Career Decision-making Difficulties Research Articles

The Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Career Decision-Making Difficulties: Mediation Role of Career Adaptability of University Students

Rapid changes in the global marketplace and invisible pressures have made career decision-making challenging for students. This article explores the relationship between emotional intelligence and career decision difficulties, as well as the mediating role of career adaptability, in a cross-sectional study conducted among students. A total of 265 students from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Mage = 19.99; SD = 1.46) were randomly selected and participated through an online questionnaire. The study employed the Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire, which includes 34 questions to assess career decision-making difficulties; the Wong and Law Emotional Intelligence Scale, comprising 16 items to measure emotional intelligence; and the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale - Short Form with 12 items to evaluate career adaptability. The findings reveal two primary outcomes: (1) emotional intelligence significantly negatively impacts career decision difficulties (effect = -0.15, p < .05, 95% CI = [-0.29, -0.01]), and (2) career adaptability significantly mediates this relationship (effect = -0.11, 95% CI = [-0.20, -0.02]). These results suggest that enhancing emotional intelligence and career adaptability may facilitate improved career decision-making among students.

Identifying subgroups of career decision-making difficulties in Chinese college students: a latent profile analysis

Identifying subgroups of career decision-making difficulties in Chinese college students: a latent profile analysis

Exploring the Impact of College Students' Future Time Insights on Career Decision-making Difficulties: A Big Data Technology-based Approach

Career decision-making difficulty is an important factor affecting the smooth employment of college students. Big data technology provides college students with more comprehensive, accurate and personalized career decision support, which helps them make more informed career choices and maximize their personal career development. Previous studies have shown that the Internet and digitization have significant information effect, which have important influence on the improvement of future time insight and career decision-making difficulties. Under the background of digitization, to explore the relationship between future time perspective and career decision-making difficulties of college students based on the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, and to investigate the role of self-efficacy. 1092 college students were investigated by using the Scales. The result shows that the future time perspective predicts college students’ career decision-making difficulties negatively; Self-efficacy plays a mediation role between future time perspective and career decision-making difficulties. The research reveals the mechanism of future time perspective on college students’ career decision-making difficulties. 

Effect of Social Support on Career Decision-Making Difficulties: The Chain Mediating Roles of Psychological Capital and Career Decision-Making Self-Efficacy.

This present study explores the effect of social support on career decision-making difficulties, with the chain mediation of psychological capital and career decision-making self-efficacy. A total of 770 college students were recruited to complete the survey, which included a social support, career decision-making self-efficacy, psychological capital scale, and career decision-making difficulties scales. Significant correlations were found between social support, career decision-making difficulties, psychological capital, and career decision making self-efficacy. Path analysis indicated that the direct effect of social support on career decision-making difficulty was non-significant; social support affected career decision-making difficulties indirectly through not only the mediating effect of psychological capital but also through the chain mediation of psychological capital and career decision-making self-efficacy. Overall, the results show that social support could exert an effect on career decision-making difficulties through the mediational chains of career decision-making self-efficacy and psychological capital; the implications of this are discussed.

Is REBT Useful for Reducing Adolescents’ Career Decision Difficulties and Distress? A Randomized Trial

The present study examined the efficacy of a 6-session Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT) career intervention program for high school students in reducing career decision-making difficulties and emotional distress. Nine classes of 11th graders in two Romanian public high schools ( N = 233) were randomly assigned to a REBT career intervention and a Regular career course. The data were collected in three waves: before and after the interventions and at a 6-month follow-up. Career decision-making difficulties decreased in both intervention groups post-intervention and at the 6-month follow-up. Worry and irrational beliefs decreased more in the REBT group at the 6-month follow-up. Emotional distress and negative dysfunctional emotions decreased in the REBT group both post-intervention and at the 6-month follow-up, but they increased in the Regular group. The Discussion explores factors that may contribute to the decreased career decision-making difficulties in both groups and the benefits of the REBT career intervention.

