Understanding the Educational Aspirations of Taiwanese Aboriginal Adolescents Based on the Developmental-Contextual Model of Career Development

DOI: 10.5716/2251-1814_EeL40

Authors: Ya-Ling Wu

Abstract:

In Taiwan, the educational achievement level of indigenous students is well below that of their non-indigenous counterparts. Because it illustrates both contextual and individual influences on career development, the developmental-contextual model of career development could be utilized to produce a more comprehensive understanding of the educational aspirations of ethnic minority adolescents. Therefore, this study tested the proposed theoretical model of the educational aspirations of Taiwanese Aboriginal adolescents by applying the developmental-contextual model as its framework via structural equation modeling. The study simultaneously examined the relationships between the variables in the proposed model, which were educational aspirations, school self-concept, parental educational support, school support, social welfare resources, and family socioeconomic status. Data were collected from a questionnaire survey of 851 Taiwanese Aboriginal senior high school students, and data analysis was performed using structural equation modeling. The findings supported the proposed research model and demonstrated the direct and indirect relationships between the variables.

Keywords: Educational aspirations, Developmental-contextual model, Aboriginal adolescents, Structural equation modeling