Aspirations in Career Decisions

The American Heritage Dictionary defines aspiration as a strong desire for high achievement, or an object of this desire. According to this definition, an aspiration is either the desire to achieve an end state or the end state itself (goal). Theoretical interpretations of aspirations encompass both elements of the above definition. Researchers have defined the concept of aspiration as an expectation or goal comprising intentions and attitudes. An intention is a plan of action undertaken to achieve a particular goal, whereas an attitude represents one's personal orientation toward a goal. Thus, the intention to pursue the goal and the attitude toward the goal comprise an individual's aspirations. Career aspirations are the desire and intention to pursue an occupation or a particular position within an occupation. Aspirations play an important role in career decisions because they reflect the goals and intentions that influence individuals toward a particular course of action.

Aspirations develop over time. Throughout childhood and adulthood, individuals dream of places they would like to go, things they would like to experience, and ideas they would like to test. Adults often ask children, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” The younger the child, the less realistic the answer usually is (e.g., “I want to be a princess”). As young people grow, their vocational preferences begin to take on more realistic shapes. Individual characteristics such as sex, race, and social class may influence these vocational preferences.

The hopes and dreams of young adulthood often crystallize as career aspirations through experiences in the workplace. At work, individuals gain a sense of their own interests and abilities and begin to gravitate toward tasks, jobs, and occupations that most closely match their preferences and talents. Cognitive factors that are salient at work, such as valuing rewards associated with particular positions and feeling comfortable performing certain types of tasks, influence career aspirations and, ultimately, career decisions.

Career decisions are internal processes that allow individuals to analyze various alternatives and, finally, to accept or reject them. Career decisions may be broad, such as what type of occupation to enter, or narrow, such as whether to accept a promotion that will require relocation. Aspirations are a component of many career decision models because they represent the commitment an individual makes toward a particular course of action, and they also serve as the basis for feelings of success, a facilitator of career decisions. An individual's experiences and the degree of success and failure associated with those experiences depend on whether the achievement is above or below an expectation or level of aspiration. The level of aspiration is fundamental for the experience of success and failure, and, ultimately, changes by success and failure.

An individual is more likely to feel successful when he or she sets a challenging goal (high level of aspiration) and is able to determine his or her own means of attaining the goal, the goal is important to the individual's self-concept, and the goal is actually attained. Thus, experiencing feelings of success is a fundamental component of an individual's career aspirations.

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