TY - JOUR
T1 - Students’ perceptions of engineers
T2 - dimensionality and influences on career aspiration in engineering
AU - Chan, Cecilia Ka Yuk
AU - Yeung, Nai Chi Jonathan
AU - Kutnick, Peter
AU - Chan, Rosanna Yuen Yan
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - While many career development theories (e.g., Gottfredson, in: Brown SD, Lent RW (eds), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, Wiley, Hoboken, 2005) posit that occupational perceptions are fundamental for understanding youngsters’ career aspirations, research relating school students’ perceptions of engineers and students’ career interest in engineering has been scarce. This study sought to (a) identify the factors underlying the image of engineers to secondary school students, (b) test the invariance of the factors’ measurement model across gender and school years, and (c) examine the hypothesis that the factors mediate the effects of engineering experiences at school on students’ career interest. Data were collected via a questionnaire from a representative sample of 3724 students at Hong Kong. A measurement model with four latent perception factors (innovation and entrepreneurship competencies; aptitudes related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; hands-on work status; and career prestige) fit the responses well and was replicable across gender and school years. Construct validity of the factors was supported by the pattern of their partial mediation effects in the relationship between students’ experiences and their career interest in engineering. The results deepened the understanding of the image of engineers and the image’s influences on students’ career aspiration in engineering. The perception dimensions identified provide a framework useable for engineering education in school.
AB - While many career development theories (e.g., Gottfredson, in: Brown SD, Lent RW (eds), Career development and counseling: Putting theory and research to work, Wiley, Hoboken, 2005) posit that occupational perceptions are fundamental for understanding youngsters’ career aspirations, research relating school students’ perceptions of engineers and students’ career interest in engineering has been scarce. This study sought to (a) identify the factors underlying the image of engineers to secondary school students, (b) test the invariance of the factors’ measurement model across gender and school years, and (c) examine the hypothesis that the factors mediate the effects of engineering experiences at school on students’ career interest. Data were collected via a questionnaire from a representative sample of 3724 students at Hong Kong. A measurement model with four latent perception factors (innovation and entrepreneurship competencies; aptitudes related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics; hands-on work status; and career prestige) fit the responses well and was replicable across gender and school years. Construct validity of the factors was supported by the pattern of their partial mediation effects in the relationship between students’ experiences and their career interest in engineering. The results deepened the understanding of the image of engineers and the image’s influences on students’ career aspiration in engineering. The perception dimensions identified provide a framework useable for engineering education in school.
KW - Career choice
KW - Engineer image
KW - Factor analysis
KW - High school
KW - Student perception
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85060519039&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s10798-018-09492-3
DO - 10.1007/s10798-018-09492-3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85060519039
SN - 0957-7572
VL - 29
SP - 421
EP - 439
JO - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN EDUCATION
JF - INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY AND DESIGN EDUCATION
IS - 3
ER -
