Career Choice: A Comparative Study

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Factors Influencing International Students’ Career Choice: A Comparative Study Hemla D. Singaravelu, Lyle J. White and Tammy B. Bringaze Journal of Career Development 2005; 32; 46 DOI: 10.1177/0894845305277043 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jcd.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/32/1/46

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Journal of Career 10.1177/0894845305277043 Singaravelu et al. Development / International/Students September 2005

Factors Influencing International Students’ Career Choice

Journal of Career Development Volume 32 Number 1 September 2005 46-59 © 2005 Curators of the University of Missouri 10.1177/0894845305277043 http://jcd.sagepub.com hosted at http://online.sagepub.com

A Comparative Study Hemla D. Singaravelu Saint Louis University

Lyle J. White Southern Illinois University–Carbondale

Tammy B. Bringaze

Truman State University

This study examines the career development behavior of Asian international, non-Asian international, and domestic students, specifically the certainty of career and major choice and environmental factors that have influenced their choices. Environmental factors include family, school counselors, teacher, friends, and government. The results show no difference in the level of career certainty between the three groups. In contrast, influences of family, school counselors, and friends varied among these three groups. Furthermore, only the Asian international students exhibited a positive correlation between level of career certainty and intent to persist. Implications and recommendations for counseling are given based on the research findings. Keywords: international students; international students’career; foreign students’ career development; career decision making; career certainty; career development of international students

T

he United States is the premier provider of tertiary education for international students. According to Open Doors (Institute of International Education, 2001), 547,867 international students attended universities and colleges in the United States for the 2000-2001 academic year. These students

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Singaravelu et al. / International Students

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spent more than $11 million in non-U.S. funds on living expenses, tuition, and fees. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Commerce statistics describe U.S. higher education as the country’s fifth largest service-sector export (Institute of International Education, 2001). Even though international students are assets to the U.S economy, their contributions and needs are not widely known. Attempts have been made to identify various needs of this student population; however, few studies have focused on career-related issues (Leong & Sedlacek, 1989; Yang, Wong, Hwang, & Heppner, 2002). Studies on international student populations have primarily concentrated on adjustment and acculturation issues (Cheng, Leong, & Geist, 1993; Mori, 2000; Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994) and academic needs (Rai, 2002). Thus far, articles on career-relevant issues have focused on job search readiness (Spencer-Rodgers, 1998, 2000) and academic majors of international students (Leong & Sedlacek, 1989). Research related to factors influencing international students’career decision, their level of career certainty, or persistence in college has been scarce. This scarcity in research may be related to a commonly held belief that international students have come to this country with well-defined educational and vocational objectives (Carter & Sedlacek, 1986; MacArthur, 1980; Manese, Leong, & Sedlacek, 1985), when in actuality, international students may have a sketchy or unrealistic rationale for their career decisions (DeAntoni, 1972) as well as difficulty with program selection (Frost, 1991). Some international students may arrive from countries where formal career guidance systems do not exist and, hence, opportunities for career exploration are limited. Formal career guidance systems are typically a product of economic development. Countries in their early stages of economic development tend to encourage individuals into professions that benefit the national economy and are guided by informal systems, such family, caste, or class (Watts, 1996). As countries move toward industrialization, division of labor expands, creating increased career opportunities (Cahill, 1995). On arrival to the United States, international students must make personal and social adjustments in addition to coping with familial pressures to succeed in their chosen field of study (Cheng et al., 1993; Pedersen, 1991; Sandhu & Asrabadi, 1994). Some international students will find it necessary to reassess their majors or career choices, especially if incongruence develops between their interest and abilities. This incongruence can become especially problematic in the context of cultural and parental expectations. The combined stresses Authors’ Note: Hemla D. Singaravelu, Counseling & Family Therapy Department, Saint Louis University, 3750 Lindell Boulevard, St. Louis, MO 63108-3412; (314) 977-2483, fax: (314) 977-3214; e-mail: [email protected].