Effects of a career education classroom course on high school students' career management competencies and career orientation in Hungary

AbstractSeveral researchers have highlighted the need to strengthen school-based career education in Hungary. After reviewing the international literature on similar programs, this study reports on the impact of an innovative, multi-method career education course. It aimed to support Hungarian high school (ISCED 344) students in grades 10–11 in making decisions on further education and career choices, and in dealing with related uncertainties and difficulties, mainly through developing career management competence. Using a quasi-experimental design, the intervention group of 92 students showed significantly better results on half of the 20 career orientation variables assessed six months after the end of the intervention of 12 three-quarter-hour sessions, with low effect sizes compared to the pre-intervention assessment, and the 96-student control group. In addition to a self-developed questionnaire, the CDDQ Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire; and the CFI Career Factors Inventory were used. The effectiveness of the intervention was independent of factors such as gender, age, academic performance, and parental education. The study concludes with the suggestion that an enhanced version of the course could be an officially recommended supplementary career education program in Hungarian high schools.

Predicting Outcomes of a Manualized Individual Career Counseling Intervention Over a One-Year Follow-Up From Trajectories of Change in Career Decision Difficulties

This study tested whether trajectories of career decision difficulties identified in Milot-Lapointe and Le Corff (2023) predict outcomes of a manualized individual career counseling intervention 12 months after the intervention. Participants were 248 individuals who received an average of 7.79 sessions at a career counseling clinic and were reassessed 12 months after the intervention. Results showed that clients who experienced an optimal (Classes 1 and 2; 66% of clients) or a positive change but suboptimal (Class 3; 21% of clients) change during career counseling had negligible career decision difficulties 12 months after the intervention and were satisfied with their career decision, career situation and with counseling. Clients in Class 4, who did not experience any change during counseling (13% of clients), had significantly higher decision difficulties, were less satisfied with their career decision, career situation, counseling, and had lower life satisfaction at the 12-month follow-up compared to clients in the other classes. Results demonstrate the long-term utility of individual career counseling in producing, on average, sustainable positive outcomes for a large proportion of clients (87%). They also offer insights into the longitudinal consequences associated to variability in career counseling as clients who did not experience any change during counseling achieved poorer outcomes on the long run.

Patterns of career decision-making difficulties in 16 countries: A person-centered investigation.

Classifying clients into career indecision types can facilitate tailoring interventions to each client's specific needs. The present research examined a typology of career indecision on 50 data sets (N = 31,527) representing diverse populations from 16 countries on five continents. Latent profile analyses of participants' responses on the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) revealed seven replicable career indecision types across samples: unmotivated, unrealistic, generally uninformed, occupations-uninformed, conflicted-uninformed, externally conflicted, and internally conflicted. Age emerged as a negligible predictor of career indecision types, whereas gender predicted membership in the unmotivated type, with men twice more likely to be unmotivated than women. The seven types were similarly predictive of career decision status, decision certainty, and decision self-efficacy. These results largely support using the CDDQ to differentially diagnose career indecision types based on 10 causes of career indecision in different countries, life stages, and genders. Classifying individuals based on their patterns of career decision-making difficulties supports tailoring individual career counseling or group interventions to clients' needs. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

The Adaptation of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ) to a Sample of Hungarian Secondary-School Students

The aim of the research: The goal of the research is to adapt the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDDQ; Gati et al., 1996) to a sample of Hungarian secondary-school students.
 Research method: The sample on which the questionnaire analysis was based included 507 Hungarian secondary-school students. Factor analysis was used in order to adapt the questionnaire and to determine the latent variables, that is, factors based on these correlations. With the help of this method, the number of original variables can be reduced and the original data described with the least possible information loss. To this end, the English-language measuring instrument was validated in this study.
 A short description of the context of the issue: The exploration of career decision-making difficulties is crucial for personal fulfilment, optimal career fit, improved decision-making skills, reduced uncertainty and anxiety, avoidance of career dissatisfaction, and long-term career development. By addressing these difficulties, individuals can make more informed and satisfying career choices that align with their unique strengths, values, and aspirations.
 Research findings: The study revealed that the factor structure of the CDDQ varies across different cultural contexts, a finding which suggests that cultural variations impact the underlying dimensions of the CDDQ.
 Conclusions and recommendations: The utilization of the CDDQ allows counsellors and practitioners to obtain valuable insights into the career decision-making difficulties experienced by their clients. This enables them to customize their interventions and counselling approaches to better meet the specific needs of individuals. The questionnaire provides a well-organized and systematic framework for evaluating and tackling these difficulties, thereby facilitating the development of effective strategies and interventions in the counselling process. The diverse sets of factors across different cultural settings highlight the need to consider cultural influences when assessing and interpreting.

