This study evaluated the career decision-making process of culinary arts specialized high school students and developed a substantive theory explaining how occupational self-image congruence was reconstructed through career experiences. A grounded theory approach based on Strauss and Corbin (1998) was used. Data were collected through focus group interviews and supplementary in-depth interviews with nine culinary arts specialized high school students in Seoul, South Korea, and analyzed using open, axial, and selective coding procedures. The analysis yielded 36 concepts, 18 subcategories, and six categories, which were integrated into a paradigm model. The core category was identified as “a process of career compromise and acceptance while transitioning from the ideal self to the actual self by confronting occupational reality.” Greater occupational self-image congruence was associated with stronger career-preparation behaviors and persistence in career decision-making. The findings suggest that career decision-making was a dynamic process of reconstructing occupational self-image while balancing ideal aspirations with occupational reality. This study provides theoretical and practical implications for career education and counseling for culinary arts specialized high school students.

Abstract
I. 서 론
II. 연구 내용 및 방법
    1. 연구 참여자 선정
    2. 자료 수집 방법
    3. 근거이론에 따른 분석 방법
    4. 연구의 신뢰성 및 연구 윤리
III. 결과 및 고찰
    1. 근거이론 분석에 따른 범주화 결과
    2. 근거이론의 패러다임 모형 분석 결과
IV. 요약 및 결론
Conflict of Interest
References

• 서민국(경희대학교 일반대학원 조리외식경영학과) | Minguk Seo (Department of Culinary Science and Food Service Management, Graduate School of Kyung Hee University)
• 정라나(경희대학교 호텔관광대학 조리&푸드디자인학과) | Lana Chung (Department of Culinary Arts & Food Design Management, Kyung Hee University) Corresponding author