Using the domain identification model to study major and career decision-making processes

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which (1) a domain identification model could be used to predict students’ engineering major and career intentions and (2) the MUSIC Model of Motivation components could be used to predict domain identification. The data for this study were collected from first-year engineering students. We used a structural equation model to test the hypothesised relationship between variables in the partial domain identification model. The findings suggested that engineering identification significantly predicted engineering major intentions and career intentions and had the highest effect on those two variables compared to other motivational constructs. Furthermore, results suggested that success, interest, and caring are plausible contributors to students’ engineering identification. Overall, there is strong evidence that the domain identification model can be used as a lens to study career decision-making processes in engineering, and potentially, in other fields as well.

KEYWORDS:

• Engineering identification
• MUSIC model of motivation
• engineering career intentions
• engineering major intentions
• structural equation modelling (SEM)

Notes on contributors

Chosang Tendhar, Ph.D., is a Statistician in the Office of Evaluation, Assessment, and Research at Baylor College of Medicine. His research interests include Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education, particularly engineering students’ commitment to engineering majors and careers as well as competency-based assessment in medical education.

Kusum Singh, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Research & Evaluation in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. Her research focuses on classroom and school-level factors that affect academic performance of middle and high school students in STEM and how these factors can be changed to enhance student learning.

Brett D. Jones, Ph.D., is Professor of Educational Psychology in the School of Education at Virginia Tech. His research includes (a) investigating how students’ beliefs impact their motivation and (b) examining methods instructors can use to design instructional environments that support students’ motivation and learning (see http://www.theMUSICmodel.com).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.