Individual and contextual factors predicting educational and occupational career success

Abstract

Millaiset yksilöön ja perhe- ja kouluympäristöön liittyvät tekijät ennustavat uramenestystä?

Menestys koulutusuralla ja työuralla liittyy yksilön hyvinvointiin ja määrittää paljolti yksilön asemaa elämässä. Yksilön saavuttama koulutuksellinen menestys ja työuramenestys hyödyttävät myös yhteiskuntaa, koska menestyneet yksilöt ovat useimmiten yhteiskunnalle tuottavia jäseniä. On tärkeää tutkia millaiset tekijät ennustavat koulutuksellista menestystä ja työuramenestystä, jotta yhteiskunnan järjestelmiä ja rakenteita voidaan rakentaa tukemaan sellaisia kehitysprosesseja ja –syklejä, jotka auttavat lisäämään uramenestystä.

Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkasteltiin lapsuuden perheeseen ja kouluun liittyviä tekijöitä ja varhaisen aikuisuuden yksilöllisiä tekijöitä ennustamassa koulutuksellista menestystä ja työuramenestystä. Tutkimuksen osallistujat saatiin pitkittäisestä seurantatutkimuksesta ”Lasten sepelvaltimotautiriskiprojekti”.

Tutkimuksen aineistonkeruumenetelmänä käytettiin kyselyjä (itsearviot ja vanhempien arviot). Ensimmäinen aineistonkeruu toteutettiin vuonna 1980 ja seurannat vuosina 1983, 1992, 1997, 2001 ja 2007. Väitöksen osatutkimusten osallistujamäärä vaihtelee 621 osallistujasta 1893 osallistujaan. Koulutuksellista menestystä mitattiin saavutetulla koulutustasolla ja suoritettujen koulutusvuosien määrällä. Työuramenestystä arvioitiin työn ominaisuuksien ja työn pysyvyyden eli tässä vähäisemmän työttömyyden avulla.

Tutkimuksen tulosten mukaan kouluun ja perheeseen liittyvät tekijät (esim. koulumenestys, vanhempien koulutus, vanhempien tukea antava suhtautuminen) ennustavat uramenestystä. Tulosten mukaan myös yksilölliset tekijät (temperamenttipiirteet) ovat yhteydessä uramenestykseen. Olisi suositeltavaa pyrkiä löytämään tapoja, joiden avulla voidaan käynnistää ja edistää positiivisia kehitys- ja oppimissyklejä, jotka auttaisivat entistä paremman koulutuksellisen menestyksen ja työuramenestyksen saavuttamisessa.

Educational career success and occupational career success are important factors that are related to the well-being of the individual and to a large extent define one’s position in life. Furthermore, educational and occupational career success that the individual achieves benefits the society as whole, as successful individuals are usually productive members of the society. It is important to examine what kind of factors predict educational and occupational career success so that societal systems and structures can be built to support developmental processes and cycles leading to positive outcomes in terms of education and career. The present quantitative study was performed to examine individual and contextual factors that predict educational and occupational career success. More specifically, the present study examined effects of family- and school-related factors in childhood and individual dispositions in early adulthood on factors indicative of educational and occupational career success several years later. The participants of the study were derived from the ongoing prospective “Young Finns” study that began in year 1980. The measurements of the study were based on questionnaires (self-reports or parent-reports). Data collections were conducted at the baseline in year 1980 and at various follow-ups in years 1983, 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2007 depending on the sub-study in question. In each sub-study, the included participants were required to have full data on all study variables. Therefore, final number of participants varied from 621 to 1893. Educational career success was conceptualized as educational career that has led to as high education as possible. Education was assessed with two measures 1) educational attainment (i.e. comprehensive school or vocational education etc.) and 2) number of years of completed education. The occupational career success was assessed by work characteristics and stability of employment (as opposed to unemployment). The analyses were conducted with linear regressions and binary logistic regressions. In Study I, all of the school-related factors predicted educational career success. Receiving detention or remedial instruction decreased and higher school achievement increased educational career success. Of the family-related factors, mother’s years of education as well as father’s years of education increased, whereas parent’s strict disciplinary style decreased offspring educational career success. Adjusting for control variables did not essentially change these results. In Study II, of the family-related factors, more supportive parental child-rearing characteristics predicted offspring higher subjective occupational career success although the association was not found to all indicators of career success and part of the associations were attenuated to non-significant when all adjustments for the control variables were made. The Study III showed that of the participant’s individual dispositions, negative emotionality was associated lower subjective career success. Sociability, on the contrary, was associated with higher subjective career success. The results related to activity were somewhat mixed as activity was related to some indicators of lower subjective career success and some indicators of high subjective career success. In Study IV, high negative emotionality, low activity and low sociability predicted higher objective career success in terms of more continuous employment (as opposed to unemployment). In general, these associations were unchanged by the adjustments made. Based on the present results, it seems that already early factors may lead to more disadvantaged position, i.e. to circumstances with lower possibilities for educational and occupational career success. It should be considered whether there would be ways to break the negative developmental cycles for example by intervening already at an early stage, for instance, by extra support for families and for the students who have difficulties at school. It can also be suggested that it would be important to try to find ways to initiate and support positive developmental and learning cycles that would help all students, including the high performing ones, to perform better in achieving educational and occupational career success.