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Systematic review article, a systematic review of factors that influence youths career choices—the role of culture.

• 1 College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
• 2 College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
• 3 College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia

Good career planning leads to life fulfillment however; cultural heritage can conflict with youths' personal interests. This systematic review examined existing literature on factors that influence youths' career choices in both collectivist and individualistic cultural settings from around the globe with the aim of identifying knowledge gaps and providing direction for future research. A systematic review strategy using the Joana Briggs Institute's format was conducted. The ERIC, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Informit Platform databases were searched for articles published between January 1997 and May 2018. A total of 30 articles were included in the review, findings revealed that youth from collectivist cultures were mainly influenced by family expectations, whereby higher career congruence with parents increased career confidence and self-efficacy. Personal interest was highlighted as the major factor that influenced career choice in individualistic settings, and the youth were more independent in their career decision making. Bicultural youth who were more acculturated to their host countries were more intrinsically motivated in their career decision making. Further research is imperative to guide the understanding of parental influence and diversity, particularly for bicultural youths' career prospects and their ability to use the resources available in their new environments to attain meaningful future career goals.

Introduction

Career choice is a significant issue in the developmental live of youths because it is reported to be associated with positive as well as harmful psychological, physical and socio-economic inequalities that persist well beyond the youthful age into an individual's adult life ( Robertson, 2014 ; Bubić and Ivanišević, 2016 ). The term “youth” is described by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a more fluid category than a fixed age group and it refers to young people within the period of transitioning from the dependence of childhood to adulthood independence and awareness of their interdependence as members of a community ( UNESCO, 2017 ).

The complexity of career decision-making increases as age increases ( Gati and Saka, 2001 ). Younger children are more likely to offer answers about their ideal career which may represent their envisioned utopia and phenomenal perceptions about what they want to do when they grow up ( Howard and Walsh, 2011 ). As children get older, they are more likely to describe their career choice as a dynamic interplay of their developmental stages and the prevailing environmental circumstances ( Howard and Walsh, 2011 ). Youth career decision-making is required to go through a process of understanding by defining what they want to do and exploring a variety of career options with the aid of guidance and planning ( Porfeli and Lee, 2012 ). Proper handling of the process affirms individual identity and fosters wellbeing, job satisfaction and stability ( Kunnen, 2013 ).

Many theoretical models have been proposed to explain the process of career development and decision-making, one of which is the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Lent et al. (1994) . According to the SCCT, career development behaviors are affected by three social cognitive processes - self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations and career goals and intentions which interplay with ethnicity, culture, gender, socio-economic status, social support, and any perceived barriers to shape a person's educational and career trajectories ( Lent et al., 2000 ; Blanco, 2011 ). This emphasizes the complex interplay between the personal aspirations of youths in their career choices and decision-making and the external influences which act upon them. Carpenter and Foster (1977) postulated that the earlier experiences and influences which individuals are exposed to form the bedrock of how they conceive their career aspirations ( Carpenter and Foster, 1977 ). These authors' assertion lends support to the tenets of SCCT and they have developed a three-dimensional framework to classify the factors that influence career choice. Carpenter and Foster proposed that all career-influencing factors derive from either intrinsic, extrinsic, or interpersonal dimensions. They referred to the intrinsic dimension as a set of interests related to a profession and its role in society. Extrinsic refers to the desire for social recognition and security meanwhile the interpersonal dimension is connected to the influence of others such as family, friends, and teachers ( Carpenter and Foster, 1977 ).

Further exploration by other researchers reveal that youth who are motivated by intrinsic factors are driven by their interests in certain professions, and employments that are personally satisfying ( Gokuladas, 2010 ; Kunnen, 2013 ). Therefore, intrinsic factors relate to decisions emanating from self, and the actions that follow are stimulated by interest, enjoyment, curiosity or pleasure and they include personality traits, job satisfaction, advancement in career, and learning experiences ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ; Kunnen, 2013 ; Nyamwange, 2016 ). Extrinsic factors revolve around external regulations and the benefits associated with certain occupations ( Shoffner et al., 2015 ). Prestigious occupations, availability of jobs and well-paying employments have also been reported to motivate youth career decision-making ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ). Consequently, extrinsically motivated youth may choose their career based on the fringe benefits associated with a particular profession such as financial remuneration, job security, job accessibility, and satisfaction ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ; Edwards and Quinter, 2011 ; Bakar et al., 2014 ). Interpersonal factors encompass the activities of agents of socialization in one's life and these include the influence of family members, teachers/educators, peers, and societal responsibilities ( Gokuladas, 2010 ; Bossman, 2014 ; Wu et al., 2015 ). Beynon et al. reported that Chinese-Canadian students' focus in selecting a career was to bring honor to the family ( Beynon et al., 1998 ). Students who are influenced by interpersonal factors highly value the opinions of family members and significant others; they therefore consult with and depend on these people and are willing to compromise their personal interest ( Guan et al., 2015 ).

Studies have shown that cultural values have an impact on the factors that influence the career choices of youths ( Mau, 2000 ; Caldera et al., 2003 ; Wambu et al., 2017 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one group of people from another ( Hofstede, 2001 , p.9) ( Hofstede, 2001 ). Hofstede (1980) seminal work on culture dimensions identified four major cultural dimensions in his forty-country comparative research ( Hofstede, 1980 ). The first dimension is known as “individualism-collectivism.” In individualistic cultures, an individual is perceived as an “independent entity,” whilst in collectivistic cultures he/she is perceived as an “interdependent entity.” That said, decision-making in individualistic cultures are based on individuals ‘own wishes and desires, whilst in collectivistic cultures, decisions are made jointly with the “in-group” (such as family, significant others and peers), and the primary objective is to optimize the group's benefit. The second dimension is power distance. In high power distant cultures; power inequality in society and its organizations exist and is accepted. The third dimension - uncertainty avoidance denotes the extent to which uncertainty and ambiguity is tolerated in society. In high uncertainty avoidant cultures, it is less tolerated, whereas in low uncertainty avoidant cultures it is more tolerated. Lastly, masculinity and femininity dimension deals with the prevailing values and priorities. In masculine cultures, achievement and accumulation of wealth is valued and strongly encouraged; in feminine cultures, maintaining good interpersonal relationships is the priority.

In his later work on “Cultural Dimension Scores,” Hofstede suggested that countries' score on power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence depicts whether they are collectivist inclined or individualistic-oriented ( Hofstede, 2011 ). Countries that espoused collectivist values may score low and countries that are entrenched in individualistic values may score high on the above-mentioned six cultural dimension score models ( Hofstede, 1980 , 2001 , 2011 ). This model aids the characterization of countries into either individualistic or collectivist cultural settings.

On this basis, western countries like Australia, United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA) have been shown to align with individualism and such cultures are oriented around independence, self-reliance, freedom and individual autonomy; while African and Asian nations align more closely with collectivism in which people identify with societal interdependence and communal benefits ( Hofstede, 1980 ; Sinha, 2014 ). Research indicates that basing cultures on individualistic versus collectivist dimensions may explain the classical differences in career decision-making among youths ( Mau, 2004 ; Amit and Gati, 2013 ; Sinha, 2014 ). The normative practice in individualistic societies is for the youth to be encouraged to choose their own careers and develop competency in establishing a career path for themselves, while youths from collectivist societies may be required to conform to familial and societal standards and they are often expected to follow a pre-determined career track ( Oettingen and Zosuls, 2006 ).

The interaction between individualistic and collectivist cultures has increased in frequency over the last 20 years due to global migration. Given that different standards are prescribed for the youths' career selection from the two cultures (collectivist—relatedness, and individualistic—autonomy), making a personal career decision could be quite daunting in situations where migrant families have moved from their heritage cultures into a host country. Friction may arise between the adapting youths and their often traditionally focused and opinionated parents as the families resettle in the host countries.

According to a report by the United Nations (UN), the world counted 173–258 million international migrants from 2000 to 2017, representing 3.4 percent of the global population. Migration is defined by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) as the movement of a person or a group of persons, either across an international border, or within a state ( IOM, 2018 ). In this era of mass migration, migrant students who accompanied their parents to another country and are still discerning their career pathways could be exposed to the unfamiliar cultural values in general and the school/educational system in particular ( Zhang et al., 2014 ). On this note, migrant students might face a daunting task in negotiating their career needs both within host countries' school systems and perhaps within their own family setups. These migrant youth undoubtedly face uncertainties and complexities as career decision-making trajectory could be different in their heritage cultures compared to the prevailing status quo of the host country's culture ( Sawitri and Creed, 2017 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). As youth plan and make career decisions, in the face of both expected and unexpected interests, goals, expectations, personal experiences as well as obligations and responsibilities, cultural undercurrents underpin what the youth can do, and how they are required to think. Some studies have examined cross-cultural variations in factors influencing the career choice of youth from both similar and dissimilar cultural settings ( Mau, 2000 ; Lee, 2001 ; Fan et al., 2012 , 2014 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). However, there may be large differences between different migrant populations.

Given the influence of cultural heritage on career choice and with the increasing numbers of transitions between cultures, it is important to examine the scope and range of research activities available in the area of youths' career choice, particularly in relation to how movements across cultures affect the youth in their career decision making. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review of existing literature available in this area. Using the three-dimensional framework proposed by Carpenter and Foster (1977) , this systematic review aims to examine the factors influencing youths' career choices, with particular reference to cultural impact. It will also identify any gaps in the existing literature and make recommendations that will help guide future research and aid policy makers and educational counselors in developing adequately equipped and well-integrated career choice support systems that will foster a more effective workforce.

Literature Search

A systematic review strategy was devised and the literature search was conducted using the Joana Briggs Institute's (JBI) format. The search was conducted between December 2016 and May 2018, utilizing James Cook University's subscription to access the following databases: Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC), PsycINFO, Scopus and Informit. The subject and keyword searches were conducted in three parts.

1. Career and its cognate terms:

“Career development” OR “Career decision” OR “career choice” OR “Career choices” OR “Career planning” OR “Career guidance” OR Career OR Careers OR “Career advancement” OR “Career exploration” OR Vocation OR Vocations OR Vocational OR “Occupational aspiration” OR Job OR Jobs OR Occupations OR Occupation OR Occupational” AND

2. Youth and its cognate terms:

“Youth OR Youths” OR “Young adults” OR adolescent* OR teenage* OR student” AND

3. Factors and variables:

“Intrinsic OR Extrinsic OR Interpersonal OR Individualistic OR Collectivist OR Culture OR Cultures OR Cultural OR “Cross Cultural.”

