Our study involved a comprehensive literature review on the relationship between social class and career development. We examined trends in vocational research published in a Korean peer-reviewed journal that focused on social class or socioeconomic s...
Our study involved a comprehensive literature review on the relationship between social class and career development. We examined trends in vocational research published in a Korean peer-reviewed journal that focused on social class or socioeconomic status, using samples of students from elementary, middle, high school, and college. We conducted a content analysis and keyword network analysis of 94 studies that included social class or related keywords, published between 2000 and 2022. The primary findings are as follows. First, there was a rise in the number of manuscripts per year starting in 2013, reaching a peak in 2020, and subsequently experiencing a slight decrease. Second, career papers focusing on social class were published in diverse academic fields, including social welfare, vocational, youth, and education journals.
Most of these studies were conducted with high school students, followed by college students or adults, and then middle school students. Third, quantitative research comprised the majority, making up 72% of the total. Fourth, the main keywords were "youth," "poverty," "relationships," and "maturity," indicating that many studies centered on the experiences of impoverished youth, the exploration of related variables, and career maturity. Finally, the results of the cluster analysis by major keywords resulted in three clusters: cluster 1 (exploring relationships between career-related constructs for college students), cluster 2 (testing program effectiveness for children from low-income families), and cluster 3 (broadly exploring career-related factors for adolescents). Lastly, we discuss the implications of these findings for future research