2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Linking Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Outcome Expectations, Interests, Career Goals, Self-Efficacy, Social Support, and Barriers in Singapore: A Social Cognitive Career Theory Study

Presented at Student Experiences and Development – Session 2

The present paper assessed the attributes that could influence career decisions among undergraduate engineering students in Singapore. The social cognitive career theory (SCCT) was employed as the theoretical guideline for the investigation. This paper was directed by three main research questions: (1) How do self-efficacy (SE), outcome expectation (OE), social support (SS), barriers (BR), and interests (IN) affect career decisions among engineering students? (2) How do SS, OE, SS, BR, IN, and career goals (CG) correlate? (3) Are there any differences in the psychological factors between freshmen and senior undergraduate students? 27 participants were recruited from an internationally recognized research institution in Singapore. Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA, Spearman rank-order correlation, and Mann-Whitney U tests were implemented to analyze the collected data. Results from this paper revealed that outcome expectations and interests significantly influenced career decisions, while self-efficacy, social support, and barriers did not have a significant effect. Moreover, there were significant correlations among psychological factors, except between career goals and self-efficacy. No significant differences between freshmen and senior engineering students were found in the psychological factors. Limitations and potential directions for future research are explored in greater depth.

Authors

Mr. Tejas Gupta Nanyang Technological University [biography]

Tejas Gupta is an undergraduate student in his second year at Nanyang Technological University, majoring in mathematics. As a member of Dr. Yeter's Research Team, Tejas is currently engaged in a study on social cognitive career theory. With a strong background in STEM education and data analysis, Tejas has gained a distinct insight into the influence of social and cognitive factors on education.
Dr. Ibrahim H. Yeter http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0175-2306 Nanyang Technological University [biography]

Ibrahim H. Yeter, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the National Institute of Education (NIE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. He is an affiliated faculty member of the NTU Centre for Research and Development in Learning (CRADLE) and the NTU Institute for Science and Technology for Humanity (NISTH). Dr. Yeter serves as the Director of the World MOON Project and holds editorial roles as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Education and Editorial Board Member for the Journal of Research and Practice in Technology Enhanced Learning. He is also the upcoming Program Chair-Elect of the PCEE Division at ASEE. His current research interests include STEM+C education, specifically artificial intelligence literacy, computational thinking, and engineering.
Michael Jin Khoo Singapore University of Technology and Design [biography]

Michael is a psychological science graduate from James Cook University Singapore. He is currently working in Dr. Yeter's Research Team at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, including artificial intelligence literacy, computational thinking, and engineering education. His background in psychology and passion for research enables Michael to offer a unique perspective to the team.

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