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Journal of Career Development / September 2005

of dealing with familial pressures to perform well (Wehrly, 1988), career uncertainty, and the high cost of U.S. education may put many international students at risk for poor academic and career performance. Given the aforementioned dearth of research regarding international students’ career development behavior, a brief review of cultural influences and differences between minority American populations is warranted. Investigations on minority populations in the United States show parental influence as being a major factor in career decision making. Gim’s (1992) study of African Americans, Asian Americans, Chicano and Latinos, and European Americans indicated that Asian Americans are the only group to rank parental pressure as one of the top five factors affecting their career preference. Similarly, Tang, Fouad, and Smith (1999) found parental acceptance, not necessarily interest, as a major component in Asian Americans’career choices. Leong (1991) identified extrinsic values, such as money and status and prestige, as being more important for Asian Americans’ occupational decisions. Environmental factors, such as family, culture, and community, have been found to influence the career development behavior of some ethnic minorities in the United States (Gim, 1992; Leong, 1991, 1995). Researchers (Kim, Atkinson, & Umemoto, 2001; Triandis, 1995) have long contended that societies in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and parts of rural Europe generally emphasize collective identity, emotional dependence, and the importance of family. Hence, for some, academic excellence brings honor to the family, and failure brings dishonor. The research relating to U.S. minority populations raises interesting questions regarding international students. What role does the family play in international students’ career decisions, and how certain are they about their choices? International students are required to select an academic major prior to entering the United States. Would the above requirement provide an impression that international students have clear vocational objectives? The literature is also limited on the consequences of international students’ academic major decisions and effects on persistence toward completion of their degrees. Fuertes, Sedlacek, and Liu (1994) studied Asian American student retention and discovered several noncognitive variables, such as positive self-concept, the availability of a strong support person, and having long-term goals related to retention in school. Furthermore, Beal and Noel (1980) described factors such as interaction with students, faculty, and staff; career planning; and participation in campus activities as affecting students’ persistence level. Vocational uncertainty and pressures from home may constitute feelings of alienation and dissatisfaction in college and lead to reduced selfconfidence and therefore affect persistence.



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To help shed light on the career development behavior of international students, a comparative study was conducted at a Midwestern university to examine international and domestic students’ certainty of academic major and career choice in the context of the environmental factors that have influenced these choices. Participants in this study were placed into three major cultural groups—Asian international, non-Asian international, and domestic—to reflect the common characteristics described in the collectivistic-individualistic dimension. The goal was to establish parameters for broad cultural comparison and examine differences between international students and domestic students. Based on the literature, the following research questions were generated: (a) Does the degree of certainty of career decisions vary between Asian international, non-Asian international, and domestic students? (b) Do factors that influence career decision (interest, family, teachers, counselors, government, and finance and status) vary between these three groups? (c) Is there a difference in the role of family in the degree of career certainty of these groups? (d) Is there a difference in career certainty between men and women across these groups? (e) How do career certainty and the intent to persist toward degree completion vary across the three groups?

Method Participants Two hundred fourteen undergraduate students were sampled for this study: 144 were international and 70 were domestic. The international students were categorized as Asian (n = 94) and non-Asian international (n = 50). Of the Asian students, 28% were Japanese, 28% Malaysian, 20% Taiwanese, 13% South Korean, 5% Hong Kong, and 6% Singaporean. Of the non-Asian international students, 44% were Middle Eastern, 22% African, and 34% South American. There were 94 female and 120 male participants (Table 1). All participants had registered for at least one semester at the university.

Procedure The primary research investigator attended the English department faculty meeting to discuss the study and request permission to administer the survey in the classrooms. Subsequently, international students were recruited from five sections of a linguistics course (n = 144) required for all international undergraduates, whereas domestic students were chosen from five sections of a required English course (n = 70). Students were informed of the voluntary


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Table 1 Means and Standard Deviations for Family, School Counselor, Friends, and Father Asian (n = 94; 49 Female, 45 Male) Influence Family School counselors Friends Father

Non-Asian (n = 50; 18 Female, 32 Male)

Domestic (n = 70; 27 Female, 43 Male)

M

SD

M

SD

M

2.86 2.27 2.43 3.04

0.87 0.96 0.96 0.97

3.28 1.79 2.04 3.14

0.90 0.84 0.85 0.90

2.69 2.00 1.95 2.60

SD 0.94 0.90 0.81 1.14

nature of their participation and provided their written consent. Three students from the linguistics course and five from the English course did not participate in the study. The process of administering and collecting the survey in both courses was similar. After collecting the surveys, they were then hand sorted into Asian international, non-Asian international, and domestic student groups. The researchers’ Institutional Review Board approved this study.

