This study investigated the relationships among personal and environmental variables (i.e., college student generation status, psychological distress, experiences with racism and classism, and perceived social status [PSS]) and work hope. One hundred and seventy-six undergraduate students attending a predominantly White institution who identified as members of an underrepresented racial/ethnic group completed the study. Consistent with the hypotheses, results demonstrated that increased psychological distress and more experiences with classism, experiences with racism related to lowered levels of work hope and that heightened PSS related positively to work hope. When examined in combination, all variables significantly predicted work hope, but only the βs for psychological distress and PSS were significant. Unexpectedly, first-generation college students did not significantly differ from continuing generation college students in levels of work hope. Limitations, directions for future research, and implications for career counseling are presented.
BarnumD. D.SnyderC. R.RapoffM. A.ManiM. M.ThompsonR. (1998). Hope and social support in psychological adjustment of children who have survived burn injuries and their matched controls. Children’s Health Care, 27, 15–30.
2.
BetzN. E.GwilliamL. R. (2002). The utility of measures of self-efficacy for the Holland themes in African American and European American college students. Journal of Career Assessment, 10, 283–300.
3.
BetzN. E.HackettG. (1981). The relationship of career-related self-efficacy expectations to perceived career options in college women and men. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 28, 399.
4.
BlusteinD. (2006). The psychology of working: A new perspective for career development, counseling, and public policy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
5.
BrownM. T.D’AgrumaH. D.BrownA.SiaA.Yamini-DioufY.PorterS.Ruiz de EsparzaC. (2002). Differential status identity: Construct, measurement, and initial validation. Symposium presented during the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
6.
Bryant-DavisT.OcampoC. (2005). Racist incident based trauma. Counseling Psychologist, 33, 479–500.
7.
ByarsA. (2001). Rights of way: Affirmative career counseling with African American women. In OsipowS.WalshB.BinghamR.BrownM. (Eds.), Career counseling for African Americans (pp. 113–137). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
8.
Byars-WinstonA. M.FouadN. A. (2008). Math and science social cognitive variables in college students contributions of contextual factors in predicting goals. Journal of Career Assessment, 16, 425–440.
9.
CabreraA. F.La NasaS. M. (2001). On the path to college: Three critical tasks facing America’s disadvantaged. Research in Higher Education, 42, 119–149.
10.
CarifioJ.RhodesL. (2002). Construct validities and the empirical relationships between optimism, hope, self-efficacy, and locus of control. Work, 19, 125–136.
11.
CarterR. T. (2007). Racism and psychological and emotional injury: Recognizing and assessing race-based traumatic stress. The Counseling Psychologist, 35, 13–105.
12.
CejaM. (2006). Understanding the role of parents and siblings as information sources in the college choice process of Chicana students. Journal of College Student Development, 47, 87–104.
13.
ChangE. C.DeSimoneS. L. (2001). The influence of hope on appraisals, coping, and dysphoria: A test of hope theory. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 20, 117–129.
14.
CurryL. A.SnyderC. R.CookD. L.RubyB. C.RehmM. (1997). Role of hope in academic and sport achievement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 1257–1267.
15.
DerogatisL. R. (2001). BSI 18, Brief Symptom Inventory 18: Administration, scoring and procedures manual. Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson.
16.
DerogatisL. R.DerogatisM. F. (1996). SCL-90 and the BSI. In SpilkerB. (Ed.), Quality of life and pharmacoeconomics in clinical trials (2nd ed., pp. 323–335). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott-Raven.
17.
DiemerM. A.AliR. S. (2009). Integrating social class into vocational psychology: Theory and practice implications. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, 247–265. doi:10.1177/1069072708330462
18.
DiemerM. A.BlusteinD. L. (2007). Vocational hope and vocational identity: Urban adolescents’ career development. Journal of Career Assessment, 15, 98–118.
19.
DiemerM. A.HsiehC. A. (2008). Sociopolitical development and vocational expectations among lower socioeconomic status adolescents of color. The Career Development Quarterly, 56, 257–267.
20.
DuffyR. D.AllanB. A.DikB. J. (2011). The presence of a calling and academic satisfaction: Examining potential mediators. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 79, 74–80.
21.
FouadN. A.BinghamR. P. (1995). Career counseling with racial and ethnic minorities. In WalshW. B.OsipowS. H. (Eds.), Handbook of vocational psychology: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 331–365). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
22.
