Professional/Career Orientation, Awareness, And Their Relationship To Locus Of Control

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the differences in professional/career orientation and awareness while considering a number of variables including locus of control, academic specialization and school backwardness. Several measures were used to achieve the study’s goals. The first two, a professional/career orientation measure and a professional/career awareness measure, were designed by the researcher, whereas the third measure was Rotter's locus of control scale. Prior to the study, the stability and validity of these tools were verified on 166 female student participants recruited from Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU). The results indicated the presence of differences with respect to the electronic orientation of female students according to Rotter's external locus of control measure. The study also confirmed that there were differences in the professional awareness variable in favor of female students who exhibited an external locus of control, whereas no differences were noted in the professional awareness of female students with different professional orientations. The findings also showed differences in scientific and electronic orientations among students with different specializations, in favor of the female students enrolled in the Department of Computer Science and Information Technology, whereas no differences were noted in professional/career awareness for the academic specialization variable. No differences were noted in the professional orientations and awareness among female students who demonstrated school backwardness and those who did not. The results were interpreted in light of the theoretical frameworks and cultural contexts of the sample. The results of the study were also linked to previous results.