2009;17:324-337. doi: 10.1177/1069072708330676.

The development and initial validation of social cognitive career theory instruments to measure choice of medical specialty and practice location.

Journal of Career Assessment

Mary E Rogers, Judy Searle

UIID-EM: 71 Bookshelf ID: 2009-11560-007 DOI: 10.1177/1069072708330676

Abstract

Social cognitive career theory served as the basis for the instrument development for scales assessing self-efficacy, outcome expectations, and goals to predict medical career choice. Lent and Brown's conceptualization of social cognitive constructs guided the development of items to measure choice of medical specialty and practice location. Study 1 involved four stages: identification of attitudes and beliefs, generation of scale items, evaluation of scale items by experts, and a pilot study. The pilot study tested the item pool with 293 medical students and allowed item and exploratory factor analyses. Study 2 administered the scales to a second sample of 499 medical students. Confirmatory factor analysis assessed consistency and validity, and identified six psychometrically sound instruments. Initial validity for the scales was found encouraging, with further testing of these measures expected to support their use. Implications for use in research are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved). (journal abstract)

Keywords: practice location; social cognitive career theory; specialty choice; Professional Specialization

Publication Types

• Journal Article