Dysfunctional Career Thoughts and the Sophomore Slump Among Students With Learning Disabilities

The present study sought to underline the need for expanded transitioning college programming to the 2nd year by examining dysfunctional career thoughts among college students with learning disabilities (LDs). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to examine the mean differences between 93 college sophomores and seniors with LD on the three subscales of the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI). Findings from the MANOVA showed significant mean differences among groups. Follow-up analysis found that sophomores showed significantly higher dysfunctional career thoughts than seniors. Seniors displayed substantially lower mean scores on the CTI subscales than sophomores. Findings support the need to extend transition programming that includes addressing students’ dysfunctional career thoughts beyond the 1st year to help ease college transition difficulties and thus promote persistence and retention of students with LD. Research and practice implications are presented for career scholars and practitioners working with college students with LD.

Cognitive Processes and Their Associations With Vocational Identity Development During Emerging Adulthood

In the present study, we examined the associations between cognitive processes and vocational identity development. A sample of 318 Korean emerging adults participated in the study. Using three-wave longitudinal data and applying multilevel modeling, we tested within- and between-person-level associations. We found that individuals who are higher in career self-efficacy than others are more likely to be engaged in exploration and commitment. Those who exhibit more dysfunctional career thoughts are less likely to be engaged in commitment but more likely to reconsider their identities. We found a similar pattern at the within-person level: At times when one exhibits high self-efficacy than usual, one is more likely to be engaged in exploration and commitment; however, at times when one exhibits more dysfunctional thoughts than usual, one is less likely to be committed to a career and more likely to reconsider. We discuss the implications of the study results.