The Boolean operators (OR/AND) and search filters were applied to obtain more focused results. The articles included in the final search were peer-reviewed and the references of publications sourced from these searches were hand searched to obtain additional abstracts. Searches of reference and citation lists commenced in December 2016, repeated in March, July and November 2017 and finally May 2018 to identify and include any new, relevant articles.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Only peer-reviewed articles published in English within the last 20 years (1997-2018) and with full text available were included. Studies included in the final analysis were original research articles that focused on career choices of youth from all cultures including migrant youth who are also known as bicultural (those who accompanied their parents to another country). The rationale for using the cultural concepts of collectivist and individualistic cultural settings was inspired by Hofstede's Cultural Dimensional Scores Model ( Hofstede, 2011 ). Abstracts were excluded if they focused on students below secondary school level and those already in the workforce as the study mainly focused on youth discerning their career choices and not those already in the workforce.

Data Extraction

Two of the researchers (PAT and BMA) independently assessed data for extraction, using coding sheets. Study variables compared were author and year of publication, country and continent of participant enrolment, cultural setting, study design, participant numbers, and educational level, factors influencing career choice and major outcomes. Data were crosschecked in a consensus meeting and discrepancies resolved through discussion and mutual agreement between the two reviewers. The third and fourth authors (T.I.E and D.L) were available to adjudicate if required.

Quality of Methods Assessment

In this study, two reviewers (PAT and TIE) ascertained the quality and validity of the articles using JBI Critical Appraisal (CA) tools for qualitative and cross-sectional studies ( Aromataris and Munn, 2017 ). In any event of disagreement, a third reviewer (BMA) interceded to make a judgement. Both JBI CA tools assess the methodological quality of the included studies to derive a score ranging from 0 (low quality) to 8 or 10 (high quality). Using these tools, studies with a total score between 0 and 3 were deemed of low quality, studies with a score between 4 and 6 were classed as of moderate quality and studies with scores from 7 were deemed to be of high quality (sound methodology).

Study Selection

Articles retrieved from the initial database search totaled 5,201. An additional 38 articles were retrieved from direct journal search by bibliographic search. A total of 597 records remained after duplicates and unrelated articles were removed. Of this number, 521 were excluded after abstract review mainly for not meeting the inclusion criteria, leaving 76 full text articles for eligibility check. A further 46 were excluded because they focused on career difficulties, counseling, retention, working adolescents, or the cultural setting was not stated. Applying this screening process resulted in 30 studies for inclusion in the qualitative review synthesis (see Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 . Search strategy. The figure shows the search strategy including databases assessed for this study.

Study Characteristics

All three factors (Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Interpersonal) affecting adolescents' career choices were identified in this review (Figure 2 ). Out of the 30 articles, five (17%) explored interpersonal factors exclusively ( Cheung et al., 2013 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ; Fan et al., 2014 ; Zhang et al., 2014 ; Fouad et al., 2016 ). Majority of the studies, 16 out of 30 (53%) explored interpersonal and intrinsic factors solely ( Mau, 2000 ; Lee, 2001 ; Caldera et al., 2003 ; Howard et al., 2009 ; Lent et al., 2010 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Li et al., 2015 ; Sawitri and Creed, 2015 , 2017 ; Kim et al, 2016 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ).

Figure 2 . Diagrammatic illustration of the included studies highlighting the factors that influence youth career choices. The figure shows the number of studies focusing on each of the three factors (intrinsic, extrinsic and interpersonal).

No articles focused solely on extrinsic or intrinsic factors. Two studies each explored the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ; Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ) as well as extrinsic and interpersonal factors ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). The remaining five articles (17%) explored all three factors (intrinsic, extrinsic, and interpersonal, ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Agarwala, 2008 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Fan et al., 2012 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Table 1 summarizes the 30 articles included in this review. Intrinsic factors explored in the literature include self-interest, job satisfaction, and learning experiences. Extrinsic factors include job security, guaranteed job opportunities, high salaries, prestigious professions and future benefits. Meanwhile, interpersonal factors include parental support, family cohesion, peer influence, and interaction with educators.

Table 1 . Summary of studies included in the review.

The collectivist cultural settings examined in the reviewed articles included Argentina, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine; while the individualistic ones were Canada, Finland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and United States of America. Italy was considered as partly individualistic and collectivist. Fourteen studies included participants from both collectivist and individualistic cultural settings ( Mau, 2000 ; Lee, 2001 ; Caldera et al., 2003 ; Howard et al., 2009 ; Fan et al., 2012 , 2014 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ; Choi and Kim, 2013 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Zhang et al., 2014 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Fouad et al., 2016 ; Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ; Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Twelve studies focused on collectivist cultural settings ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Agarwala, 2008 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Lent et al., 2010 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Li et al., 2015 ; Kim et al, 2016 ; Sawitri and Creed, 2017 ). Three studies examined participants who moved from collectivist to individualistic settings ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ) and one study considered both cultural dimensions within a single setting ( Howard et al., 2009 ). Twenty-nine of the included studies used a range of quantitative designs. Participant numbers in these ranged from 80 to 2087. One study used qualitative design with 12 participants.

Quality of Methods of Included Studies

The quality assessment of methods employed in the 30 studies included in this review are outlined in Table 2 . The qualitative study was assessed using the JBI qualitative CA tool and was of sound methodology (Table 2A ). Using the JBI cross-sectional CA tool, 9 of the 29 quantitative studies (31 %) were of sound methodology (score of 6.5–7). The other 20 studies (69 %) were of moderate quality (Table 2B ).

Table 2 . Quality assessment of included articles.

Synthesis of Study Results

Table 1 and Figure 3 details the study setting and the underlying factors influencing youth career choices. Analysis of the reviewed articles revealed four major themes namely: extrinsic, intrinsic and interpersonal factors and emergent bicultural influence on career choice. These four major themes had several subthemes and are reported below.

Figure 3 . Career influencing factors. The figures shows identified career influencing factors and their distribution in cultural settings.

Extrinsic Factors

Extrinsic factors examined in the reviewed articles included financial remuneration, job security, professional prestige and job accessibility.

Financial Remuneration

Financial remuneration was identified as the most influential extrinsic factor in career choice decision. Income was considered as an important component of life, particularly among youth who had a higher level of individualism ( Agarwala, 2008 ; Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). Wüst and Leko Šimić reported that German students ranked “a high income” highest with a 3.7 out of 5 and regarded it as the most important feature of their future job in comparison to Croatian students who gave it a lower ranking of 3 out of 5 ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). While amongst Indian management students, it was rated as the third most important factor influencing career choice ( Agarwala, 2008 ). Financial reward was also a high motivator for career decision among Chinese migrant students in Canada ( Tao et al., 2018 ), and Korean students ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ). In contrast, the need for higher remuneration did not influence career decision making among engineering students in India ( Gokuladas, 2010 ), and Japanese senior college students ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ).

Professional Prestige

Professional prestige was identified as an important deciding factor for youth career decision making in India ( Agarwala, 2008 ), South Africa ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ), Croatia ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ), Japan and Korea ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ), which are all collectivist settings. Prestige statuses attached to some occupations were strong incentives to career choices; was ranked as the second most important positive influence in career decision making by over half of the respondents in a South African study, indicating that these youth wanted prestigious jobs so that they could live good lives and be respected in the society ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ). Japanese and Korean students were also highly influenced by occupational prestige ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ); however, the Korean students considered it of higher importance than their Japanese counterparts.

Job Accessibility

Job accessibility was also considered as a deciding factor for youth's career decision in a collectivist Burkina Faso society where nearness to employment locations prevented students from choosing careers related to their preferred fields of endeavor ( Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). Another study explored the perceptions of hospitality and tourism career among college students and demonstrated that Korean students are more likely to focus on current market trends such as job accessibility in comparison to their American counterparts ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ), implying that they are less flexible with their choices. However, job accessibility and vocational interest were less predictive of career explorations than personality traits in both cultural settings in a different study ( Fan et al., 2012 ).

Job Security

Job security was reported as influential in only one study where it was identified as highly important by German youth in comparison to their Croatian counterparts ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). They suggested that their finding are in line with the uncertainty avoidance index proposed by Hofstede (2011) which also takes on a relatively high value for Germans. They provided two major reasons for the findings—(1) “secure jobs” has a tradition for young Germans and (2) change in employment contracts in Germany; with fewer employees under 25 having permanent contracts ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ).

Intrinsic Factors

The literature explored intrinsic factors such as personal interests, self-efficacy, outcome expectations and professional development opportunities.

Personal Interests

Personal interests in career decision-making appeared to be an important factor in the selection of a life career ( Caldera et al., 2003 ; Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Lent et al., 2010 ; Choi and Kim, 2013 ; Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa ascertained that about fifty per cent of youth career decisions are based on their personal interests ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ), and Gokuladas maintained that students from urban areas are most likely to consider their personal interests before societal interests when making career decisions ( Gokuladas, 2010 ). Lent et al., reported that personal interest predict youth's career outcome expectations ( Lent et al., 2010 ) while Li et al., indicated that in collectivist Chinese culture, personal interests matter significantly however individual preferences are strongly influenced by social comparison ( Li et al., 2015 ). Atitsogbe et al., observed that Swiss students are more influenced by personal interests ( Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). They reported that in Switzerland, interest differentiation was significantly associated with self-identity. This scenario was compared to the situation in the collectivist Burkina Faso culture where interest differentiation and consistency were less associated self-identity ( Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). Similarly, Korean students were reported to focus on the prevailing market trends such as salary, job positions, and promotion opportunities in contrast to American student who were more future oriented and interested in setting individual desired goals in their reality oriented-perceptions ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ). Personal interest was also linked to career aspirations in Mexican American women ( Caldera et al., 2003 ).

