What theories can I apply for a research work on attitude of female journalism students towards business journalism as a profession?

There are several general theories of career choice that can be used to examine this issue, including Parson’s theory which involves an assessment of individual values, skills, personality and interests which are then used to identify appropriate occupational choices. Likewise, Holland’s theory of career choice which categorizes individuals into one of six different personality types (i.e., realistic, artistic, enterprising, social, conventional and investigative) to determine what type of profession is most suitable.

More specifically, the perception theory of communication developed by Berelson and Steiner (1964) provides a useful framework in which to study the attitude of female journalism students concerning a career in business journalism. The perception theory of communication involves studying the manner in which female journalism students selectively perceive the media messages concerning their career choices. Likewise, attitude is a composite of how a person understands, feel about and act towards the given object person or issues, events and objects.