This study attempted to investigate the effects of academic self-efficacy on satisfaction with academic major and career awareness and examine if there is any causality among variables among students from cosmetology high schools. For this, a self-adm...
This study attempted to investigate the effects of academic self-efficacy on satisfaction with academic major and career awareness and examine if there is any causality among variables among students from cosmetology high schools. For this, a self-administered questionnaire survey was conducted from March 30 to April 20, 2017 (for 3 weeks) among students from cosmetology high schools in Gwangju and Jeonnam. Among a total of 650 questionnaires, 19 incompletely answered surveys were excluded, leaving a total of 631 copies used for final analysis. To analyze the collected data, SPSS WIN 21.0 was adopted. For hypothesis testing, factor analysis, descriptive statistics, factor analysis, reliability analysis, multiple regression analysis and path analysis were performed.
For analysis, factors were classified by variable as follows:
1. Academic self-efficacy was divided into academic confidence, academic self-regulatory efficacy and task difficulty.
2. Satisfaction with major was divided into satisfaction with cosmology curriculum and satisfaction with relationship recognition.
3. Career awareness was classified into awareness of egoic career and awareness of career goals.
The study results found the following:
First, academic self-efficacy had a positive effect on satisfaction with academic major with statistical significance (p<.001). The hypothesis “Academic self-efficacy would have an influence on satisfaction with academic major” was supported.
Second, academic self-efficacy had a positive effect on career awareness with statistical significance (p<.001), supporting the hypothesis “Academic self-efficacy would have an influence on career awareness”.
Third, satisfaction with academic major had a positive effect on career awareness with statistical significance (p<.001), supporting the hypothesis “Satisfaction with academic major would have an influence on career awareness”.
Fourth, academic self-efficacy had a positive effect on career awareness with statistical significance, taking satisfaction with academic major as a mediator (p<.001). Satisfaction with academic major partially mediates the relationship between academic self-efficacy and career awareness, proving the existence of causality, supporting the hypothesis “Academic self-efficacy would affect career awareness, taking satisfaction with academic major as a mediator”.
The said results show that academic self-efficacy has a positive effect on satisfaction with academic major and career awareness among students from cosmetology high schools. It appears that it is necessary to increase satisfaction with academic major and develop a plan for employment linkage by career awareness through the development of cosmetology education modules that respond to current trends. There is also a need to develop diverse educational programs in addition to major courses and make up and develop a one-stop, linked system. Such internal cosmetology-related programs would facilitate academic major-related career activities and increase employment rates, which is the ultimate goal of cosmetology high schools.
It is expected that this study would be useful as basic data for the development of a cosmetology education system designed for career linkage and educational satisfaction.
Keywords: Cosmetology High School, Academic Self-efficacy, Satisfaction with Academic Major, Career Awareness, Major of Cosmetology