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy was considered a vital intrinsic factor in the career decision-making process of youth ( Howard et al., 2009 ; Fan et al., 2012 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ). Howard et al. reported individualistic and collectivist dimensions in two different regions within the same country due to economic factors ( Howard et al., 2009 ). In collectivist cultures, students' self-efficacy was linked to their level of congruence with their parents. Whereas in individualistic cultural settings, like America, families encourage students to become self-sufficient and independent ( Mau, 2000 ; Fan et al., 2012 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ).

Outcome Expectations

Two studies carried out in collectivist cultural settings reported that youth's outcome expectation are contingent/dependent on the degree of perceived congruence with parents ( Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Sawitri et al., 2015 ). One article that studied the outcome expectations of youth in individualistic cultural setting reported that among students in the United States, strong career maturity, confidence, and outcome expectations were culturally based ( Lee, 2001 ).

Professional Development Opportunities

The opportunity for professional development is also a major intrinsic career-influencing factor ( Lee, 2001 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Guan et al., 2015 ). University students in China were individually matured and influenced by career development opportunities ( Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ). While American students were shown to score higher for ideal occupations ( Guan et al., 2015 ), and influenced by goal motivation and strong career maturity ( Lee, 2001 ). This is similar to high school students in Indonesia, although dependent on congruence with parents ( Sawitri and Creed, 2015 ).

Interpersonal Factors

The literature discussed the extent to which family members, teachers/educators, peers, and social responsibilities influence youth's career decision-making.

Influence of Family Members

Agarwala suggested the father was seen as the most significant individual influencing the career choice of Indian management students ( Agarwala, 2008 ). This could be understood in the context of a reasonably patriarchal society. According to the study, most of the participants' fathers were mainly professionals, which may have motivated their career selection. In another study, mothers (52.50%) were regarded as the most significant family member that impacted positively on students' career choices ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ). Fathers (18.75%) were the second most significant individual, followed by siblings or guardians (16.25%) ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ). Good rapport among family members culminating in an effective communication within the family set up is crucial for laying sound foundation for career decision making. Higher career congruence with parents also increased career confidence and self-efficacy ( Sawitri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Sawitri and Creed, 2015 , 2017 ; Kim et al, 2016 ). Furthermore, parents' profession influences career choice as children from agricultural backgrounds tend to take on their parents' job, while those from industrialized settings have more autonomy and career decidedness ( Howard et al., 2009 ).

Other familial influence on career decision-making according to the results of the only qualitative study in our review, include parental values, parental pressure, cultural capital and family obligations ( Polenova et al., 2018 ). The study indicated the apparent Asian American cultural preference for certain professions/careers. Students indicated that, parental opinion sometimes put an emphasis on a specific career. In that study, several participants emphasized that they were not forced, but “strongly encouraged” ( Polenova et al., 2018 ).

It's not like your parents are going to put a gun to your head and say “You're going to be a doctor” but from a young age, they say things like, “You're going to be a great doctor, I can't wait until you have that stethoscope around your neck.”

Polenova et al., 2018

Teachers and Educators

Teachers and educators are significant figures in the process of youth's career decision-making ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Howard et al., 2009 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ). Cheung et al. and Howard et al. reported that in both collectivist and individualistic cultures, teacher are seen as significant figures who are agents of development and could have influence on students' career decision making ( Howard et al., 2009 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ). Cheung et al. further reported that students in Hong Kong rated perceived efficacy of teachers higher than parents due to lower level of parental education ( Cheung et al., 2013 ). In addition, Cheung and Arnold demonstrated a strong student dependence on teachers followed by peers and less of parents ( Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ).

Peer Influence

Two studies carried out in both cultural settings showed peer influence as a third potent force (after parents and teachers) that can significantly impact on the career decisions of youth, especially girls ( Howard et al., 2009 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ). Other studies reported that peers are a branch of the significant others and as social agents, they influence their kinds through social comparisons and acceptance ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Lee, 2001 ; Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ).

Social Responsibilities

The impact of social responsibility as a driving force in youth career decision-making was identified by Fouad et al. (2016) , who noted that the career decision-making of South Korean youth is influenced by societal expectations. This is supported by another research, which suggested that societal expectations influenced youth career choices in both collectivist and individualistic cultures ( Lee, 2001 ; Mau, 2004 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ).

Emergent Bicultural Influence on Youth Career Choices

Of the 30 articles, only three explored the career decision making of bicultural youths ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Strong family support influenced US-born and Asian-born students as shown by a recent study ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ). Hui and Lent found that students with stronger adherence to Asian values were more likely to perceive family support to pursue science related careers ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ). High sense of obligation to parents (filial piety), internal locus of control, and personal interests were identified as factors that influenced bi-cultural Asian American students' career decision making ( Polenova et al., 2018 ). Bicultural Chinese students who were acculturated to Canada were highly intrinsically motivated (internal locus of control and self-efficacy) in their career decision-making, while those who had stronger Chinese acculturations were influenced by extrinsic (financial stability) and interpersonal (family) factors ( Tao et al., 2018 ).

This systematic review examined the existent factors influencing the career choices of the youths from different countries around the globe, from either or both collectivist and individualistic cultural settings. Intrinsic and interpersonal factors were more investigated than extrinsic factors in the reviewed articles. In these articles, intrinsic factors included personal interests, professional advancement, and personality traits. Extrinsic factors included guaranteed employment opportunities, job security, high salaries, prestigious professions and future benefits. Meanwhile, interpersonal factors are the activities of agents of socialization in one's life, such as parental support, family cohesion, status, peer influence as well as interaction with other social agents such as school counsellors, teachers and other educators ( Lent et al., 2010 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Kim et al, 2016 ).

The three factors (intrinsic, extrinsic and interpersonal) relating to career choices are pervasive in both cultures. Their level of influence on the youth differs from culture to culture and appear to be dependent on perceived parental congruence leading to self-efficacy and better career choice outcomes. The studies carried out in Canada, Finland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and United States of America showed a high level of individualism, which typifies intrinsic motivation for career choice. Youths in individualistic cultural settings were influenced by the combinations of intrinsic (personal interest, personality trait, self-efficacy), extrinsic (job security, high salaries) and to a lesser extent, interpersonal (parental guidance) factors and are encouraged to make their own career decisions ( Mau, 2004 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ). In contrast, studies carried out in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Ukraine showed a high level of collectivism. Youths in collectivist cultures were mainly influenced by interpersonal (honoring parental and societal expectations and parental requirements to follow a prescribed career path) and extrinsic (prestigious professions) ( Mau, 2000 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ). The opinions of significant others matter significantly to youths from collectivist cultural settings. Whereas, in individualistic cultures, youths tend to focus on professions that offer higher income and satisfy their personal interests ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ).

Parental influences were found to be significant in collectivist cultural settings ( Agarwala, 2008 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 ), implying that youths from this culture value the involvement of significant others, especially parents, and other family members, during their career decision-making processes. The activities of parents and significant others are very pivotal in the lives of the youth as they navigate their career paths. Cheung et al. reported the role of significant others (teachers) in influencing youth career choices when parents are unable to suitably play such role ( Cheung et al., 2013 ). Interestingly, one article focused on two different cultural orientations within one country and reported that parents' profession influence career choice as children from agricultural backgrounds tend to take on their parents' job, while those from industrialized settings have more autonomy and career decidedness ( Howard et al., 2009 ). This finding emphasizes the complex interplay of cultural context and the environment in the career aspirations of youths ( Fouad et al., 2016 ).

The review suggests that youths of collectivist orientations, tend to subordinate personal interests to group goals, emphasizing the standards and importance of relatedness and family cohesion ( Kim et al, 2016 ). However, such patterns of behavior may be conflicted, particularly during cross-cultural transitions. Parental influence have been reported to generate difficulties within the family and discrepancies over career choice decisions are not uncommon within both cultures ( Myburgh, 2005 ; Keller and Whiston, 2008 ; Dietrich and Kracke, 2009 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 ). The conundrum is will adolescents of collectivist orientation be comfortable with their cultural ethos after resettling in a different environment with individualistic cultural beliefs and practices?

Our study revealed that when youth transfer from their heritage culture to a different cultural setting, their cultural values are challenged and their career decision-making patterns may be affected. For instance, Tao et al. reported that students of Chinese descent who were acculturated to Canada primed personal interests, self-efficacy and financial stability instead of honoring parental and societal expectations in their career decision-making ( Tao et al., 2018 ). Similarly, Asian American students with stronger adherence to Asian values had a high sense of obligation to parents ( Polenova et al., 2018 ) and were more likely to perceive family support than their counterparts who were more acculturated to American values ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ). Our data also suggest a strong interplay of individualist and collectivist cultural values coexisting in harmony and jointly influencing how the youth in the current global environment define themselves, relate to others, and decide priorities in conforming to social/societal norms. Movement across cultures (migration) leads to several changes and adjustments in an individual's life. The internal and psychological changes the youth may encounter, otherwise known as psychological acculturation, also affect their career identity ( Berry, 1997 ). Given that only three out of the 30 reviewed studies were conducted in bicultural settings ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ), further studies are recommended to examine the career choice practices of youths who have transferred from collectivistic to individualistic cultures and vice versa.

Practical Implications for Counsellors and Policy Makers

Social Learning Theory proposes that the role of a career counselor is to help clients expand their career choices and help clarify beliefs that can interfere or promote their career plans ( Krumboltz, 1996 ). Culture has a major influence on people's beliefs therefore, it is integral that career counselors are able to provide culturally responsive career directions to guide the youth in the pursuit of their career aspirations. Providing accessible sources of support and empowering youths to openly discuss their concerns relating to career decision-making will broaden the youths' understanding and this could have a significant impact on their academic and career pathways. Family support is important for all youths as they navigate their career explorations, especially for migrants. The role of counselors is not only limited to the youths, it can also benefit the entire family. Essentially, counselors can attempt to engage not just the youths in exploring academic and vocational opportunities, but also offer avenues for families to become involved and connected to the career decision-making processes.

Cultural identities combined with the varied expectations for achievement can be an overwhelming experience for the youth. Counselors can seize this opportunity to provide companionship and direction as the youth figure out their career pathways ( Gushue et al., 2006 ; Risco and Duffy, 2011 ).

The significance of a school environment that is conducive and embraces the racial and academic identity of its students can be a huge asset to boost youth morale. Gonzalez et al. reported that students who feel culturally validated by others at school and experience positive ethnic regard, have more confidence in their career aspirations ( Gonzalez et al., 2013 ). Career counselors together with other educators and service providers hold influential positions as they can furnish academic, cultural and social support that family members alone cannot provide.