FouadN. A.BrownM. T. (2000). Role of race and social class in development: Implications for counseling psychology. In BrownS. D.LentR. W. (Eds.), Handbook of counseling psychology (pp. 379–408). New York, NY: John Wiley.
23.
GainorK. A. (2006). Twenty-five years of self-efficacy in career assessment and practice. Journal of Career Assessment, 14, 161–178.
24.
GomezM. J.FassingerR. E.ProsserJ.CookeK.MejiaB.LunaJ. (2001). Voces abriendo caminos (voices foraging paths): A qualitative study of the career development of notable Latinas. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 286–300.
25.
HackettG.BetzN. E.CasasJ. M.Rocha-SinghI. A. (1992). Gender, ethnicity, and social cognitive factors predicting the academic achievement of students in engineering. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 39, 527.
26.
HelmsJ. E.NicholasG.GreenC. E. (2012). Racism and ethnoviolence as trauma: Enhancing professional and research training. Traumatology, 18, 65–74.
27.
JacksonC. C.NevilleH. A. (1998). Influence of racial identity attitudes on African American college students’ vocational identity and hope. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 53, 97–113.
28.
JuntunenC. L.BarracloughD. J.BroneckC. L.SeibelG. A.WinrowS. A.MorinP. M. (2001). American Indian perspectives on the career journey. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 274.
29.
JuntunenC. L.WetterstenK. B. (2006). Work hope: Development and initial validation of a measure. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 53, 94–106.
30.
KennyM. E.Walsh-BlairL. Y.BlusteinD. L.BempechatJ.SeltzerJ. (2010). Achievement motivation among urban adolescents: Work hope, autonomy support, and achievement-related beliefs. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 77, 205–212.
31.
KlonoffE. A.LandrineH. (1996). Acculturation and cigarette smoking among African-American adults. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 19, 501–514.
32.
LandrineH.KlonoffE. A.CorralI.FernandezS.RoeschS. (2006). Conceptualizing and measuring ethnic discrimination in health research. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 29, 79–94.
33.
LanghoutR. D.RosselliF.FeinsteinJ. (2007). Assessing classism in academic settings. The Review of Higher Education, 30, 145–184. doi:10.1353/rhe.2006.0073
34.
LapanR. T.AdamsA.TurnerS.HinkelmanJ. M. (2000). Seventh graders’ vocational interest and efficacy expectation patterns. Journal of Career Development, 26, 215–229.
35.
LentR. W.BrownS. D.HackettG. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of vocational behavior, 45, 79–122.
36.
LentR. W.BrownS. D.HackettG. (2000). Contextual supports and barriers to career choice: A social cognitive analysis. Journal of counseling psychology, 47, 36–49.
LucasM. S. (1993). Personal, social, academic, and career problems expressed by minority college students. Journal of Multicultural Counseling and Development, 21, 2–13.
39.
MastenA. S.HubbardJ. J.GestS. D.TellegenA.GarmezyN.RamirezM. (1999). Competence in the context of adversity: Pathways to resilience and maladaptation from childhood to late adolescence. Development and psychopathology, 11, 143–169.
40.
MetzA. J.FouadN.Ihle-HelledyK. (2009). Career aspirations and expectations of college students: Demographic and labor market comparisons. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, 155–171.
41.
MichaelS. T. (2000). Hope conquers fear: Overcoming anxiety and panic attacks. In SnyderC. R. (Ed.), Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications (pp. 355–378). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
42.
MoradiB.SubichL. M. (2003). A concomitant examination of the relations of perceived racist and sexist events to psychological distress for African American women. The Counseling Psychologist, 31, 451–469.
43.
OnwuegbuzieA. J. (1998). Role of hope in predicting anxiety about statistics. Psychological Reports, 82, 1315–1320.
44.
OsegueraL. (2005). Four and six-year baccalaureate degree completion by institutional characteristics and racial/ethnic groups. Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory and Practice, 7, 19–59.
45.
OstroveJ. M.LongS. M. (2007). Social class and belonging: Implications for college adjustment. Review of Higher Education, 30, 363.
46.
PearsonS. M.BieschkeK. J. (2001). Succeeding against the odds: An examination of familial influences on the career development of professional African American women. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 304–309.
47.
