Relationship of occupational information and career maturity characteristics of students majoring in Clothing Merchandising

The sample consisted of 94 students enrolled in the Clothing Merchandising program at the University of Southern Mississippi during Spring semester, 1980. The sample contained 14 freshmen, 24 sophomores, 25 juniors, and 30 seniors; 4 students were male, and 90 were female.

A personal information sheet was used to collect data about age, classification, credit hours in the major and minor fields, and work experience. Specific occupational information in the field of clothing merchandising was measured by a 50-item test designed specifically for the study. The Career Development Inventory, College Form III was used to measure career maturity. Career decidedness was measured by the Career Decision Scale.

Multiple regression analysis utilizing the stepwise maximum R² improvement technique was used to analyze the relationship between specific occupational information and age, classification, credit hours in the major and minor, and work experience. The same set of independent variables with the addition of specific occupational information were analyzed in relation to both career maturity and career decidedness.

The single best predictor of specific occupational information was classification. All of the specified variables were related to specific occupational information with a total value of .23. The single best predictor of career maturity was specific occupational information. All specified variables were related to career maturity with an R² value of .49. For career decidedness, only age and credit hours in the major and minor were related, and the R² value of the predictive model was only .13.

It was concluded that students should have access to occupational information directly related to their field of interest as soon as possible in their college career, before extensive investments of time and money in a field are made. In that way, persistence in an academic field could be based on more accurate perceptions of the eventual career opportunities. The relationship of specific occupational information to career mature behavior was emphasized by the results of the study. Further, the theoretical position that career maturity in college students is developmental and increases with class level was supported. Contrary to expectation, however, specific occupational information had no relationship to career decidedness, and in general that construct remained relatively unexplained by the variables included in the study.