Strengths and Limitations of This Study

The major strength of this review is that it has provided increased understanding of the cultural underpinnings of the factors that influence the career choices of youths. The study has also highlighted areas of knowledge gap in the literature, such as fewer studies exploring the impact of extrinsic factors on career choice and the need for more bicultural studies. However, the conclusions drawn from this review are limited to the data that were extracted from the studies identified. We acknowledge that there are caveats with the use of the concepts “collectivist and individualistic” to describe the cultural underpinnings of different countries as there are some fluidity around their usage as suggested by Hofstede (1991 , 2001) . However, the use of these concepts was helpful in classifying the cultural background of the participants included in this review. The findings of the studies reviewed within each country may not necessarily be representative of all the cultural orientations in those countries. Furthermore, researchers from different cultures (or studying different cultures) may have chosen to study only the variables that they believe will have relevance. Nevertheless, most of the studies reviewed had large sample sizes and were conducted in various countries across the globe.

Recommendations

• Of the 30 articles reviewed, only one involved qualitative study designs. Further qualitative studies on this topic are required to provide in-depth understanding of the influences on youth's career choices and to allow causal inferences to be made.

• There were only three articles that examined the career decision-making of the bicultural youths from the perspective of the mainstream and the heritage cultures. Better career choices for the bicultural youth will enhance their self-identity and lead to commitment to duty and eventual career satisfaction. Without harnessing the potentials of youths through career education and training, the bicultural and migrant youths' face uncertainties in the future in the host country. The rippling effects of such uncertainties in the future could have a detrimental effect on the country's economy. Therefore, there is the need for increased research activities in this area in host countries. Educational system planning should be developed to encourage youth to have self-efficacy and be more involved in job-related information seeking. This will be especially efficient in progressing bicultural youths who might have migrated with their parents into a new culture.

• Sound education at school can open ways for career decisions. Interventions designed to assist youth in strengthening their academic self-efficacy, internal motivation, and goal-setting strategies can foster improved career choice outcomes.

Conclusions

The three factors investigated in this study are pervasive in influencing the career decisions of youths in both individualistic and collectivist societies. In collectivist societies, parental intervention is understood as a requirement to support their children's efforts and equip them to be responsible and economically productive. Meanwhile, the standard practice in individualistic societies is for parents to endorse their children's opinions and encourage them to choose careers that make them happy. Overall, further research is imperative to guide the understanding of parental influence and diversity in bicultural and migrant youths' career prospects and their ability to use the resources available in their new environments to attain meaningful future career goals. Additional research, particularly qualitative, is required to explore the level of family involvement in youths' career choices among migrant families in different cultural settings.

Author Contributions

PA-T and BM-A extracted the data. BM-A, TE, and DL critically appraised and validated the study findings. PA-T developed the first draft of the manuscript. BM-A, TE, DL, and KT reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript for submission.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: career choice, youths, collectivist culture, individualistic culture, cross-cultures

Citation: Akosah-Twumasi P, Emeto TI, Lindsay D, Tsey K and Malau-Aduli BS (2018) A Systematic Review of Factors That Influence Youths Career Choices—the Role of Culture. Front. Educ . 3:58. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2018.00058

Received: 31 January 2018; Accepted: 28 June 2018; Published: 19 July 2018.

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Copyright © 2018 Akosah-Twumasi, Emeto, Lindsay, Tsey and Malau-Aduli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Peter Akosah-Twumasi, [email protected]

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Perceived support and influences in adolescents’ career choices: a mixed-methods study

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Support and influences on adolescents’ career choices come from a variety of sources. However, studies comparing the importance given to various sources of support are few, and none have analyzed differences in the support provided by mothers and fathers. This study aimed to examine quantitatively the importance given to support from various sources in a sample of 432 Swiss adolescents at two points in time in the period of choice and to explore qualitatively experiences related to support given/received by 10 mother–child dyads in the career choice process. The overall results endorse the mother as the main source of support.

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With the arrival of adolescence, career planning becomes very important (Gati & Saka, 2001 ). Among the main difficulties that adolescents have to overcome, there are school–professional choices (Lodi et al., 2008 ). In fact, around the age of 14–15 years, adolescents must make choices about their future and can live a condition of indecision and insecurity that is associated with difficulties in making decisions and with procrastination or avoidance of the choice task (Nota & Soresi, 2002 ). This process is certainly not facilitated by the 21st-century context, in which it is increasingly difficult to make predictions, ask for suggestions, or choose (Soresi & Nota, 2015 ).

It is widely recognized that parental support plays a fundamental role in career development of sons and daughters (Whiston & Keller, 2004 ), and in particular the support provided by mothers (Colarossi & Eccles, 2003 ; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992 ; Levitt et al., 1993 ). School actors, principally teachers, have also been found to be an important source of support for career choices (Wong et al., 2021 ). Although various studies agree on the importance of adolescents perceiving social support to deal with the career choice process (Whiston & Keller, 2004 ), still few have been interested in understanding what the most important sources of this support are (e.g. Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ; Gushue & Whitson, 2006 ), distinguishing not only between parents, school guidance counselors, and teachers but also between mothers and fathers, and also investigating whether the adolescent’s gender might influence this perception. In addition, few have studied adolescents’ perceptions of influences they have had and support received relating to the career choice and at the same time their parents’ perceptions of influence and support provided using a qualitative approach.

The present study thus had two main aims, each pursued with a specific approach. The first, using a quantitative approach, was to examine the importance of different sources of support in a sample of adolescents at two points in time in their last year of compulsory school. The second, with a qualitative approach, was to delve into the experience related to support given/received by 10 mother–child dyads in the career choice process.

Parental influences

Parents are a major source of interpersonal support and can influence their children’s self-efficacy and professional expectations, their interests, and career goals (Kenny & Medvide, 2013 ). It has been shown that adolescents consider it normal to be influenced by their parents in career choices and do not think that decisions will be made only by them (Bernardo, 2010 ). Indeed, the expectations of parents contribute to obtaining positive career outcomes (Fouad et al., 2008 ). However, this is valid only when the adolescent believes he can meet these expectations (Leung et al., 2011 ); when the adolescent does not feel up to meeting the expectations of parents, there is the risk of developing psychological distress (Wang & Heppner, 2002 ). Hence, parental support in this area can foster aspirations, exploration, and career planning (Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ; Ma & Yeh, 2010 ) but as long as it is actually perceived as support (Garcia et al., 2012 ).

Career concerns have to do with the stress of planning a future task (Cairo et al., 1996 ; Savickas et al., 1988 ). They represent anxiety about the fact that the individual is managing something important for their professional future (Code & Bernes, 2006 ). Students who find themselves making a choice must deal with this stress and manage the choice also based on the expectations of family, peers, and educational institutions (Creed et al., 2009 ). The career choice process, therefore, implicates emotions (Blustein et al., 1995 ) that involve both the adolescent and their parents. These emotions can stimulate action and make sense of the career development process within the family setting (Young et al., 1997 ). However, they can also be associated with prolonged indecision (Gati et al., 2011 ) and make mothers overly concerned, especially when adolescents hardly discuss their future plans (Kobak et al., 1994 ). Indeed, the behavior of parents concerning the choices of their children can be support, when they help them make choices by providing them with guidance, but also interference, when they excessively control the choices their children make, or lack of engagement, due to disinterest or other factors such as financial problems, overwork, or other (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ).

What has been expressed up to now indicates that parents can be a valid resource that provides instrumental and emotional support to the adolescent in transition increasing self-efficacy in career decision-making (Lent et al., 2003 ), professional and career adaptability (Kenny & Bledsoe, 2005 ; Parola & Marcionetti, 2021 ), career exploration (Kracke, 1997 ), and diminishing indecision about career choices (Guerra & Braungart-Rieker, 1999 ; Marcionetti & Rossier, 2016a ; Parola & Marcionetti, 2021 ). On the other hand, they can also constitute a risk factor in career choices when they interfere too much or lack engagement in this process (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ; Zhao et al., 2012 ).

Colarossi and Eccles ( 2003 ) conducted a study considering the perception of parental support on adolescents in the development of self-esteem or depression; the peculiarity of this study is that parental support was distinguished in support received from fathers and support received from mothers. Indeed, a limitation of research on parental support is that it is often considered as a single measure, without separating maternal and paternal support and considering the gender of the adolescent. The authors have shown, in fact, that the effects are different for male and female adolescents. In particular, male adolescents perceive greater support from fathers than females whereas it has been found that there are no significant differences concerning the perception of the support received from the mothers. Finally, fathers, compared to mothers, teachers and peers were perceived as providers of a smaller amount of support. This study is consistent with other research carried out in this area (Colarossi, 2001 ; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992 ; Levitt et al., 1993 ) and underlines the idea that it is important to differentiate maternal and paternal support. Indeed, according to Leaper et al. ( 1998 ), mothers show a tendency to use more supportive language than fathers and are more involved when it comes to the school and educational decisions of their children. According to this, Ginevra et al. ( 2015 ) and Porfeli et al. ( 2013 ) showed that mothers perceive themselves as more supportive than fathers in the career development of their children. Other authors also confirm these results, which underlines the greater role of mothers compared with fathers in their children’s career choices (e.g., McCabe & Barnett, 2000 ).

School influences

In middle schools, school counselors and career guidance specialists are often the main personnel responsible for monitoring and helping students in sustaining the career choice (Gysbers & Lapan, 2009 ; Multon, 2006 ). This is also the case in Southern Switzerland, where this study has been conducted. However, in studies made in other countries, it emerged that students do not always see their services as sufficient, or helpful (Mortimer et al., 2002 ). Hence, in many countries more responsibility has been given to teachers for supporting their students’ career development. On the one hand, teachers can give “general support” that can promote the development of different career and life competencies during their classes (Kivunja, 2014 ). In this sense, Lei et al. ( 2018 ) say that teachers provide general support in both giving social support, which involves emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support, and promoting self-determination. Indeed, the teacher supports the development of autonomy, decision-making, and intrinsic motivation, which increase in adolescents the motivation to pursue life and career goals. On the other hand, teachers can give specific career-related support. For Wong et al. ( 2021 ) specific career-related support is “anything a teacher does that can facilitate the career planning of students” (Wong et al., 2021 , p. 132) such as inquiring about career paths, helping students identify their interests, giving information about jobs, and providing help in setting goals. Teacher support has been proven to have a significant impact on the development of students’ career aspirations, future orientation, career exploration, and planning (Alm et al., 2019 ; Hirschi et al., 2011 ; Rogers & Creed, 2011 ).

