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Abstract
This dissertation examined the influence of personal and environmental characteristics on vocational identity commitment in a sample of 800 University of Michigan doctoral students. Theoretically grounded in Erikson's ideas about identity, the purpose of this dissertation was to broaden our understanding of who decides to become an academic and why, as well as the factors that facilitate or hinder identification.
Students were asked about their graduate education experiences, training and goals; advisor and secondary support; department climate; sense of belonging in their field and academia (vocational fit); confidence in their abilities to obtain their academic goals; and commitment to pursuing a career in their field. Demographic questions assessed whether students belonged to traditionally underrepresented groups in academia. The focus of this study was (1) to ascertain the degree to which the above factors and social identity group status were significant predictors of vocational identity commitment, and (2) to examine group differences in graduate school experiences as a function of social location.
Results showed that female students reported lower confidence and advisor support than male students; non-white US students reported the lowest levels of vocational fit compared with white US students and non-white international students; and non-white international students had fewer and less satisfactory sources of secondary support than US students. Members of every underrepresented group reported a more negative work climate than their dominant identity group counterparts.
Multiple regression analyses indicated that vocational fit was the most important predictor of vocational identity commitment, followed by confidence, secondary support, advisor support, and the climate. Social location did not predict commitment. Additionally, vocational fit was a mediator in all the above predictive relationships except secondary support. Confidence was a mediator only under a few conditions. Advisor support and department climate predicted identity commitment of white males with no minority identities more than students with those identities, suggesting that students from marginalized backgrounds "armor" themselves against the effects of negative environment and lack of support before they enter graduate school, and therefore are less influenced by these factors.
Implications for graduate education policies and practices were discussed.
