Student’s engagement in school, academic achievement, and career exploration of Portuguese adolescents

This study examined career profiles derived from students’ engagement in school, academicaspirations and sources of career exploration, as part of a larger research project on the differentiationand promotion of students’ engagement in school (Pest-OE/CED/UI4107/2011). The sample included685 students attending sixth, seventh, ninth and tenth grades (Mage = 13.82, SD = 1.92). The studentscompleted measures of engagement in school, academic aspirations and career exploration. Basedon a non-hierarchal cluster analysis (K-means clustering), three career profiles of students wereidentified. The profile disengaged looking for other opportunities included students (n = 135; Mage =14.6, SD = 2.12) with values lower than the group’s mean score in the agency, affective, cognitive andbehavioural dimensions of engagement in school, in academic aspirations, and higher values than thegroup’s mean values in self- and environment exploration. The profile confident students (n = 281;Mage = 13.45, SD = 1.71) presented values higher than the group’s mean score in the four dimensionsof engagement in school, in academic aspirations and in self- and environment exploration. The profileslightly disengaged without other options included students (n = 269; Mage = 13.83, SD = 1.90) withvalues below the sample’s mean score in the agency and cognitive dimensions of engagement inschool, in academic aspirations and in self- and environment exploration, but with values higher thanthe group’s mean score in the affective and behavioural dimensions of engagement in school. Thisstudy supports the idea of a comprehensive approach of career construction, including academic andcareer development dimensions and results. Students who are more engaged in school have higherintentions to continue educationally enrolled and are more involved in career exploration. Studentswho are globally or partially less engaged in school, have lower intentions to continue educationallyenrolled but can differ in their involvement in career exploration. Career exploration can be afacilitative condition for different subgroups of students. Longitudinal studies may address the(dis)continuities in school involvement and academic aspirations according to career explorationprofiles. Further research covering the students’ assigned importance to engage in school and incareer exploration may also enrich this research domain.