This proposed study aims to examine the interactive effects of personal interest, family relational values (filial piety, parental expectations) and social expectations (preference to pursue prestigious occupations) on the career development and career commitment of Chinese university students. 

        Existing models of career counseling and development are influenced by Western-oriented values emphasizing individualism, self-determination, and personal actualization. The career counseling approaches resulting from these models often center on helping individuals to explore their individual self, and to uncover personal attributes (e.g., interest, values, skills) that could be used to identify "matching" occupations. A major limitation of these models and approaches is that they failed to take into considerations the importance of cultural and contextual factors specific to individuals from non-Western cultures, such as Chinese individuals. For individuals from a collective culture such as China, personal career interest is often influenced by cultural-contextual factors such as family relational values (e.g., filial piety and parental expectations) and social valuing (e.g., prestige level of occupations). Hence, in addition to assisting the person to understand their attributes, counseling efforts should also help the individuals negotiate with the social environment so that career decisions that could maximize individual expression and relational harmony could be made and implemented.

        With the above in mind, this proposed study will administer a number of inventories related to career interest, filial piety, parental expectations, preference for occupational prestige, and career adaptability and commitment. We hope to delineate the complex and dynamic relationship among personal (career interest), family relational values (filial piety, parental expectations), contextual variables (preference for occupational prestige) and career development competence (adaptability, commitment). We propose to collect data from Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland cities representing different degrees of exposure and acculturation to Western cultural values. The findings will help researchers to build theories and frameworks that could further our understanding on the career development of university students in Chinese communities. The findings will also inform practitioners in Chinese communities (e.g., university student counselors and student affairs professionals) on how cultural and contextual variables shaped students' career choice and aspirations, so that on-target career counseling and guidance services could be offered to students.