1. The Implications of Education to Occupational Identity Development Päivi Fadjukoff & Lea Pulkkinen Agora Center & Department of Psychology
In a longitudinal analysis from pre-adolescence (age 14) to adulthood (ages 27, 36 and 42) the educational background was compared to the occupational identity outcomes at the three age levels. According to the preliminary results, the positive impact of schooling appears to unfold slowly in later identity commitments.
PARTICIPANTS
The study was part of the Jyväskylä Longitudinal Study of Personality and Social Development. The original random sample consisted of 8-year-olds, 173 girls and 196 boys. The same sample was studied in pre-adolescence (age 14). The identity interview was conducted at ages 27, 36, and 42 with 197 of the participants (100 women and 97 men).
VARIABLES
Educational background
- The participants’ school success (GPA, grade point average) at age 14, scale in school grades 4-10
Level of basic education, scale 1-6 (1= incompleted comprehensive school, 6= completed upper secondary school)
Level of vocational and professional education, scale 0-7
(0 = no vocational education, 7 = licentiate or doctorate at a university)
Identity interview was based on the Eriksonian tradition and Marcia’s identity status paradigm:
Four identity statuses were defined for occupational identity by using two criteria: the presence (+) or absence (-) of a period of exploration, and the firmness of personal commitment:
Diffusion (- (or past +) exploration, - commitment),
Moratorium (+ exploration at the moment, - commitment),
Foreclosure (- exploration, + commitment), and
Achievement (+ exploration, + commitment).
The hypothesized sequence of development is from diffusion towards achievement. To develop an ordinal scale, the intermediate statuses were combined. (D=1, M or F =2, A=3)
TABLE. Correlations between the level of the participants’ school success at age 14, basic, vocational/professional education, and the occupational identity at ages 27, 36, and 42.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
The table of correlations indicate that neither one’s school success nor level of education was related to the occupational identity status at age 27. However, the same variables were positively linked with identity at later ages of 36 and 42.
The ANOVA analysis for variance found significant associations between the occupational identity and the following educational variables:
At 27; n.s.
At 36; GPA: F(3, N=185)=2.58, p=.055 (n.s.)
basic education n.s.
professional education: F (3, N=191) =4.61, p=.004
At 42; GPA: F(2, N=184) =5.69 p=.004
basic education: F (2, N=190) =7.23, p=.001
professional education: F (2, N=190) =4.46, p=.013
FIGURE.
Means of the educational background
variables compared to the occupational
identity status at ages 27, 36, and 42.
PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS
Late adolescence and early adulthood are times for identity exploration. During these years, the positive impact of schooling to identity commitments cannot be detected. Short longitudinal studies, ending in the emerging or early adulthood, may therefore give misleading results about the associations between schooling and identity.
GPA at 14
Basic Education
Professional Education
Diff.
N=43
Morat.
N=70
Forecl.
N=48
Ach.
N=31
N=4
N=13
N=105
N=17
N=0
N=56
N=118
Vocational Identity
at age 27 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
at age 36
at age 42