The Role of Emotional Intelligence in the Career Decision-Making Case study: Project Manager and Project Consulting on Industries Corporates Jeddah Saudi Arabia

Emotional intelligence is the ability to identify and manage one's emotions as well as the emotions of others. In the world of work, it helps build stronger relationships, build resilience, and achieve our goals. Being able to anticipate one's feelings and emotions in a given situation would make it possible to better assess the reaction of one's interlocutor in a similar environment. And in doing so, to create more favorable social interactions on both sides. This article aims to explore the role of adopting emotional intelligence (EI) in career decision-making difficulties; meanwhile, discussing the examination of the Bar-On Emotional Intelligence, and decision-making career. We use a quantitative method with a survey distributed to project managers working in Industries companies. Many authors distinguish models of mental skill, focusing on the ability to process affective information thenmixed models that conceptualize EI as a complex construct, including aspects of personality, motivation as well as the ability to perceive, assimilate, understand, and manage emotions.The result of thisarticle interprets EmotionalIntelligence as having an impact positively on the decision-making process of the employees or employers in the corporation.

Career decision‐making difficulties among career‐decided college students

AbstractThe procedures developed by Gati and colleagues to interpret scores in the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire were implemented to examine difficulties’ profiles among self‐identified decided college students who reported being either comfortable or uncomfortable with their career choice. Of the 583 participants, 92.5% were career decided and 7.5% were undecided. Close to half (47.2%) of the career‐decided students self‐identified as uncomfortable with their career choice and reported similar career decision‐making difficulties as their undecided peers. The most salient difficulties among decided uncomfortable students were general indecisiveness and lack of knowledge regarding occupations and the decision‐making process. Greater difficulties related to lack of knowledge about oneself, and internal conflicts predicted membership in the decided uncomfortable group versus the decided comfortable group. Results indicated that career‐decided students are not a homogenous group. Implications of the findings for career counseling with decided uncomfortable college students are discussed.

Examining the effect of the future readiness psychoeducation program on gifted students' career decision-making competencies and future expectations

There is a great need for intervention programs related to career studies in today's world where the importance of career studies is increasing day by day. Gifted children also feel necessary to career guidance more due to many factors such as their special talents, multi-potentials and early career awareness. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of the "Turkish Science and Art Centers (SAC) Future Readiness Psychoeducation Program" developed for gifted middle school students who also continuing education in SAC. The aims of program are increasing career awareness, decreasing career decision making difficulties and effecting positively to future expectations. Thirty-two 7th grade students who were identified as gifted in Kilis province participated in the study. The study was designed in a pre-test post-test one-group quasi-experimental design. The data were analyzed using Mann Whitney U and Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test from non-parametric techniques according to group structure. Career Decision Difficulties Scale (CDDS), Adolescent Future Expectations Scale (FESA) and program evaluation form were used as data collection tools. When the results of the study were evaluated, it was seen that the career development program prepared for gifted students reduced their career decision-making difficulties and positively affected their future expectations. It was observed that gifted female students had higher career decision-making difficulties than male students, while there was no significant difference in terms of future expectations. When the evaluation form data and opinions of the participants were examined, it was seen that the satisfaction with the program was high, the activities could be enriched in terms of practice, and it would be more beneficial to spread the activities over a wider period of time and implement them as a single activity in each session.

