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Assessing Career Life Skills Self-efficacy of Students with Special Educational Needs: A Comparative Study in Hong Kong

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Careers for Students with Special Educational Needs

Abstract

The psychological construct of self-efficacy plays a salient role in students’ pursuit of a career path. Career-related self-efficacy is strongly associated with life satisfaction and emotional well-being. Most of what is known about this construct has come from research with mainstream students in the West, and considerably less attention has focused on students with special educational needs. The limited knowledge we have of SEN students’ career-related self-efficacy may be due to lack of appropriate assessment instruments with sound psychometric properties that can be used across cultures. This chapter reports steps taken to validate such an instrument, the Career Development Self-Efficacy Inventory (CD-SEI), for assessing career life skills self-efficacy in SEN students. The authors describe the use of a short form of CD-SEI in Hong Kong with a sample of SEN students and a comparison group without special needs. Theoretical and practical implications of using this instrument to assess career life skills self-efficacy of SEN students are discussed in light of current career development theories.

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Acknowledgement

Preparation of this chapter was partially supported by Early Career Scheme funded by University Grant Council, Hong Kong SAR to Dr. Yang Lan, The Education University of Hong Kong (Project number: 28611618).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Curriculum and Instruction, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Lan Yang

  2. The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

    Mantak Yuen

  3. Department of Special Education and Counselling, The Education University of Hong Kong, Tai Po, Hong Kong

    Hui Wang & Kuen Fung Sin

  4. Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    Zhuoying Wang

Authors
  1. Lan Yang
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  2. Mantak Yuen
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  3. Hui Wang
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  4. Zhuoying Wang
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  5. Kuen Fung Sin
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lan Yang .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Mantak Yuen

  2. Griffith University, Mt Gravatt, Australia

    Wendi Beamish

  3. Boston University, Boston, MA, USA

    V. Scott H. Solberg

Appendix

Appendix

SEN types and distribution in this study

SEN types

Frequency

Percentage

Specific learning difficulties

59

54.1

Intellectual disability

6

5.5

Autism spectrum disorders

9

8.3

Attention deficits and hyperactivity

1

0.9

Psychical disability

10

9.2

Visual impairment

1

0.9

Hearing impairment

1

0.9

Speech and language impairment

1

0.9

Emotional and behavioral disorder

2

1.8

Asperger syndrome

1

0.9

Total

91

83.5

  1. Note In this sample, there were 18 students (16.5%) with low-achievement background but had not yet been clearly identified with a specific SEN type

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Yang, L., Yuen, M., Wang, H., Wang, Z., Sin, K.F. (2020). Assessing Career Life Skills Self-efficacy of Students with Special Educational Needs: A Comparative Study in Hong Kong. In: Yuen, M., Beamish, W., Solberg, V.S.H. (eds) Careers for Students with Special Educational Needs. Advancing Inclusive and Special Education in the Asia-Pacific. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4443-9_21

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4443-9_21

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  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-4443-9

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