Studies that have compared the importance of various sources of support in the career decision-making process seem to point to teachers as the most important source of support (although the differences are never huge). These studies are few in number and have been conducted on quite diverse samples in terms of culture and age and considering different career-related outcomes. For example, Gushue and Whitson ( 2006 ) in the USA have shown that teachers support has more effect than parental support on the level of African American ninth-grade public high school students’ positive expectations about the career chosen. The study from Di Fabio and Kenny ( 2015 ) with Italian high school students suggests that teacher support contributes more than peer support in increasing resilience, perceived employability, and self-efficacy. Cheung and Arnold ( 2010 ) found that teacher support is more effective than parental and peers’ support in predicting career exploration in Hong Kong university students. Finally, Kenny and Bledsoe ( 2005 ) in a sample of US urban high school students showed that support from family, teachers, close friends, and peer beliefs about school all contributed significantly to the explanation of the four dimensions of career adaptability, school identification, perceptions of educational barriers, career outcome expectations, and career planning. Moreover, they analyzed the different contribution of each relational variable when controlling for the others, finding that family support contributed to explaining variance in perceived educational barriers and career expectations; teacher support contributed to explaining variance in school identification; and perceived peer beliefs contributed to explaining perceived educational barriers and school identification. The results thus seem to indicate that different actors may contribute differently to support the choice process. This suggests that all actors can play an important role in providing support. However, no study to our knowledge has captured adolescents’ perceptions with respect to which figure has been most supportive in this process. It is indeed important that not only does the support offered have a concrete effect on the choice process, but also that it is recognized, otherwise risking being interpreted as “lack of engagement,” and positively valued by the adolescent, otherwise risking being interpreted as “interference” (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ).

Methodologies to study career-related social support

Social support can be provided by close relatives such as parents and siblings and by other persons more or less trained to give it, such as career counselors and teachers. It can also be of different types; for instance, Cutrona and Russell ( 1990 ) and Cutrona ( 1996 ) distinguished between emotional support (the support given through love and empathy, concern, comfort, and security), social integration or network support (the support given by the feeling part of a group with people who hold similar interests and concerns), esteem support (the support that boosts others self-confidence through respect for others qualities, belief in another’s abilities, and validation of thoughts, feelings, or actions), information support (the factual input, advice, or guidance and appraisal of the situation), and tangible assistance (the support through instrumental assistance with tasks or resources). Moreover, the support received, and then perceived, can be influenced by one’s tendency and ability to ask for it (Marcionetti & Rossier, 2016b ). The same goes for the ability to give support and then to feel efficient in giving it. Finally, all these aspects can be influenced by cultural differences (Ishii et al., 2017 ).

Despite the complex nature of social support, there are few studies in which adolescents were asked who the most important people were in providing support in the process of school and career choice by directly asking them for their opinion on the matter. As mentioned earlier, we believe it is important that the support offered (by parents, school and career counselor, teacher, or peers) is also perceived and evaluated positively, lest it instead be deemed lacking in engagement or experienced as interference (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ). Moreover, the studies carried out to investigate the importance of different sources of career-related support for adolescents are mostly quantitative in nature, although there are some exceptions (e.g., Schultheiss et al., 2001 ; Young & Friesen, 1992 ). There is also a lack of studies investigating how parents–child relationships are influential in the career development process and the parents and children’s cross-perceptions of them and of the emotionality felt in them.

An interesting way to fill some of these research gaps is to use a mixed-methods research design. What is unique about these methods is that they allow both quantitative and qualitative approaches to be used in a single research study or set of related studies. To do this there are various ways that can make one or the other of these approaches precede the other and give different or equal importance to them (Creswell & Creswell, 2017 ; Stick & Lincoln, 2006 ). For example, in a first phase, quantitative data can be collected through the administration of a questionnaire. Then, the descriptive data provided in this phase of the study can be used to guide the subsequent qualitative data collection with face-to-face interviews. Thus, mixed method research utilizes a quantitative and qualitative approach to create a stronger research result than either method individually (Malina et al., 2011 ).

Quantitative data collected by sample-administered questionnaires and analyzed by the well-known statistical methods allow generalizability of collected data to the broader population (Creswell & Creswell, 2017 ). Instead, semi-structured interviews are a useful qualitative method to explore perceptions, experiences, and ideas on specific topics (Gill et al., 2008 ; Taylor, 2005 ; Wengraf, 2001 ). Semi-structured interviews have already been used for studies on career development support (e.g., Parola & Marcionetti, 2020 ; Schultheiss et al., 2001 ). To analyze information collected with semi-structured interviews, there are different methods. Content analysis allows making replicable and valid inferences from data to their context (Krippendorff, 1980 ; Mayring, 2000 ). The aim of this approach is to provide knowledge, new insights, and new representations of facts. It implies choosing some categories linked to the research question that are used to analyze a conversation or a text. This method has the advantage of permitting the identification of the main themes contained in a message and the way the message is expressed. However, it has the disadvantage of being quite sensitive to the researcher’s aims and corpus of data (Tomasetto & Selleri, 2004 ). Another useful method of analysis is thematic analysis that allows identifying, organizing, and explaining themes in a dataset (Braun & Clarke, 2012 ). It is simple to use, flexible, and allows anyone to easily read the results, enabling social and psychological interpretations of the data (Braun & Clarke, 2006 ; Javadi & Zarea, 2016 ). For these reasons, thematic analysis is one of the most common methods of analysis in qualitative research (Guest et al., 2012 ). If mixed approaches (combining quantitative and qualitative approaches) for data collection are becoming more popular, few studies have so far combined content and textual analyses of interviews (e.g., Zambelli et al., 2020 ).

Aims of the study and methodological approach for data collection

Given that studies seem to indicate that (a) there is a differential perception of support providers between boys and girls, and (b) teachers are important support providers (Wong et al., 2021 ), in some cases even more effective than parents (e.g. Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ) and school guidance counselors (e.g. Gysbers & Lapan, 2009 ; Multon, 2006 ), the first aim of this study was to understand, from the point of view of adolescents, which are the main providers of support for career decision-making process at the end of compulsory school (at the beginning and at the end of the last year) and what are the eventual differences in perceptions between boys and girls. Few studies have considered the differences between mother and father, which is why they were given importance in this study. The specific research question guiding this part of the study was thus “which sources of support are most influential in career exploration and decision-making of adolescents?”. We felt it necessary that the answer to this question could be generalized to a large population of adolescents to be sure to focus the qualitative part of the study on the most important actors and content. Hence, this question was divided into sub-questions which then formed the questionnaire submitted to the adolescents. It was in fact considered important to explore: (a) whether the students had used the guidance service offered at school; (b) whether they had gone to the school and vocational guidance counsellor alone or accompanied (and by whom); (c) whether they were helped by someone in the choice process inside or outside school; (d) whether they felt they needed further help in choosing a school or a profession for the following year; and (e) who they considered to be the main source of support for this choice. The questionnaire was administered at two points in time, at the beginning and at the end of the last compulsory school year, to take into account and control for eventual variations in support perception at two important moments of the career choice process. In fact, for some teenagers, the summer period before the start of the school year is an opportunity to test some choices with company internships and meetings with potential employers. For others, the most important period is placed later in the school year, since the possibility of accessing some schools depends on academic success.

Based on the results that emerged in this first phase of the study, we considered that many studies have been published about the theme of the influence of parents on children, but that it is not always easy to trace the depth of a parent’s influence on a son or daughter’s career choices (Whiston & Keller, 2004 ). In fact, most of the previous studies have investigated the influences of parents on the career development of children in a quantitative way or have taken into consideration only the point of view of the children, mainly, or that of the parents. The second aim of this study was therefore to explore this aspect with a qualitative approach by involving 10 mother–child dyads to explore their possibly different points of view and emotionality. The choice to consider only mothers in this second qualitative part of the study was made bearing in mind the results obtained in the first quantitative part of the study. However, the goodness of this choice was also underpinned by the adolescents contacted for this second phase: when asked for a parental contact to discuss the topic of school and career choice, all spontaneously provided their mother’s. The two main specific research questions guiding this second part of the study were thus “what role do parents play in their child’s career decisions from the perspective of the mothers and of the children?” and “what sentiments emerge during the career decision-making process in mothers and children?”. Specific information about the participants involved in the two phases of the study, how they were involved, and the procedures for data collection and analysis will be laid out in the next section.

Participants

The study was conducted in southern Switzerland, in the Swiss Canton of Ticino, where the official language is Italian. In southern Switzerland, adolescents aged approximately 14 or 15 years, after middle school must choose between continuing a general education at a high school or starting an apprenticeship that usually involves spending three days at the company and two at a vocational school. Some full-time vocational schools also complete apprenticeship training. This choice can be difficult; indeed, access to high schools and some apprenticeships is limited to only those students with good academic achievement. Moreover, apprenticeships that provide part of the training with a company are accessible only to those adolescents who have found an employer. In this context, social support is crucial. A school guidance counselor is present in the middle school a few days a week and is available for one-on-one meetings with students; they may be accompanied by parents or family members if they wish. At the time of study, teachers have no institutionally defined role in supporting their students’ career choices. Only the class referent teacher, the penultimate and final year of middle school, is responsible for providing them, during class time, with information on the school and career guidance website ( www.orientamento.ch ) or first-hand information on available apprenticeship positions provided by the school guidance counselor.

Hence, students from 7 of 35 middle schools situated in various geographic locations (city, city’s periphery, and schools located in small villages in the valleys) were involved in the first part of the study. There were 432 participants at the two data collections (in October and May of the last year of compulsory school), 224 boys and 208 girls. During each questionnaire administration, the students received information about the aim of the study and were reassured about the confidentiality of their answers. The questionnaires were completed in an IT classroom during an ordinary lesson and under the supervision of the first author.