Supplemental Material for Patterns of Career Decision-Making Difficulties in 16 Countries: A Person-Centered Investigation

Supplemental Material for Patterns of Career Decision-Making Difficulties in 16 Countries: A Person-Centered Investigation

College Students' Struggles with Career Decisions and Their Personality

Students face challenges while selecting a career in Pakistan is very common. 99% students lack career counselling services in schools, colleges and universities. In the current study career decision-making difficulties faced by students in Peshawar was investigated when they plan to apply in a school, college and university and to evaluate what kind of assistance they need in their career choices related to their personality. Objective: To see how personality affect the decision-making of careers in students at high schools, colleges, and universities.  Methods: The influence of personality traits (Extraversion and Neuroticism) on the decision-making of career difficulties was investigated using a causal-comparative study methodology. In Pakistan, 99 percent of pupils still need career guidance. As a result, three hundred and seventy-six (N=376) students were chosen from Peshawar's various schools, colleges, and universities. Two questionnaires were used to gauge the participants' responses: The career decision-making difficulties Questionnaire and Big Five Personality Inventory.  Results: Findings suggest that most students needed help with professional decision-making and that a small percentage of students were satisfied with their selected disciplines. Conclusions: Students with high neuroticism and low extroversion had difficulty making professional decisions.

Effects of life design counselling on secondary students with career indecision in a resource-constrained community

ABSTRACT This study examined the effects of life design counselling on secondary students with career indecision in a resource-constrained community. Non-probability, purposive sampling was utilized to select 91 secondary students from two schools (intervention group: N = 17, mean age: 18.00; SD = 1.06; comparison group: N = 74; mean age: 17.41; SD = 1.47). A mixed-methods intervention within a pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental design was employed. Data was generated using the Career Adapt-Abilities Scale and the Career Decision Difficulties Questionnaire. The Mann-Whitney U test and related-samples Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test were used to examine the outcomes. The participants did not exhibit a decrease in career indecision after the intervention but there was an increase in their curiosity. The intervention should be repeated in longitudinal research with larger samples of diverse participants and different designs and assessment measures.

The Relationship between Self-Esteem, Self-Efficacy, and Career Decision-Making Difficulties: Psychological Flourishing as a Mediator.

Well-being associated with optimism, social support, and self-esteem is positively correlated with career decision. In this perspective, a rather recent concept of flourishing as an integrative notion incorporating these different resources, positive affect, and positive experience is particularly relevant to better understand the relations and correlations between self-evaluation, well-being, and career decision-making difficulties. The present study then examines the relationship between these possible difficulties, self-esteem, self-efficacy, and flourishing. One hundred and seventy-two higher education students participated in the study and completed a four-part questionnaire with the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire, the Flourishing Scale, the Rosenberg Self-esteem Scale, and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The results highlight the mediation of psychological flourishing between personality dimensions-self-esteem and self-efficacy-and career decision difficulties and the fact that those who are most flourishing in their lives will also have the least difficulty in making a career decision. As for the practical implications, guidance counselors for students and young adults need to identify resources and difficulties they have to cope with. This study emphasizes the importance of guiding students in three areas: self-esteem, the perceived quality of social relations, and the meaning attributed to one's existence. Finally, the contribution of positive psychology to career development will be discussed.

Career decision-making readiness among students’ in the system of higher education: career course intervention

Career decision-making is a complicated process in which students must understand themselves. In this paper, the influence of the implemented “Career development” course on the Toraighyrov University undergraduate students’ readiness for career decision-making was analyzed. The Career Decision-making Difficulties Questionnaire (CDMDQ) and it was used to test the hypothesis that by implementing “Career Development” course the level of students’ career decision-making readiness would increase. The participants were 104 students at Toraighyrov University, divided equally into the control and experimental groups (52 students each). The experimental group, unlike the control group, took the “Career Development” course for 15 weeks. Students were randomly chosen from humanities (psychology, education, journalism, and social work) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (electrical engineering, computer science, and metallurgical engineering) fields. The average age of participants was 21 years. The results show that there is significant difference in pre-course and post-course testing in each of the career decision-making difficulties cluster: (1) Lack of Readiness; (2) Lack of Information and (3) Inconsistent information in experimental in comparison to control group.

The relationship between professional self-concept and career decision-making difficulties among postgraduate nursing students in China: the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy.

