Acculturation, Career Barriers, and Comfort with College Environment: Predictors of the Career Commitment Process in Mexican American and White College Students

This study explored the extent to which Mexican and Anglo acculturation, perceived career barriers, and comfort with the college environment would predict two dimensions of the commitment to career choices process (i.e., vocational exploration and commitment and tendency to foreclose) in a sample of 248 Mexican American and White college students. Vocational exploration and commitment (VEC) is defined as the exploration of oneself and the world of work to aid in the narrowing down of choices to make an informed decision and eventual commitment to a future career. Tendency to foreclose is characterized by committing to important educational and career decisions as rapidly as possible and holding fast to these decisions despite disconfirming experiences. Hierarchical regressions found when students encounter challenging obstacles like those associated with potential gender and ethnic barriers and discomfort with their college environment, they became motivated to engage in vocational exploration and commitment. For Mexican American college students and White female college students, personal discomfort with their educational settings propelled them to explore themselves, their values, and career options. Furthermore, a hierarchical regression found White female college students' concerns about barriers positively predicted vocational exploration and commitment. It was evident that Mexican American and White female college students perceived barriers to their occupational futures. In particular, Mexican American female university students perceived significantly more barriers than Mexican American males and White peers. Perceived barriers could have an inhibiting effect on the career exploration process of Mexican American college students and White women if specific careers are prematurely selected without full consideration of other potential vocational options. The Mexican Americans in this sample who identified with their Mexican culture and who were comfortable in their college environment, felt less anxious about selecting a career. Espousing traditional Mexican values and knowledge of the Spanish language may act as a protective factor and support students' career decision-making abilities.