After the last data collection, 10 pairs of mothers and children for a total of 20 participants were selected to participate in the second part of the study. In the selection of the adolescents, taken from those who participated in the first part of the study and of whom we knew a range of information, some criteria were considered. First, adolescents were selected from two middle schools, a “urban” school and a “valley” school, and at the time of the last quantitative data collection, they provided a telephone number. Second, they had just finished compulsory school and were in the moment of transition between compulsory school and another type of education. Third, the type of education was considered: in the questionnaire, five adolescents said they would enroll in a general high school and five in vocational education and training (VET). Fourth, career decidedness was taken into account: in each school, two adolescents were sure of their educational choice, two had yet to confirm this choice, and one was not sure about it. Fifth, gender was considered: six were girls, and four were boys. Sixth, when reached on the phone, they gave their availability for an interview and provided a parent’s contact information. The parent was contacted and, after explaining the purpose of the study, gave his/her consent and that of their child to participate. We did not specifically ask which parent (mother or father) we wanted to conduct the interview with; however, all 10 adolescents provided the telephone number of the mother, who was also described as the parent principally supporting them in the educational choice and in the moment of transition.

In the questionnaires administrated at the beginning and at the end of the last compulsory school year, students were asked about their gender (masculine/feminine), the middle school in which they were enrolled (multiple choice question, with only one choice possible), about how many meetings with the school counselor they had (exact number requested) and with whom they meet them (multiple choice question, with more than one choice possible), who was helping or helped them make the career choice (multiple choice question, with more than one choice possible), and who helped them the most (multiple choice question, with only one choice possible). In the first questionnaire, students were also asked to indicate whether they felt they need more support (yes/no) and from whom (open question). In the second questionnaire, they were also asked about the type of future career education desired (high school/VET in full time school/VET with apprenticeship), their career decidedness (answer on a scale from 1 = not at all decided to 6 = completely decided), and, after having explained that the study also included interviews with a selection of them and their parents, if they agreed to give it, they provided a telephone number (open question).

Concerning the interviews, mothers and children were met separately at home or in a quiet place that they chose. Both were briefed on the objectives of the research and gave the informed consent to participate. All participants were informed that the data would be processed in aggregate form, without ever mentioning their names. Participants were asked for permission to record the interview. All participants agreed to register. The recording was transcribed and analyses were subsequently carried out. To investigate the areas of interest, semi-structured interviews were used, divided into the following parts: (1) an introduction referring to the description of themselves (or children) and their family, school progress, and relationships with peers, and (2) a section devoted to influences on choice. Semi-structured interviewing is a versatile and flexible data collection method, which can be modified according to the purpose of the research (Kelly, 2010 ). One of the main advantages is that this type of interview allows the interviewer to improvise questions, based on the responses of the participants (Hardon et al., 2004 ; Polit & Beck, 2010 ; Rubin & Rubin, 2005 ). Questions are determined before meeting the interviewee (Rubin & Rubin, 2005 ), to cover the main research topics (Taylor, 2005 ). However, the interview is not followed rigidly and rigorously; the basic idea is to explore the area of ​​interest by providing participants with indications on what to talk about (Gill et al., 2008 ). This makes the semi-structured interview a simple method of data collection (Wengraf, 2001 ). In the present study, the interviews were conducted by the first author, adequately trained to conduct semi-structured interviews, as indicated by the literature (Kelly, 2010 ; Wengraf, 2001 ).

Data analysis

Descriptive analysis of data collected with questionnaires were performed with SPSS. This involved conducting frequency analysis of responses. Since some response categories had low n , especially after dividing them by gender, it was not considered appropriate to carry out more in-depth analyses to see if the differences in response between the first and second data collection were significant, which, moreover, was not an aim of the study.

To analyze the transcriptions of interviews, we used thematic analysis, accompanying this analysis with the use of a software for qualitative analysis (Nvivo 12). This allowed us not only to identify nodes and themes that we considered most relevant but also to show some relationships between them. Thematic analysis is a qualitative analytic method, useful and flexible for psychology research (Braun & Clarke, 2006 ). This method allows the identifying, organizing, and explaining of themes in a dataset (Braun & Clarke, 2012 ). Braun and Clarke ( 2006 ) developed a thematic analysis model divided into six phases: Phase 1: Familiarizing Yourself with the Data. This phase requires that the researcher reads and rereads textual data to highlight items potentially of interest. This phase involves an active reading of the qualitative content, starting to think about the meaning of the data. Phase 2: Generating Initial Codes. Codes represent labels for a data feature, a summary to describe its content, a shortcut that allows the researcher to quickly identify a topic. Phase 3: Searching for Themes. This phase requires the researcher to move from codes to themes. A theme “captures something important about the data in relation to the research question and represents some level of patterned response or meaning within the data set” (Braun & Clarke, 2006 , p. 82). Phase 4: Reviewing Potential Themes. This phase requires the researcher to review the encoded data and perform a check on the quality of the encodings. Phase 5: Defining and Naming Themes. In a good thematic analysis, the themes should have a clear focus and purpose and be related but not overlapping. Together, the themes provide an overall history of the data. It is possible to have sub-themes within a theme. Phase 6: Producing the Report.

All the interviews were transcribed and then analyzed with the help of the NVivo 12 software. Where necessary, the software made it possible to identify the words most used in the answers, analyze the sentiments with respect to the proposed themes, and identify the differences in the nodes and sentiments between mothers and children. Sentiments are particular nodes divided into positive and negative. Each of these two nodes has two child nodes: a lot and moderately. We also used the NVivo software to highlight the themes we had identified from the thematic analysis. The software also allows you to indicate the attributes (in our case Mother-Son). The assignment of attributes makes it possible to distinguish information about the speaker (whether it is the mother or the child) and consequently to be able to explore the data with subsequent analyses. Specifically, thanks to the assignment of the Mother-Son attributes, we were able to use the matrix coding query that allows you to check how two elements relate to each other. Thanks to the fact that Influences within the Family, External Influences, and Sentiments were coded, we were able to verify how all these codes related to the mother or child attribute (QSR international, 2021 ).

Results from the questionnaires

At the beginning of the ninth grade, 14.4% of adolescents (13.4% of boys; 15.4% of girls) already had a meeting with the school guidance counselor. There were 62 students who had had a meeting; 43.5% of them met the counselor alone (27; 46.7% of boys; 40.6% of girls), and the others in the presence of the mother (32 out of 35 meetings; 50.0% of the meetings of boys, 53.1% of those of girls) and/or the father (7 out of 35 meetings; 10.0% of the meetings of boys, 12.5% of those of girls), or a brother or sister (4 out of 35 meetings; 3.3% of the meetings of boys, 9.3% of those of girls).

A total of 47.9% of the students (207; 47.3% of boys and 48.6% of girls) indicated that no one was helping them making a choice at this moment: 72.5% of them (150) said they did not need help; others (57: 19 boys and 38 girls) cited that, as a possible source of support, they might need their parents (28: 10 boys and 18 girls) and/or the school counselor (21: 8 boys and 13 girls); 13 (4 boys and 9 girls) did not know; and only 3 cited a teacher or “the school” (2 boys and 1 girls). Of the 52.1% of the students who received or were receiving support (225), 91.5% indicated the mother as a source of support (89.8% of the boys and 93.5% of the girls), 75.5% the father (80.5% of the boys and 70.1% of the girls), and 27.5% a brother or sister (28.8% of the boys and 26.2% of the girls). Other relatives or other people were cited by 16% of students, respectively. At the question “from whom, among those people, are you receiving the most important help?,” 64.0% indicated the mother (53.4% of boys and 75.7% of girls), 24.0% the father (34.7% of boys and 12.1% of girls), 6.2% a brother or sister (5.9% of boys and 6.5% of girls), 4.0% other persons (3.4% of boys and 4.7% of girls), 1.3% other relatives (1.7% of boys and 0.9% of girls), and 0.4% their stepmother or stepfather (0.8% of boys and 0.0% of girls).

At the second data collection, i.e., 1 month before the end of compulsory school, 46.8% of adolescents already had a meeting with the school guidance counselor. There were 202 students who had had a meeting; 42.6% met the counselor alone (86; 44.2% boys; 41.1% girls), and the others in the presence of the mother (103 out of 116 meetings; 47.4% of the meetings of boys; 54.2% of those of girls) and/or the father (32 out of 116 meetings; 18.9% of the meetings of boys; 13.1% of those of girls), or a brother or sister (2 out of 116 meetings; 0.01% of the meetings of boys; 0.01% of those of girls).

At this time, 39.1% of the students indicated that no one was helping them make a choice (169; 42.0% of boys and 36.1% of girls). Of the 60.9% of the students stating that someone was helping them (263), 86.6% indicated the mother as a source of support (82.3% among boys and 91.0% among girls), 60.5% the father (68.5% of the boys and 52.6% of the girls), and 20.9% a brother or sister (24.6% of the boys and 17.3% of the girls). Other relatives were cited by 12.9% and other people by 23.2% of students, respectively.

At the question “from whom, among those people, are you receiving the most important help?,” in line with result obtained in the previous data collection, 63.1% indicated the mother (56.2% among boys and 69.9% among girls), 20.5% the father (26.9% among boys and 14.3% among girls), 4.6% a brother or sister (4.6% among boys and 4.5% among girls), 1.2% a stepfather or stepmother (1.6% among boys and 0.8% among girls), 7.6% other persons (7.7% among boys and 7.5% among girls), and 3% other relatives (3.1% among boys and 3.0% among girls).

Results from the interviews

As indicated by Braun and Clarke’s ( 2006 ), we first familiarized ourselves with the data and generated preliminary codes. After, we generated the possible themes and subthemes that were examined and labeled. Finally, we produced the final report. Table 1 shows the established themes and subthemes. We have enriched the table by also indicating the number of times each theme or subtheme appears and how many persons cited it. Two themes emerged and are presented in the following paragraphs. Indeed, the sources of influence on choices were divided into two alternatives: influences and support that come from members of the family (Theme 1) and influences and support that come from outside (Theme 2). For each alternative, a parent-node and some child-nodes were formed and presented.