In the context of a global shortage, uneven distribution, and structural imbalance of nursing talent, postgraduate nursing students must make appropriate decisions about their careers not only for the nursing profession but also for society as a whole. However, little research has been reported on the current status and factors influencing career decision-making difficulties among postgraduate nursing students. Exploring the mediating role of career decision-making self-efficacy between professional self-concept and career decision-making difficulties among postgraduate nursing students in China based on the social cognitive career theory. 276 postgraduate nursing students from 25 universities in seven administrative regions of China were selected by stratified random sampling. Data were collected with the Career decision-making difficulties Questionnaire, Career Decision-making Self-Efficacy Scale, and Nursing Professional Self-concept Scale through an online survey, and were analyzed by univariate analysis, correlation analysis, multiple linear regression analysis, and PROCESS macro. The score for career decision-making difficulties was 2.84 (SD = 0.54). Professional self-concept (r = -0.496, p < 0.01) and career decision-making self-efficacy (r = -0.551, p < 0.01) were negatively associated with career decision-making difficulties. Career decision-making self-efficacy played a partial mediating role between professional self-concept and career decision-making difficulties (p < 0.01), with the mediating effect (Effect Value = -0.253, Bootstrap 95% CI: -0.349, -0.156) accounting for 53.82% of the total effect. The high scores of career decision-making difficulties among postgraduate nursing students demand widespread attention. Nursing educators need to develop a complete and standardized career counseling curriculum for postgraduate nursing students, and should pay attention to the cultivation and development of positive professional self-concept and career decision-making self-efficacy of postgraduate nursing students to reduce their career decision-making difficulties and help them make effective career decision-making.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF AN ONLINE INTERVENTION PROGRAM IN VOCATIONAL GUIDANCE

The current study is a test-retest design with the presence of both experimental and control groups. We proposed to present information about an online intervention program for reducing career decision-making difficulties (caused by lack of information, lack of readiness and inconsistent information) and to present results of its effectiveness. This research was designed in 2020 and the intervention program (7 sessions) started at the beginning of lock down due to COVID-19 pandemic. Participants were 11th high school students from Chişinău, Moldova. 13 students participated in the experimental group, which attended at least 6 of 7 online sessions and 18 in the control group. Career decision-making difficulties ware assessed with the CDDQ – Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire (Gati &amp; Osipow, 2000). We found that there are differences between the results obtained by the participants of the intervention program and the results of the students in the control group for the lack of readiness scale (F (1, 29) = 16.388, p = 0.000). There was a reduction of career decision-making difficulties caused by lack of readiness for the experimental group, at the time of the retest (t(12)=3.30, p=0.006, Mretest=4.02) compared to the initial testing (Mtest =5.36) and at the time of the retest for the experimental group (Mretest=3.51) compared to the control group (Mretest= 4.04). After attending the intervention, differences related to the lack of information scale were recorded (F(1, 29)=16.925, p=0.000). Students in the experimental group obtained lower scores in the retest moment (t(17)=-3.073, p=0.007, Mretest=3.5128) than in the test moment (Mtest=5.5192). There are no significant differences in retest time between groups, t(29)=0.83, p=0.41. Difficulties caused by inconsistent information did not change between assessment times F(1, 29)=2.273, p=0.142, there are no significant differences between groups t(29)=0.43, p=0.67.

Vocational High School Student Problems: Investigating School Climate and Career Decision-Making Difficulty

Implementing the Independent Curriculum launched by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia seeks to strengthen the quality of Indonesian education and prepare students to learn the material needed so that the world of work can directly absorb it. Vocational High School (Sekolah Menengah Kejuruan/ SMK) is a secondary school that prepares students to be ready for work. Vocational students need to prepare provisions for the world of work. They must be able to make career decisions in line with the stage of career development, which is the exploration stage, to have a more directed career. This study examined the difficulties of career decision-making in vocational students and the role of school climate that will influence students' career decisions. The study was conducted on several vocational schools in Pangandaran Regency, one of the West Java areas with a high open unemployment rate. The respondents were class XII students with a sample of 180 people. The theoretical concepts used in this study are the School Climate (NSCC, 2015) and the Career Decision-Making Difficulties (Gati et al., 1996). The research design used is a non-experimental approach using linear regression analysis methods. The data collection technique is through online and written questionnaires with stratified and cluster sampling techniques. The results showed a positively significant influence of the school climate on the difficulty of making career decisions by 15.2%. That is, the more positive the perspective of grade 12 Vocational High School students on the school climate, the lower the level of difficulty in making career decisions, and vice versa.