Seah, Li-Lin (Lynn) (2008) The Relationship Between Career Interest, Retention and Performance of Psychology Students. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
This 2008 follow-up on a study on persistence and performance by Roache in 2006 consists of 66 psychology students who persisted in their course from 123 participants in 2006. The aims were to test if interest congruence, ability, age, psychological knowledge and interest level predicted performance and persistence. Another aim was to find out if performance and persistence were related. It was hypothesised that interest congruence, ability, knowledge and interest would predict persistence and performance in psychology, while age would not. The main construct, congruence, was based on Holland’s theory of career choice (1985). It aimed to assess the fit between students’ expressed vocational interest and their assigned three letter Holland RIASEC code of their personality. The theory is described in terms of its Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional alignments on a RIASEC hexagonal model. An online questionnaire on ability (Shipley’s Institute of Living Scale) was administered prior to the Higher Ability Student Career Inventory test (HASCIT) questionnaire, which was later converted to Holland’s RIASEC from a formula by Roache (2006). Congruence between students’ 2008 RIASEC interest scales and 2006 expressed vocational interests were calculated from a formula by Brown and Gore (1994). Quantitative analyses include t-tests, correlations and hierarchical regression. Results indicated that while age and interest congruence were not significant predictors in the study, interest and ability correlated to performance, while ability, knowledge and interest predicted persistence. Persistence was positively related to performance. It is suggested that further research widen its focus to include factors like commitment, self-efficacy, motivation, prestige and gender, which also affect performance and persistence in students.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Sciences - Department of Psychology (Up to 30 Jun 2013) |
| Supervisors: | Majella Albion |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 10 Nov 2025 02:06 |
| Last Modified: | 10 Nov 2025 02:06 |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52744 |
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