Instrumentation Because of the lack of instruments available to assess international students’ career decisions, a 53-item survey with Likert-type scale (1 = strongly agree, 5 = strongly disagree) was developed specifically for this study. The items in the questionnaire were primarily based on ethnic Americans’ career development literature and attempts to measure the following: (a) career certainty, (b) factors influencing career decision, (c) the influence of each family member, and (d) persistence level. For career certainty, survey items were constructed to elicit how strongly participants agreed or disagreed with sentences about the certainty of their academic major and career choice. Interest, family (Tang et al., 1999), government and financial sponsors (Watts, 1996), friends, teachers, counselors, and income (Leong, 1991) were identified as factors influencing career decision. The role of each family member (i.e., father, mother, brother, sister, grandmother, and grandfather) was further explored to elicit the influence of each individual (Triandis, 1995). Participants responded to how strongly they agreed or disagreed to the above influencing factors in their career decisions. Items to elicit participants’ persistence level were also based on literature (Beal & Noel, 1980; Fuertes et al., 1994). The remainder of



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the questionnaire included a demographic section and questions regarding years in the United States, sources of financial support, and knowledge of university career services. A pilot study was conducted to evaluate content and face validity, reliability, and the readability of the questionnaire. The survey was given to 10 international and domestic students and 3 faculty members. Modifications were made based on this feedback. Once the final data were collected, the internal consistency reliability coefficients (Cronbach’s alpha) were calculated to be as follows: certainty = .70, influencing factors = .71, family influence = .74, and persistence = .61.

Results Analysis Does the degree of certainty of career decision vary between Asian international, non-Asian international, and domestic students? An ANOVA was used to examine the differences in career certainty. The result did not reveal significant differences between the degree of career certainty of Asian international, non-Asian international, or the domestic students, F(2, 211) = 0.94, p = .39. An alpha level of .05 was used in all tests. Do factors that influence career decision vary between the three groups? Seven one-way ANOVAs were performed to illicit the between-group differences of factors influencing the degree of career certainty of Asian international, non-Asian international, and domestic students. These influencing factors (dependent variables) were the students’interests, family, teachers, school counselors, friends, government (sponsor) of home country, and future financial success. Family, school counselors, and friends had significant influence in the degree of career certainty across the three groups. Tukey’s post hoc test (Kiess, 2002) indicated that domestic students had a lower family influence mean compared to Asian and non-Asian international students (Table 1). NonAsian international students showed lower means, that is, less influence for school counselors compared to Asian international and domestic students. Domestic students scored a little lower in the influence of friends compared to the Asian and non-Asian international students. Is there a difference in the role of family members in the degree of career certainty of these groups? Family influence was measured using five


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ANOVAs to see the importance of each family member’s role (i.e., mother, father, siblings, grandparents, and other relatives) in the student’s level of career certainty. Tukey’s (Kiess, 2002) post hoc test for mean differences between the three groups indicated that fathers play a significant role in the students’ level of career certainty compared to that of other family members (Table 1). Is there a difference in career certainty between men and women across the three groups? An ANOVA was performed with level of certainty as the dependent variable and male and female as the independent variables. The results did not reveal any significant differences in career certainty between men and women across the three student groups, F(6, 207) = 0.52, p = .52. How does career certainty and intent to persist toward degree completion vary across these groups? Correlations between career certainty and intent to persist were conducted to examine their relationship on the three groups. Pearson correlation coefficient results for all three groups (N = 214) were positive and statistically significant, indicating, not surprisingly, that students who were most certain about their career were more likely to persist in their educational endeavors. Separate correlations were then performed on all three groups. Only Asian international students showed a significant relationship between career certainty and intent to persist (r = .36, p < .05). No significant relationship was found between level of career certainty and intent to persist for non-Asian international and domestic students (r = .07 and .06, respectively).

