In ‘Examining Contextual Factors in the Career Decision Status of African American Adolescents’ Constantine et al., (2005) submits that career development decisions of African American adolescents are influenced by perceived career barriers and parental support. The study is a social predictive research aimed at articulating sundry factors impeding/influencing career development in the context of adolescent generic perceptions of how the two variables- barriers and parental support or lack thereof affect their career decisions. Constantine et al tie their study around the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) which situates individual career development on the triad of; confidence in their self abilities, career expectations, and goals. The research test extant theoretical persuasions on challenges of cultural, environmental and situational factors as they interact and direct the perception of these early decision takers into their future professions. Advocating a post-positivist philosophical view, Constantine et al follow a clear quantitative research design that inculcates aspects of reductionisms scant variable paradigm as seen in the sole focus on perceptions of barriers and parental support connected to cognitive, demographic, behavioral and psychological factors. Empiricism sedate the study, further underscoring the authors clear persuasions for quantitative determination against under tones of a mixed method design subject to some form of pragmatic conceptualism of their frame, and rank based study instruments. They support the study with a methodology adapting demographic Likert-type questionnaires for POBs; CSS; and CDS but with numeric analytic determination. Results indicated a significant variation in career certainty and indecision by sampled adolescents as a result of changes in the two predictor variables. Whereas perception of positive parental support was associated with career certainty, perceptions of barriers were mostly correlated to indecision. However the authors citing Rollins(2001) seem to hold no illusions to the fact that some inconsistencies may be inherent in such a study such as the effect of a supra negative indicator like racism in reinforcing positive career decisions in adolescents, and the obvious limitations that may arise from the overgeneralization of the racial demography-African Americans. Generally, the study was mostly determinate in the verifications of the author’s earlier theoretical persuasions, hypothetical rendering and non-phenomenological approach; notable factors clearly detailing a quantitative research design.

References: Rollins, V.B. (2001). Perceived racism and career self-efficacy in African American