ReynoldsA. L.PopeR. L. (1991). The complexities of diversity: Exploring multiple oppressions. Journal of Counseling & Development, 70, 174–180.
48.
RitzS. F.HyersL. L. (2005). The stigma of poverty: The nature and implications of everyday classism. Poster presented during the annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC.
49.
RobinsonT. L. (1999). The intersections of dominant discourses across race, gender, and other identities. Journal of Counseling & Development, 77, 73–79.
50.
RottinghausP. J.JenkinsN.JantzerA. M. (2009). Relation of depression and affectivity to career decision status and self-efficacy in college students. Journal of Career Assessment, 17, 271–285.
51.
SaundersD. E.PetersonG. W.SampsonJ. P.JrReardonR. C. (2000). Relation of depression and dysfunctional career thinking to career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 56, 288–298.
52.
SavickasR., (2003). Event-induced volatility and tests for abnormal performance. Journal of Financial Research, 16, 165–178.
53.
SirinS. R.DiemerM. A.JacksonL. R.GonsalvesL.HowellA. (2004). Future aspirations of urban adolescents: A person-in-context model. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 17, 437–456.
54.
SnyderC. R. (Ed.). (2000). Handbook of hope: Theory, measures, and applications. RetrievedOnline via Elsevier.
55.
SnyderC. R.HarrisC.AndersonJ. R.HolleranS. A.IrvingL. A.SigmonS. T.…HarneyP. (1991). The will and the ways: Development and validation of an individual-differences measure of hope. Journal of Personality and SocialPsychology, 60, 570–585.
56.
SnyderC. R.ShoreyH. S.CheavensJ.PulversK. M.AdamsV. H.WiklundC. (2002). Hope and academic success in college. Journal of educational psychology, 94, 820–826.
57.
SwimJ. K.HyersL. L.CohenL. L.FitzgeraldD. C.BylsmaW. H. (2003). African American college students’ experiences with everyday racism: Characteristics of and responses to these incidents. Journal of Black Psychology, 29, 38–67.
58.
TaylorS. E.KleinL. C.LewisB. P.GruenewaldT. L.GurungR. A.UpdegraffJ. A. (2000). Biobehavioral responses to stress in females: Tend-and-befriend, not fight-or-flight. Psychological review, 107, 411.
59.
TerenziniP.SpringerL.YaegerP.PascarellaE.NoraA. (1996). First-generation college students: Characteristics, experiences, and cognitive development. Research in Higher Education, 37, 1–22.
60.
ThompsonM. N. (2008). Relations of supports and barriers to social status and vocational behavior. Dissertation Abstracts International: Section B. The Sciences and Engineering, 69, 5104.
61.
ThompsonM. N. (2013). Career barriers and coping efficacy among Native American students. Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 311–325.
62.
ThompsonM. N.PhillipsJ. C. (2013). Promoting college retention in first-generation college students. In VeraE. (Ed.), Handbook of prevention in counseling (pp. 330–346). Oxford University Press, New York, NY.
63.
ThompsonM. N.SubichL. M. (2006). The relation of social status to the career decision-making process. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69, 289–301.
64.
ThompsonM. N.SubichL. M. (2007). Exploration and validation of the differential status identity scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 15, 227–239.
65.
ThompsonM. N.SubichL. M. (2011). Social status identity: Antecedents and vocational outcomes. The Counseling Psychologist, 39, 735–763.
66.
ThompsonM. N.SubichL. M. (2012). Development and exploration of the experiences with classism scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 139–158.
67.
ThompsonM. N.SubichL. M. (2013). Development and exploration of the experiences with classism scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 21, 139–158.
68.
WalkerJ. V.PetersonG. W. (2012). Career thoughts, indecision, and depression implications for mental health assessment in career counseling. Journal of Career Assessment, 20, 497–506.
69.
WaynorW. R.GaoN.DolceJ. N.HaytasL. A.ReillyA. (2012). The relationship between hope and symptoms. Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal, 35, 345–348.
70.
WilliamsC. M.SubichL. M. (2006). The gendered nature of career related learning experiences: A social cognitive career theory perspective. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 69, 262–275.
71.
WooS. M.KeatingeC. (2008). Diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders across the lifespan. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
72.
YakushkoO.SokolovaO. (2010). Work hope and influences of the career development among Ukrainian college students. Journal of Career Development, 36, 310–323.
