This study conducted an analysis of differences by college major and gender in college students' (1) Department Satisfaction(DS), (2) Career Maturity(CM), and (3) Career Stress(CS); and the correlation among the three factors above. The purpose of thi...
This study conducted an analysis of differences by college major and gender in college students' (1) Department Satisfaction(DS), (2) Career Maturity(CM), and (3) Career Stress(CS); and the correlation among the three factors above. The purpose of this research is to understand profoundly the current status of the college students' career matters, to contribute to the development of a suitable career guidance program for college students, and to help college students make the right decisions on their career.
The participants in the study were 693 third-year students of "K" University, selected from each college major group using cluster random sampling. The students had a test on the three factors. The test material for DS was a questionnaire designed by Ha Hye-sook(2000). The test material for CM was CMI translated into Korean by Kim Hyun-ok(1989) and revised by Kim Bong-Hwan(1997). The test material for CS was the re-revised version of the test standardized by Kim Dong-jo(2003) and revised by Seo Yu-jin(2007). The responses in the tests were analyzed using SPSS.
The result of the research is as follows:
(1) Differences by college major and gender in DS, CM and CS
Firstly, there are meaningful college major differences in DS, both total DS and all the subclasses. In overall DS and Curriculum Satisfaction, Relation Satisfaction, Engineering ranked the top; and in General Satisfaction and Social Perception Satisfaction, Medical Science and Pharmacy ranked the top.
Secondly, there are meaningful gender differences in DS. Male students recorded higher level than female students in both overall DS and all the subclasses.
Thirdly, there are meaningful college major differences in CM, both total CM and all the subclasses. In total CM, Involvement, Independence, Compromise, Humanities ranked the top; and in Decisiveness, Education ranked the top; and in Orientation, Medical Science and Pharmacy ranked the top.
Fourthly, there are partially meaningful gender differences in CM. In Decisiveness and Orientation, male students recorded higher level than female students; however, the difference is not statistically meaningful. Though in total CM, Independence, Compromise, female students showed the higher level than male students, the difference is not statistically significant, either. But Involvement was the only subclass that showed that female students have a meaningfully higher level than male students.
Fifthly, there are meaningful college major differences in CS. In total CS, Medical Science and Pharmacy ranked lower level than Social Science, Engineering, Natural Science, Arts and Athletics.
Sixthly, there are meaningful gender differences in CS. In total CS, female students recorded higher level than male students.
(2) Correlation among DS, CM and CS
Firstly, there is meaningful positive correlation between total DS and total CM. There is overall meaningful positive correlation between DS subclasses and CM subclasses; however, there is partially negative correlation in some subclasses.
Secondly, there is meaningful negative correlation between total DS and total CS, and between DS subclasses and CS subclasses. Therefore, as the DS gets higher, the CS gets lower.
Thirdly, there is meaningful negative correlation between total CM and total CS, and between CM subclasses and CS subclasses. Therefore, as the CM gets higher, the CS gets lower.
In conclusion, there are significant college major and gender differences in college students' DS, CM and CS; and there are meaningful correlation among all the three factors.