Theme 1: Influences within the family

Influences within the family were coded as follows: (1) influences from the mother (for example, Claudia, who said, “[my mother] did not oblige me but helped me... according to her I went more that way and she was right ” ), (2) influences from the father’s side (for example, Valeria, who, in response to “who helped you?,” said “Mom and dad”), (3) influences from brothers or sisters (for example, Davide, who said, “I was lucky because I have two older brothers and they also went to high school. So, I see the way more open”) and, finally, (4) no influence attributable to family members (for example, Fabrizio, who said, “I chose alone,” or the mother of Claudia, who said “on the choice we have not influenced any of our daughters”). The references of this coding have been presented in Table 2 .

To further understand the differences in the answers within the mother–child couple, we conducted a matrix coding query using Nvivo 12. It is a query that allows you to encode two elements (QSR international, 2021 ). The results of this query are summarized in Table 2 . The mothers involved in the study seemed to agree that no family member had any influence on the choice. In fact, all the encodings concerning the “Influences within the family” node are relative to the “None” child-node.

Livia’s mother: [My husband and I] have never said “our daughter must necessarily become a doctor or a lawyer”; the most important thing is that the profession must like her. Whatever she chooses, we do support her [...]. Anything she wants to do will be fine, the important thing is that she does it with her head, thinking well. Fabrizio’s mother: He [my son] went alone to do the career guidance interview, without telling me anything. He was curious to know what the path to being an engineer is and he inquired. I have not influenced him in this. I asked him if he wanted to be accompanied, but he preferred not to and did it all by himself. That was fine for me.

The answers given by the students are more diverse. They perpetuate the influence on the part of the mother on their choice and secondarily on the part of the father or brothers/sisters. All these influences are described as supportive, and it is interesting to note that the “father” node never appears alone but is generally associated with the “mother” node. Only four adolescents declared that they have not perceived particular influences from the family.

Davide: We talked about it as a family, with mum and dad. Interviewer: And in all this, you have managed yourself? Carlo: My mother, she was the one who looked for alternatives to the computer, also did things right on the curriculum vitae. She helped me, yes. Interviewer: And was it you pushing or were you both together? Carlo: A little bit of both. But she said to me “come on, why don’t you want to go and do this internship or see this thing?”. After I said yes, however, it was she who found the places, it was she who... yes, she helped me a lot. Interviewer: Who was helping you? Valeria: Mom and dad.

Theme 2: External influences

As regards the second alternative relating to influences, we have coded the parent-node as “external influences,” dividing it into the following child-nodes: (1) school guidance counselor, who collects the responses of the participants who referred to it at the time of the choice (for example, Fabrizio, who said, “I went to the Counselour, he gave me some help”), (2) classmates, when the influences came from classmates (for example, Davide, who said, “I saw that other classmates also chose the same thing and I felt more convinced”), (3) espoprofessioni (expoprofessions), or those who during the choice consulted the event dedicated to the professions (for example, Carlo’s mother, who said, “In September there was the event Espoprofessioni and we went”) and (4) word of mouth, when the adolescent received support from family acquaintances and friends (for example, Claudia’s mother, who said, “We had the advantage of personally meeting a doctor and we asked him for a hand”). The number of references is summarized in Table 1 . Also in this case, through the NVivo 12 software, we used a matrix coding query to further understand the differences between mothers and children in the perception of support coming from the outside. The results are shown in Table 2 . In the case of both the mothers and the students interviewed, we found that many times, during the interview, reference was made to the figure of the school guidance counselor. However, the support received was not always rated as satisfactory, in particular by three mothers and two children. Here are two examples:

Interviewer: [...] do you think the school or school guidance counselor should do something more? Livia’s mother: Yes, the counselor is not good. I must be honest. We went to the guidance office, but they put in front of the options “this, this and this” and that’s it. But even the counselor is not that he said much. He didn’t give much help. Instead, he should have asked my son what interests him, but he didn’t, for example. Interviewer: Have you seen the counselors? Claudia: I saw him, but I must say that he didn’t give me much help. My mother came once too but he didn’t help us at all.

Although to a lesser extent, some external influences come from classmates, word of mouth, or from having participated in the Espoprofessioni event, as emerged with these interviewees:

Livia’s mother: [...] We went [to the Espoprofessioni] by chance and stopped to talk to those in the health sector, medical help; there were the various schools, which illustrate their particularities. Carlo: When there were the Espoprofessioni, in that shed, we went to see and we started to decide a bit.

A final analysis we conducted was that relating to sentiment, which is used to evaluate feelings with respect to a theme. Sentiment nodes behave differently than other nodes. NVivo 12 allows you to code two parent sentiment nodes: positive and negative. Each of them has two child nodes: very and moderately. Automatic software setup aggregates child nodes to parent nodes (QSR international, 2021 ). Based on our analyses, we identified 11 positive sentiment nodes (of which 7 were positive, 2 very positive, and 2 moderately positive) and 40 negative (of which 21 were negative and 19 moderately negative). By way of example, we report some quotations of positive and negative sentiment. Parts of speech have been classified as positive sentiment:

Interviewer: [...] Are you afraid of the first day of school? Davide: No, no, in fact I can’t wait to start because I know it’s a new school. Interviewer: Are you worried about your son’s future? Fabrizio’s mother: No. Not for him. Because he finds a job for the profession he chooses anyway.

Parts of speech have been classified as negative sentiment:

Interviewer: Do you have any fears for the next few years, or do you feel calm? Federico: I’m a little afraid of what it will be like, yes; how hard it will be, yes; I have a little bit of that because I arrive from middle school, I don’t really know what the school will be like there. Federico’s mother: The context is difficult. Because it is a situation that can evolve in different ways, it is not very easy. Or the situation changes because a change is needed otherwise it is very hard. There is a lot of competition. The loss of quality in work, this need to do everything immediately, everything quickly, everything in the short term, little planned. This kind of future worries me about my son.

We were interested in verifying how these sentiments were distributed in the attributes of mother and student. The results, obtained through a matrix coding, are summarized in Table 2 . Most of the sentiment encodings have been found in the mother attribute. In general, mothers have a greater number of negative sentiments, while children have approximately equal numbers of positive and negative sentiments. This indicates that, regarding the choices and the future of the students, the mothers seem to be more concerned, while the children are also enthusiastic and curious about the new opportunities.

Data collected from the first and second questionnaires endorse the mother as the main source of support, followed by the father and other family members. These results confirm those of other studies conducted differentiating mothers and fathers as providers of social support (Colarossi & Eccles, 2003 ; Furman & Buhrmester, 1992 ; Levitt et al., 1993 ) and career-related support (Ginevra et al., 2015 ; McCabe & Barnett, 2000 ; Porfeli et al., 2013 ). Indeed, in this study, the mother is the one who most frequently participates in meetings with the school guidance counselor, regardless of her child’s gender. The mother is usually mentioned as a source of support by 91.5% of adolescents at the beginning and by 86.6% of those at the end of the last school year, although fathers are also seen as such by a good portion of the children (by 75.5% of adolescents at the beginning and 60.5% of those at the end of the last school year). The mother, followed by the father, is declared as the most important source of support. However, in line with the study of Colarossi and Eccles ( 2003 ), the data also show that daughters are more likely to perceive their mothers as sources of support and sons more likely to perceive their fathers as such, although contrary to the finding of their study in this study fathers are perceived as the second source of support, before teachers and peers. The support that adolescents, regardless of their gender, perceive as most available and also as the most important therefore comes first and foremost from their family. Gender seems to slightly differentiate the perception of support, perhaps because gender differences related to cognitive and relational styles (Eagly et al., 2004 ) lead girls to feel closer to their mother and boys to their father. Another explanation might be that the different types of professions considered by girls and boys, still largely influenced by gender stereotypes and therefore perceived as more feminine or masculine, make it more spontaneous to ask the mother or father about them. Even today, a boy is more likely to consider becoming a bricklayer than a girl, and if so, he is more likely to ask his father rather than his mother for information.

In the first part of this study, adolescents who are still making a choice and say they need more help, after parents, most often cite the school guidance counselor, while teachers are only rarely mentioned as a possible source of support. This finding seems to differ from those of other studies that highlighted the importance of support given by teachers, more than that given by parents or peers, for example, in enhancing positive career expectations in adolescents (Gushue & Whitson, 2006 ), in giving information and fostering self-efficacy in career decision-making (Cheung & Arnold, 2010 ), in fostering school identification (Kenny & Bledsoe, 2005 ), and contributing to increasing resilience, perceived employability, and self-efficacy (Di Fabio & Kenny, 2015 ). The low importance given to teachers as a source of support in relation to career choices by adolescents in this study can be explained in several ways. First of all, the “general support” that can be given by teachers in daily classes for developing important competencies that also facilitate career choices (Kivunja, 2014 ) may not be perceived as directly supporting choices by adolescents. Second, because of the way career-related support is organized in middle school in Southern Switzerland at the time of study, specific support for career decision-making is not among teachers’ main tasks. Hence, not all teachers act to facilitate the career planning of students that involves inquiring about career paths, helping them identify their interests, giving information about jobs, and helping them in setting educational and career goals (Wong et al., 2021 ). Finally, for both adolescents and their parents, in Switzerland, it is important, yes, to make a first career choice, but it is also important that this choice be crowned by successful enrollment in a school or entering into an apprenticeship contract. Hence, the most important help to achieve this last step can most easily be given by parents, as it emerges also from interviews, and, eventually, by the school guidance counselors who help the adolescent searching for practical information and, for those enrolling in VET, for an employer. Teachers for this last step can do little, aside from passing information provided by the school guidance counselor. This is perhaps also because the school guidance counselors are perceived as more important than teachers in this study, differently from other previous studies (Gysbers & Lapan, 2009 ; Multon, 2006 ).

The school guidance counselor, although emerging as a relatively important figure, is seen individually by less than half of the students over the last two years of compulsory schooling, and more than a half of them are accompanied by the mother. Although school guidance counselors are thus perceived as a source of support by a proportion of adolescents, they are definitely not the first source nor the one perceived as most useful, as highlighted in other studies (Mortimer et al., 2002 ) and also suggested by the results of the interviews conducted with this study.

