Career doubt in a dual-domain model of coping and progress for academic and career goals

Abstract

University students set career goals during their academic journey in order to facilitate their transition to the labor market. Career goals can nonetheless be accompanied by doubt, even among the most determined students. Little is known, however, about the nomological network of career doubt. Using a dual-domain approach, the purpose of the present study was to test a model that integrated career doubt with the coping and progress made by university students (N = 234) during the simultaneous pursuit of their academic and career goals. Results from structural equation modeling revealed a significant negative total effect for the association between career doubt and career goal progress, and a significant indirect effect for the association between career doubt and both academic and career goal progress through task-oriented coping. Although career doubt was positively and significantly associated with disengagement-oriented coping for academic and career goals, disengagement-oriented coping was not significantly associated with academic and career goal progress. Results should be interpreted as supporting a plausible nomological network in which career doubt operates within a dual-domain model of coping and goal progress. Implications for future research are discussed in light of more sophisticated designs that could provide insight into the factors that facilitate students' transition to the working world.