Predicting and understanding Korean high school students' science‐track choice: Testing the theory of reasoned action by structural equation modeling

The theory of reasoned action (Ajzen & Fishbein, 1980; Fishbein & Ajzen, 1975) was used to predict and understand Korean high school students' track choice for college entrance. First‐year high school students ( N = 665) from four representative regions of Korea participated in the study. The survey instruments were questionnaires developed according to the guidelines of the TRA. The target behavior of interest in this study was Korean students' choice of the science track when they completed the track application forms during the first year of high school. Predictors included TRA model and external variables. Multiple regression and the structural equation modeling with LISREL (Jöreskog & Sörbom, 1986) were used to analyze the data. The TRA was found to be applicable for understanding and predicting track choice, with minor modifications. Subjective norm was found to exert a direct influence on personal beliefs and the target behavior.