Discussion Career Certainty The lack of difference among Asian, non-Asian, and domestic students regarding career may be the result of the small sample size. It is also possible that the economic development many countries are experiencing is having an impact on the career exploration process of their young people. When a society shifts from an agrarian to an industrialized-based economy, the range of occupational opportunities increases (Cahill, 1995; Watts, 1996). The resulting increase in career options has the potential to increase career confusion and uncertainty in career goal formation.



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Gender The lack of difference found in career certainty between genders may also be attributed to the small sample size. Nevertheless, the literature does indicate that traditional values regarding education for women are changing (Leong, 1995) in that educational attainment is as important for women as it is for men. This change was observed in the present study as women accounted for 52% of the Asian international student population.

Factors Influencing Career Decisions Given the finding that Asian Americans are more influenced by parental pressure in their career preference compared to African Americans, Chicano and Latino, and European Americans (Gim, 1992; Tang et al., 1999), the results of this study, indicating more family influence among non-Asian international students than among Asian international students, is somewhat surprising. The economic growth experienced by the Asian countries represented in this sample may have something to do with the phenomena. Economically developed nations, such as Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and Malaysia (“Special Report: East Asian Economies,” 2002), have greater affluence and may resemble the United States more than the sampled non-Asian countries. With greater affluence comes the opportunity for individual development (Super, 1985) and exploring one’s career options. As individuals focus on self-development, there is a tendency to move away from the collectivistic perspective. Therefore, the role of family might become secondary to personal choice. Conversely, domestic students faired the lowest in mean score for the influence of family in their academic major and career choices. This result was somewhat predictable and indicates that domestic students’ career interest precedes familial expectations. Family influence was most prominent in non-Asian international students. As noted above, these students originated primarily from Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East, where economic growth is relatively slower than in the Asian countries represented by this sample (“Special Report: East Asian Economies,” 2002) and where stronger social structures with lower levels of social mobility exist. This social structure is consistent with the collectivistic culture described previously, where familial goals precede individual goals and where informal networks play an integral part in the individual’s choice (Watts, 1996). Asian international and domestic students scored higher means for the role of school counselors in their choice of an academic major and career, indicating the influence of a formal guidance system. Non-Asian international stu-


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dents, however, did not place importance on school counselors confirming that choices are made within socially circumscribed limits (Watts, 1996). Consequently, the role of school counselors might not be as important as the role of family and friends in non-Asian international students’ career choices. It is interesting that Asian international students had the highest mean score for the influence of friends. This phenomenon is partly explained by Furnham (1997), who stated that friendship with conationals, who have similar cultural backgrounds, provides social support to sojourning students. This study suggests that Asian international students rely more on their friends, who may be studying or have studied abroad, for advice regarding their choice of a major or career than the other groups surveyed.

Family Influence Among family members, the father seems to play the most significant role in the career choices of all three groups, particularly the non-Asian international students. This is consistent with the literature on Africa, Middle East, and Latin America, where decision making is influenced by family values expressed mostly by the father.

Persistence Only the Asian international students exhibited a positive correlation between career certainty and intent to persist. This positive relationship was consistent with the literature on retention stating clear career goals, certainty in degree expectation, and selection of a major promote persistence in college (Astin, 1975). However, the present study did not reveal a significant difference between the levels of career certainty among the three groups. Asian international students were most satisfied with their experience in college, whereas non-Asian international students were the most dissatisfied and felt the faculty and staff had no interest in their welfare. One explanation for this finding is that the majority of Asians sampled were Japanese students from a sister campus in Japan and therefore may be more committed because of this relationship. Second, non-Asian international students may feel isolated because there are fewer conationals on campus for social support.

Demographic and Open-Ended Data Previously, Asian international students predominantly selected the mathematics and science fields (Leong, 1995); however, the frequency data revealed that liberal arts (29%), business (25%), and mass communication (11%) were the main academic major choices. This change is consistent with the economic



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trends described earlier, where industrialization creates a broader range of occupational opportunities (Cahill, 1995; Watts, 1996). Asian international students may be selecting academic majors and careers to adapt to the changing occupational trends and to fulfill individual interest. Furthermore, 64% of all international students expressed the need for assistance in their academic and career decision making but did not seek career counseling services offered at the university. This underuse of counseling services is consistent with other findings that attribute this phenomena to the stigma associated with counseling (Mori, 2000; Pedersen, 1991; Sandhu, 1994).

