New Article published in Journal of Educational Psychology

The study “Domain-Specific Career Aspirations, Motivation, and Achievement in Math and Reading Across Adolescence” by Elisabeth Graf, Jörg-Tobias Kuhn and Nele McElvany investigates how domain-specific career aspirations in mathematics and reading develop across adolescence and how they relate to motivation and achievement.

Drawing on longitudinal data from 8,317 adolescents in Germany, the authors analyse the stability, trajectories, and predictors of math- and reading-related career aspirations from early adolescence to young adulthood. In addition, the study examines whether associations with motivational beliefs—such as intrinsic motivation—change over time and whether career aspirations themselves predict later motivational beliefs and achievement.

The findings show increasing stability of domain-specific career aspirations as well as slight increases in both math- and reading-related career aspirations across adolescence. Moreover, associations between intrinsic motivation and reading-related career aspirations are stronger at age 16 than at age 13.

Furthermore, the analyses provide partial support for associations between career aspirations and motivational beliefs measured two years later. The results underline adolescence as a critical period for career development and offer important implications for career counseling and the promotion of domain-specific interests in educational contexts.

To the paper: Article in Journal of Educational Psychology