Family support and gender influences on the career decision-making self-efficacy of Moi University students

Family support and gender are important variables for understanding an individuals career development behavior particularly their ability to confidently complete career related tasks. Despite the growing literature examining family support and gender influences on the career decision-making self-efficacy of college students in western countries such as the U.S. and Europe, little research has been conducted with non-western countries such as Kenya. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between career decision-making self-efficacy and family support factors of Moi University students. The career decision-making self-efficacy scale short-form (CDMSES-SF; Betz, Klein, & Taylor, 1996) measured career decision-making self-efficacy, and family support factors were measured by the family influence scale (FIS; Fouad et al., 2010). Students reported high CDMSE, but gender did not significanty predict students CDMSE. Out of the four family support factors, only informational support and financial support significantly predicted students CDMSE. Moreover, there was no statistically significant relationship on the interaction between gender and informational support and gender and financial support. These findings indicate the important role that family support plays in the CDMSE of their children.