Limitations Just as there are strengths in any research endeavor, there are also limitations. The small sample size and not accounting for within-group differences for the three survey groups are the main limitations of this study. The countries representing the Asian and non-Asian international students, for example, are profoundly different socially, economically, and politically. Regarding Asian and non-Asian international students as monoliths might discount these differences. A large portion of the variance in this research is probably caused by the within-group differences. This study examined the career trends of international students at a large Midwestern university. Therefore, generalizing these findings to other international students outside this institution should be done with caution.

Implications for Counselors Results of this study indicate that international students could benefit from counseling. Counselors and other university officials need to take a proactive role (Sandhu, 1994) in assisting international students with their career development needs. There are several ways this role can be accomplished; some may be relatively easy to establish, and others may take time and resources. First, it would be prudent for counselors to increase their repertoire of skills to include knowledge in working with international students and providing a less threatening platform for counseling. The following paragraphs will describe some helpful approaches.

Group Sessions Conducting group career decision-making or counseling sessions can be a safer alternative to individual sessions. Knowing that others in their group have similar problems can provide a sense of security and safety, thus reducing


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their inhibitions regarding sharing personal information. According to Brinson and Kottler (1995), a group-based platform allows international students to observe others before speaking on similar issues and provides a social support system. This technique can not only educate the counselors on the needs and changing trends of international students and their respective countries but also address some within-group variance of different cultures.

Narrative Techniques It would be nearly impossible for a counselor to be familiar with all cultures, as each country possesses its own unique socioeconomic, political, and cultural character. Utilitarian methods, such as social construction and narrative therapy, which emphasize the counselor’s role as a learner (White & Daniels, 1998), can be used to explore the international student’s life experiences in their home country while at the same time learning more about their country and culture. As international students narrate their personal stories using their own words, the counselor extracts meanings, themes, cultural nuances, beliefs and values, and family roles and expectations (Savickas, 1995). Similarly, current socioeconomic and political trends might be revealed, thus allowing the counselor to help identify occupational trends within the client’s country.

Genograms Developing genograms (McGoldrick & Gerson, 1985) during individual counseling provides a structured format whereby information about clients and their families can be elicited. Multigenerational themes concerning education, careers, work values and beliefs, gender roles, familial decisionmaking patterns, family rules about acceptable careers, family and societal influences on career choices, loyalty issues, and aborted dreams can be extracted through the process of constructing the genogram. Additionally, this process facilitates rapport building between the client and the counselor, as the counselor shows interest in the client’s life while simultaneously gaining information about them. More important, the international student can gain insights into how their upbringing, culture, and experiences have affected their career choices (Gysbers, Heppner, & Johnston, 1998).

Outreach In addition to the aforementioned suggestions for counselors, universities and colleges should make a concerted effort to have in place specific programs for promoting career counseling among international students. One way of



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accomplishing this is developing outreach programs through university career services or counseling centers. Another option is having a career counselor act as a liaison to the international student administrative office, someone who is knowledgeable of the changing trends and occupational demands of various countries.

Conclusion Given the importance of international students to the social, economic, and political development of the United States, it seems imperative that U.S. educational institutions actively explore and attend to the changing needs of international students. One such need is researching the international students’ career development behavior as it continues to change and providing appropriate support services.

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Yang, E., Wong, S. C., Hwang, M., & Heppner, M. J. (2002). Widening our global view: The development of career counseling services for international students. Journal of Career Development, 28, 203-213.

Hemla D. Singaravelu, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling & Family Therapy at Saint Louis University, Missouri. Lyle J. White, Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the Department of Educational Psychology and Special Education at Southern Illinois University–Carbondale. Tammy B. Bringaze, Ph.D., was formerly the director of university counseling services at Truman State University and is currently an adjunct professor at Saint Louis University and in private practice.
