Abstract
This longitudinal study investigated different trajectories in the development of intrinsic value beliefs in the subjects Mathematics and French in Grades 9 to 11 and their correlations with career aspirations. Using data from 850 students from German-Swiss high schools (54% female, age T1: 15.6 years), five distinct growth classes were identified in a bivariate growth model. Two of these classes showed clear differentiation between intrinsic value beliefs regarding the two subjects and stable growth in the preferred subject. The other three classes were characterized by mean differences (high, medium, low intrinsic value beliefs) and moderate decline in both subjects. The five growth classes were associated with different career orientations at the end of the 11th grade, with students exhibiting particularly high career orientations in one subject when intrinsic value regarding the other subject was low. Gender differences in career orientations could be fully explained by gender membership in the five growth classes.