Despite not aspiring to her mother’s career, Tina considered her
mother as a role model for pursuing the educational degree required
by the career she aspired to. Tina said her mother was pursuing a master’s
degree, so she thought she might at least get a master’s degree
to become a researcher. Similarly, Xiaoming stated, “My mother got a
bachelor’s degree. I cannot get a degree lower than hers.”
Consistent with the children’s perceptions of their mothers’ careers,
both mothers reported that their children had a general idea about their
careers. Xiaoming’s mother thought he more or less knew about her
career, such as her workplace and her work related to monitoring banks.
Tina’s mother said, “She knows I am a producer. . . . She knows ‘My
mom works in ** TV Station. She leads a large group of people and two
of her programs are well known.’” Both of the mothers perceived more
opportunities for their children to learn about their careers, for example,
The Career Development Quarterly MARCH 2015 • Volume 63 83
by going to their workplaces. Moreover, both of the mothers intentionally
or unintentionally guided their child to aspire to their career field.
Xiaoming’s mother reflected that she actually expected him to work in
her field and so she might unintentionally guide the child to aspire to
her career. Tina’s mother also understood her role of positive modeling: