiration. In retrospect, it seemsreasonable that there may be varied forms of career aspirations. Some workersmay desire to lead and train other employees but not want to pursue continuededucation; others may want to focus on expanding knowledge within a field ofstudy, but not aspire to leadership or management positions. Further testing ofthe CAS subscales is needed and we propose that both subscales (and perhapsothers) be included in future studies. Moreover, additional items should beadded to the subscales to ensure that the low number of items does not impedefuture reliability estimates.

It is critical to note that the CAS performed differently with a sample ofMexican American adolescent girls, as the factor structure endorsed by the stud-ies of mostly White women was not replicated. Generalizability of our findings tosamples other than predominantly White college-bound or college-educated




women is questionable. Perhaps racism, acculturation, language, and socioeco-nomic factors influence the perception that one can aspire to leadership positionsand advanced education. Young Mexican American women may believe thatadvancement in future careers is irrelevant given environmental limitations andsocietal conditions (e.g., few role models, less access to higher education, dis-crimination in the workplace). Indeed, Flores and O’Brien (2002) used the datafrom this study and completed a structural analysis of social cognitive career the-ory. They found that adding the path from acculturation to career goals improvedthe amount of variance explained in Mexican American girls’ career goals.Additional factors (such as the importance of family, gender role beliefs, andknowledge of the English language) should be included in conceptualizations ofcareer aspiration for Mexican American women and other groups of women ofcolor.

Additionally, the ages of participants across studies could be considered a limi-tation to this study (ages ranged from approximately 16 to 23). Clearly, career aspi-ration would be expected to differ among women who are still in high school, juststarting their careers, those at the peak of their careers, and those who plan to retire.It is possible that levels of career aspiration vary over time for some women as theymake decisions regarding balancing career aspirations with relationship and/orfamily obligations. Indeed, support for the validity and the reliability of the CASwas less strong for the samples of younger women (both Mexican American andWhite). Perhaps young women have focused on selecting an area of study or a pos-sible career path, but have not yet contemplated advancement within that field. Alongitudinal analysis of women’s career aspirations over the lifespan could improveour understanding of how career orientation, family orientation, cultural values,and career aspiration shape the work and relational lives of many women.

If the results of this study were replicated, career counselors using the CAScould assist White women in articulating not only their career choice, but alsotheir plans for achievement within their chosen field. For example, career coun-seling might terminate after a client decides to become a physical therapist.However, if the counselor were to administer the CAS and discuss the resultswith the client, the counselor and client may discover that the client would beinterested in supervising other physical therapists and conducting research oninnovative physical therapy procedures. Addressing these issues may help theclient develop a plan to pursue and finance doctoral studies and advance withinher chosen career.

In addition, if women score low on the CAS subscales, counselors can investi-gate the underlying issues that contribute to the low levels of aspiration. For somewomen, low levels of career aspiration may reflect their personality, skills, or lifegoals. For other women, low aspiration may relate to a lack of self-efficacy or limit-ing gender role stereotypes. Identifying the factors that contribute to low careeraspiration could assist clients in understanding the issues that limit them fromachieving their potential. Efficacy building through role modeling and practicemay prove most effective given the positive relation between career self-efficacyand career aspiration (O’Brien et al., 2000). However, given that career aspiration




appears set by senior year in high school (O’Brien et al., 2000), it seems imperativeto intervene much earlier than college. Developing mentoring programs and infus-ing curriculum for young students with positive female role models who succeedin a myriad of careers may prove beneficial.

Finally, it may prove interesting to examine the replicability of the factor struc-ture with a male population. A comparison of career aspiration across genderscould provide additional information about the relative aspirations of women andmen and the barriers to achievement perceived by each group.

To conclude, the CAS demonstrated adequate reliability and validity withsamples of mostly White adolescent, college, and postcollege women. By assess-ing career aspiration as measured by the CAS, this construct is expanded beyondtraditional career choice constructs to include the pursuit of leadership roles andcontinued education within one’s career, thus advancing our understanding ofthe complexity inherent in the innumerable choices and challenges facingwomen today. Counseling psychologists might use the CAS to assist women inchoosing a career path that most reflects their passions, occupational potential,and life and work goals.

APPENDIX

Career Aspiration ScaleKaren M. O’Brien, PhD

In the space next to the statements below please circle a number from “0” (not at all trueof me) to “4” (very true of me). If the statement does not apply, circle “0”. Please be com-pletely honest. Your answers are entirely confidential and will be useful only if they accu-rately describe you.

Not at All Slightly Moderately Quite a Bit VeryTrue of me True of me True of me True of me True of me

0 1 2 3 4

1. I hope to become a leader in my career field. 0 1 2 3 42. When I am established in my career, I would 0 1 2 3 4

like to manage other employees.3. I would be satisfied just doing my job 0 1 2 3 4

in a career I am interested in.4. I do not plan to devote energy to getting 0 1 2 3 4

promoted in the organization or business I am working in.

5. When I am established in my career, I would 0 1 2 3 4like to train others.

(continued)




APPENDIX (continued)

6. I hope to move up through any organization 0 1 2 3 4or business I work in.

7. Once I finish the basic level of education 0 1 2 3 4needed for a particular job, I see no need tocontinue in school.

8. I plan on developing as an expert in 0 1 2 3 4my career field.

9. I think I would like to pursue graduate 0 1 2 3 4training in my occupational area of interest.

10. Attaining leadership status in my career is not 0 1 2 3 4that important to me.

Note. Items 3, 4, 7, and 10 should be reverse scored. Items 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 10 comprise the factorLeadership and Achievement Aspirations. Items 7 and 9 comprise the factor Educational Aspirations.Preliminary factor analyses suggested that Items 3 and 8 should be deleted. Researchers and coun-selors may replicate and use this scale without permission for research and counseling purposes. Useof the CAS for financial gain is prohibited without obtaining permission from the author.

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