The Relationship Between Family Socioeconomic Status and Career Outcomes: A Life History Perspective

Abstract

Based on the life history perspective, this study tested a serial mediation model in which family socioeconomic status (SES) related to person–job fit via resource scarcity, career exploration, and goal persistence. We expected that when seeking employment, higher SES students would perceive lower resource scarcity, and, in turn, adopt more adaptive career behaviors (i.e., career exploration and goal persistence) to maximize career success, which would then lead to better person–job fit upon graduation. Using a sample of 224 final-year students (mean age 21 years, 77% male), we found, as expected, that higher SES was related to more career exploration and goal persistence via lower perceived scarcity and that exploration and persistence were related to better person–job fit. In addition, higher SES was indirectly related to person–job fit via scarcity and the two career behaviors. The findings highlight the importance of family SES in young people’s career development.

How Do Students Become Good Workers? Investigating the Impact of Gender and School on the Relationship between Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy and Career Exploration

“…However, few studies examined school setting differences. Meanwhile, CE was found to be associated with family socioeconomic status (SES), with students with higher SES having a higher CE level [48]. The present study is the first to investigate gender and school differences in CE among Chinese high-school students.…”

“…This study also found that urban students had a significantly higher level in CE than rural school students. It was considered that students from urban schools had higher family SES than students from rural schools, and higher-SES students would perceive lower resource scarcity and in turn adopt more adaptive career behaviors such as CE [48]. For these reasons, career educators and researchers should consider the needs of rural school students and be mindful of the unique career behaviors of students from different backgrounds.…”

How individual experiential backgrounds are related to the development of employability among university students

“…As mentioned previously, there is evidence (Hu et al, 2020;Lehmann, 2019;Raque-Bogdan & Lucas, 2016) that the socio-economic status is an important influencing factor on employability and career aspirations for both, first-generation and continuing-generation students. This aspect needs further consideration for university students from a variety of different perspectives if these inequalities are to be better addressed in the future.…”

Making a Commitment to Your Future: Investigating the Effect of Career Exploration and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy on the Relationship between Career Concern and Career Commitment

“…Through environmental exploration, individuals gather information related to jobs, organizations, and occupations and make rational career decisions [31]. Researchers maintain that career exploration (in the form of both self-exploration and environmental exploration) plays a vital role for individuals in identifying suitable job opportunities, achieving better employment, and coping with difficulties and challenges in their career transitions [32][33][34].…”