A study of career development goals as a function of gender and academic class in a sample of undergraduate architecture students

The primary purpose of this study was to ascertain the "importance" of achieving each of 25 career development goals, as presented on the Career Development Goal Inventory (CDGI), to a sample of undergraduate architecture students, altogether and according to gender and academic class categorizations, and the "success" of their institutions in helping them achieve these goals. A secondary purpose was to calculate the "discrepancy" between the "importance" and the "success" for each of the 25 goals for the total sample and for both gender and academic class. These purposes were addressed through nine research questions. Implications were drawn for their meaning to campus and school of architecture officials and faculty. Participants were a volunteer sample of 261 undergraduates enrolled in schools of architecture at seven universities in the Middle Atlantic region of the United States. Data were gathered using the CDGI, a self-report instrument developed by the researcher. The undergraduate architecture students felt that achieving 24 of the 25 career development goals was from medium to high "importance." They perceived that their institutions had low to medium "success" in assisting them achieve the goals. All of the 25 career development goals had a positive mean "discrepancy," that is, the "importance" of achieving each goal was greater than the institutions' "success" in helping students achieve the goal. Female students attributed significantly more importance than did males to the achievement of nine of the 25 career development goals. Students classified by academic class differed significantly in the "importance" they reported to achieving 10 of the 25 career development goals. The "discrepancy" between gender "importance" and "success" CDGI means was significant for nine goals whereas that for academic class was significant for two. The major conclusion was that undergraduate architecture students need and want more institutional assistance with their career development. Their greatest need appears to be for assistance in obtaining first-time employment. The "success" of institutions in providing assistance for the career development goals considered in this study is low to medium. Finally, gender is suggested by the findings as a basis for differentiating certain features of career development programs in architecture while academic class is not.