Relationship between Academic Aspirations, Career Aspirations and Career Identity: The Mediating Role of Attitudes Towards Academic and Career Futures

Adolescence is one of the most important stages of human life. At this stage, a person must make various choices, including the choice of field of study and occupation, which is one of the most important decisions for the individual. Regarding individual decision making about the right field of study and career, many things need to be considered, including career identity, academic aspirations, career, and a positive attitude about future education and career. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between academic aspirations, career aspirations and adolescent career identity along with the mediating role of attitudes toward academic and career future.

The method of the present study was bootstrap correlation.The statistical population consisted of all male and female high school students in the second district of Tehran province (1355 students). The statistical sample was 299 students that were selected by multistages random sampling method. instruments included career identity scale Dellas and Jernigan, academic aspirations DiPierro, career aspirations O'Brien, and attitudes toward academic and career future Jamali and Ghaleh Noei. Data analysis was performed structural equation modeling, using SPSS-23 and AMOS-23 softwares.

Findings showed that job aspirations have a positive effect on attitudes toward academic and career future (p <0/01), on direct job identity (p <0/05) and in general (p <0/05). Academic aspirations also have a direct positive effect on attitudes toward academic and career future (p <0/05) but do not have a direct and overall effect on career identity. Regarding indirect relationships, the results showed that both predictor variables have a positive and significant effect on career identity through perspective on the future (p <0/01).

Thus, teachers, counselors, and professionals during adolescence can help develop students' career identities by addressing their aspirations for education and employment.