A Process Model of Career Decision-Making and Adaptation Under Uncertainty: Expanding the Dual-Process Theory of Career Decision-Making

Abstract

The dual-process theory of career decision-making (DTC; Xu, 2021a ; 2021b ) resulted from a synthesized and critical reflection of career decision-making and related models in the contemporary psychosocial context of career development. The DTC features persistent decision uncertainty as a salient condition of contemporary career decision-making, and its theoretical framework and predictive model establish DTC’s conceptual and empirical foundation, respectively. However, the DTC and the career decision-making literature in general still lack a process-oriented prescriptive model that foregrounds decision uncertainty. Consequently, the extant literature fails to prescribe key decision-making components and procedures under decision uncertainty. Thus, drawing on the DTC, decision-making science, and existing models of career decision-making, we propose a four-stage process model, which involves four interlinked macro stages and micro steps within each stage. The model also involves five propositions to explain and predict the effects of important personal and environmental factors on the process and outcomes of each stage. We describe the DTC process model and use a case example to illustrate how the model can be applied in practice. Together, the DTC’s theoretical framework, predictive model, and process-oriented prescriptive model constitute a comprehensive theory regarding dynamic career decision-making and adaption in an uncertain world and offer diverse research and practical implications.