Hong Kong women’s future perceptions: integrating the role of gender and culture

ABSTRACT

Guided by Social Cognitive Career Theory, this study investigated the future perceptions of Hong Kong female university students. Fifty-eight students completed a semi-structured questionnaire to better understand their beliefs, hopes, and visions about their future. The thematic analysis performed yielded 10 major future life themes in the participants’ responses: (a) work, (b) family, (c) roles and responsibilities, (d) romantic relationships, (e) values, (f) living situation, (g) quality of life, (h) status of education, (i) personal interests and hobbies, (j) finance, and (k) friendship. Findings from this study provide novel information on Hong Kong women’s future perceptions that may help career counsellors when constructing client goals and tasks aimed at exploring and fulfilling their future perceptions.

KEYWORDS:

• Future perceptions
• Hong Kong women
• career development
• Chinese
• university students

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

TaeSun Kim, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Education at Hanyang University, Korea. Her research interests include career calling, psychology of working, diversity, and cross-cultural studies in vocational psychology.

Ashley Hutchison, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and Counseling at Ball State University, USA. Her research focuses on future perceptions in career development, emotion processes in professional psychology, and sexual violence prevention.

Lawrence H. Gerstein, Ph.D., is a Ball State University (USA) George and Frances Ball Distinguished Professor of Psychology and Director of the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies, and the Co-Editor of the Journal for Social Action in Counseling and Psychology. He is an expert in cross-cultural methodology, emotion, and conflict prevention and resolution, and has published 100+ refereed journal articles, and four books including Theories of Counseling and Psychotherapy, International Handbook of Cross-Cultural Counseling, and Handbook for Social Justice in Counseling Psychology.

Hsin-Ya Liao is an Assistant Professor of Counseling Psychology at Washington State University, USA. She received her PhD in Counselling Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Her research interests include intergroup relations, diversity, and cross-cultural applications of vocational interest and help-seeking.

Raysen Cheung, PhD, is Director of Master of Social Sciences in Counselling Psychology Programme at Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Hong Kong. His research interests include career development, cross-cultural counselling, graduate employability and assessment of counselling interventions.

Rachel Gali Cinamon, PhD, is a Full Professor at Tel Aviv University, Israel. She is the Head of the Career Development Lab, and the Head of the School of Education. Her research interests focus on career development of women, minorities and at-risk populations, work-family relations through the life span, future plans and perceptions, and career interventions. Her work is driven by her deep commitment to human development and by her belief in the society responsibility to individuals’ health, wellbeing and meaningful life.

Rinat Michael, PhD, is Senior Lecturer at Beit Berl College in the department of Special Education, Israel. She also works as a research coordinator at the PERACH tutoring project. Her research interests include career development of individuals with and without special needs, quality of life among populations with special needs, and assessment of educational and community projects.

Yamini Bellare has a PhD degree in Counselling Psychology from Ball State University, USA. She is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Indiana University Kokomo, USA. Her research interests include cross-cultural research in everyday stranger harassment and coping, career development, mindfulness and self-compassion.

Emily Elder received her PhD in Counselling Psychology from Ball State University, USA, in 2016. She currently works as a psychologist in a community mental health centre in rural Indiana, USA. Her developing areas of expertise and interest include interventions that focus on treating families and trauma.

Rachael Collins was a psychology intern at Virginia Commonwealth University's University Counseling Services and finishing her dissertation at the time of writing this paper. She is currently an advanced mental health resident at the Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. She plans to graduate with her Ph.D. in Counselling Psychology from Ball State University, USA. She hopes to obtain a post-doctoral fellowship or staff psychologist position within a university counselling centre.

ORCID

TaeSun Kim http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7647-3782