Philippine E-Journals

Career Exploration and Commitment among Filipino Adolescents: A Socio-cultural Perspective

Angela Luisa Abaya-Garcia | Jose Alberto S. Reyes

 

Abstract:

The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of career foreclosure (Germeijs, Luyckx, Notelaers, Goossens, & Verschueren, 2012) among Filipino individuals, in order to gain insight on how an interdependent self-construal (Markus & Kitayama, 1991) is revealed in the career decision-making of Filipinos. Interviews of nine Filipino participants aged 16 to 52 revealed seven factors that influence Filipinos to follow in a parent's career footsteps: (a) perceived family legacy; (b) beliefs about genetic pre-dispositions; (c) honoring and paying tribute; (d) creating pooled resources; (e) shared reputation and sense of success; and (f) everyday love language. This study raises implications for career counseling of Filipino adolescents, and poses questions about the application of long-standing Western-derived theories in career research in the Philippine setting.