Latent Profiles of Cultural Orientation in a Multicultural Country: Implications for Career Development

Although cultural influences are a significant factor in career decision-making and progression, cultural orientations remain underexplored in career development research. This study investigated the relationship between underlying value patterns that define cultural orientation and career development among young adults. Latent profile analysis was used to identify four different cultural orientation groups in a sample of young Australians ( N = 419; 70.5% female; mean age 20 years) based on combinations of underlying individualism (i.e., competitiveness, uniqueness, responsibility) and collectivism values (advice seeking, harmony). The four profiles were “high uniqueness” (53.6%), “low uniqueness” (27.9%), “low collectivism” (12.7%), and “low individualism” (5.8%). The “high uniqueness” and “low collectivism” groups had higher scores on protean career attitudes, career adaptability, and proactive career behaviors compared to the “low individualism” and “low uniqueness” groups, and the “high uniqueness” group reported more positive views of future employability and better current academic performance than the “low individualism” group. The results demonstrated that clusters of students can be identified based on expressed cultural values and that these groups differ on career development variables. We discuss implications for practice and theory development.