In fact, the 20 interviews conducted in the second part of this study, and in particular the 10 carried out with the adolescents, confirm the importance of the mother as the first source of influence on career-related choices for them. As observed in other studies (Bernardo, 2010 ), it seems that adolescents consider it normal to be influenced by their parents in career choices. Influence from the mother is always perceived as a positive one by the child interviewed. Moreover, it is interesting to highlight that all the mothers affirm not to try to influence their child’s choice. However, referring to the support categories defined by Cutrona and Russell ( 1990 ) and by Cutrona ( 1996 ), what emerges from the interviews is that, regardless of the child’s gender, mothers provide both tangible assistance and information support (see Carlo and Claudia’s quotations), esteem (see Fabrizio or Livia’s mother’s quotations), and emotional support (see Livia’s mother or Davide’s quotations). The fact that mothers qualify this support behavior as a “non influence” on their child’s choice is an important aspect since studies have shown that this type of support is associated with greater career exploration, whereas when parents try to influence their children’s choices (Interference behavior), children experience more difficulty in career choices (Dietrich & Kracke, 2009 ; Marcionetti & Rossier, 2016a , 2016b ). The father, among the influences perceived within the family, is at second place, followed by a sister or a brother. However, the father is always cited together with the mother, further highlighting the importance of the mother for the career decision-making process of their child. As for sisters and brothers, they are an influence on choice when they are older and have already made their choice. In this case, the brother or sister, by telling and showing their experience in their chosen education, can be a role model to follow (or not to follow).

Regarding external influences, among the most frequently cited is the school guidance counselor; however, this professional figure, as has already been found in other studies (Mortimer et al., 2002 ), is not always perceived as helpful. The kind of support provided described in the interviews (see Livia’s mother quotation) seems to be purely informative, and perhaps both mothers and children expected more than information that they could probably have found on their own. The 20 interviewees, however, referred to only two school guidance counselors, so it is not the case to draw conclusions about the support provided by this professional category from these interviews. It should also be mentioned that the guidance counselors in cooperation with the Division of Vocational Training of Southern Switzerland organize every 2 years the Espoprofessioni event ( https://www4.ti.ch/decs/dfp/espoprofessioni/home/ ), which is cited as a source of useful information by two mothers and two children. Two other sources of external influence were word of mouth, i.e., the influence of family acquaintances and friends, cited by two mothers and by their children, and the classmates, cited by two adolescents. If acquaintances and friends also permit the facilitation of the organization of internships and eventually of finding an employer (i.e., they provide tangible assistance), classmates making the same choice further convince the adolescent that he/she made a good choice. According to the categorization of Cutrona and Russell ( 1990 ) and Cutrona ( 1996 ), this last type of support, more indirect, might be seen as esteem support as well as social integration/network support.

Hence, although all these figures and sources of influence play a role in the adolescent career decision-making process, this role differs both in the phase at which they intervene, in the type, and, we can assume, in its importance. In each case, mothers emerge as a kind of emotional safe haven from which children can explore themselves and professions. They encourage and accompany the child in this exploration, sometimes pointing out a possible course, which they nevertheless let the child choose whether to follow or not. At the time of the study’s conduction, other sources of support for career choice seem to be more marginal; they are tools from which to draw information or from which to get confirmation that the choice can be implemented. It is therefore not surprising that, regarding sentiments associated with the career choice, results show that though adolescents, feel both positive and negative emotions, mothers have a greater number of negative emotions. Mothers, personally involved in this important process, worry both about the choice their children have to make in the present and about their children’s future careers. Although this concern, much more typical in women/mothers than in men/fathers (e.g., Robichaud et al., 2003 ), may seem negative in some ways, it can nevertheless be the ignition engine for the career decision-making process of adolescents (Young et al., 1997 ), who are not always ready to initiate it spontaneously.

Limitations and future directions

This study allows more light to be shed on perceptions related to sources of support and influence in adolescents’ career choices, also taking into account both the gender of the adolescent and the distinction between mother and father. First, using a quantitative approach, it allowed them to be put in order of importance, and highlighting some differences in their perception related to the adolescent’s gender. Second, with a quali-quantitative analysis approach, it permitted the highlighting of the sources of influence and support in career choice perceived by 10 mother–child dyads and to highlight some differences in perception and emotionality between the two figures.

However, there are two limitations of this study to take into account. The first concerns the fact that, in the first part of the study, the adolescents’ perceived sources of support were taken into account, but without going into the type of support provided or the actual effectiveness of it. Also, the limited number of participants when divided into the various subgroups of males and females and those who saw the school guidance counselor did not allow for statistical tests to be conducted to assess reliably differences in perceptions between males and females. Moreover, only 10 mother–child dyads referring to two middle schools were interviewed. Extending the number of interviewees referring to a bigger number of middle schools, and thus, of school guidance counselors, might have permitted further investigation of the perceived effectiveness of this figure in supporting career choices. Moreover, a bigger number of interviews, also involving fathers (hence, also involving father–children dyads or father–mother–children triads), could have permitted a deeper investigation into the eventual differentiating discourses in relation to the influence and type of support provided by the mother and by the father. Finally, although the results are encouraging in indicating the presence of family support for career choice, it would be interesting to study the causes and effects of too invasive support (interference) or even of a lack of support (lack of engagement), considering the effect of gender, both of the adolescent who suffers it and of the parent who enacts it.

Knowing what the main sources of support for career choice perceived by adolescents are is important, and despite its limitations, this study permits the shedding of some more light on this subject. The fact that it is primarily the mother who supports her son or daughter indicates, for example, that specific interventions aimed at developing competencies for supporting choices in external sources of support should be directed primarily to this figure. The fact that daughters perceive (and expect?) even more support from their mothers than boys may also indicate that, where this support is lacking, they are even more likely to struggle than boys, who also more often consider fathers as a source of support. As already highlighted by other studies, it would be important to put more emphasis on the role of the guidance counselor, who, although perceived as a possible source of support, is still an underutilized figure and not always judged effective in providing help in the school setting. Unlike a guidance counselor who provides their services outside of school, this figure in school is limited in the time they have to follow up with students, and this may also affect the effectiveness of their intervention. An alternative could be to increase the amount of time this figure is in school or the type of support/intervention provided. Instead of face-to-face interviews, the literature seems to indicate that group interventions aimed at developing specific knowledge and competencies useful in career decision-making might be most effective in helping young people make choices and implement them (e.g., Mahat et al., 2022 ; Nota et al., 2016 ; Zammitti et al., 2020 ). Teachers might be involved, together with school guidance counselors, in providing these interventions. Indeed, as the figure who, after parents, spends the most time with adolescents and best knows each one of them, the teacher should be more involved in supporting students’ choices, especially given the positive outcomes of studies in which this figure is trained to make available this kind of support (e.g., Wong et al., 2021 ). Teacher support should be career-specific (Wong et al., 2021 ) but also, and perhaps mainly, a general informational, instrumental, and emotional support aiming at the development of competencies useful also for career decision-making process, such as self-exploration and awareness, decision-making competencies, relational competencies (for asking and providing support), autonomy, and self-determination (Kivunja, 2014 ; Lei et al., 2018 ).

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Marcionetti, J., Zammitti, A. Perceived support and influences in adolescents’ career choices: a mixed-methods study. Int J Educ Vocat Guidance (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10775-023-09624-9

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Exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa

• Ethel Ndidiamaka Abe   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1670-6801 1 &
• Vitallis Chikoko   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6135-6172 1  

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Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educators and stakeholders in South Africa are interested in the ways STEM students make their career decisions because of the shortages in these critical skills. Although various factors including family, teachers, peers, and career interest have been reported as determinants of career decision-making, there is a scarcity of studies that have qualitatively explored the levels of influences of any of these factors in the South African context. The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence career decision-making among STEM student majors in a South African university. By better understanding students’ viewpoint on these factors, educators and policymakers can assist students in making career decisions that fit their experiences, personality, and expectations. Students in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of study respectively, were invited to respond to a semi-structured questionnaire about the factors that were influential in their decision to pursue a career in STEM. A total of 203 texts (response rate: 63%) were qualitatively analyzed utilising a hermeneutic phenomenology approach to traditional content analysis, whereby themes develop inductively from the data.

We used a hermeneutic phenomenological method to traditional content analysis to examine the factors influencing participants’ career decision-making. Peer interrogation, modified member verification, compact description, code-recode tactics, and assessment trails were engaged to confirm quality and rigour. Three key results emerged, namely interpersonal, intrapersonal, and career outcomes expectancy. The perceptions of STEM students of their career decision-making in the South African context are more multifaceted than reported previously. The insights could inform policies to counter skills shortages in the STEM area.

Conclusions

In this exploratory study, we gave attention to describing the various ranges of students’ perceptions and experiences regarding their career decision-making. Several students reported, among other factors, that their families, personality, and expectations played influential roles in their career decision-making. Here, we discuss the meaning of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and outcome expectations with respect to career decision-making from the perspective of STEM students in a South African university.

Introduction

South Africa ranks among the top nations globally to spend a large amount of her national resources on education with respect to percentage gross domestic product (GDP) (Van der Berg & Burger, 2003 ). Practically, government and stakeholders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education try to grow sustainable decisions in STEM among students through the provision of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and other supportive initiatives (Manuel, 2019 ). The NSFAS funding, through a ring-fenced system, provided for learning materials, tuition, and subsistence for beneficiaries. However, a recent change in its ring-fenced policy to outright cash transfers to beneficiary accounts seems to have resulted in a notable drop in the rate of textbook purchase and decline in academic performance by students. A non-profit organisation called the Alliance for Academic Success cautions that most beneficiaries of the monetary disbursements are using the funds to address family challenges instead of their academic needs (Duma, 2019 ).

Unfortunately, South Africa was among the four lowest performing nations in STEM at the tertiary level in sub-Saharan Africa between 2011 and 2015 (Tikly et al., 2018 ), with “only 1 in 10” high school learners deciding to pursue a career in STEM at tertiary level (Planet Earth Institute, 2016 ). Furthermore, high attrition and low performance among enrolled STEM students is frequently documented (Prince, 2017 ). Therefore, additional high school and university programmes have been developed to further motivate students to choose STEM courses (Kirby & Dempster, 2018 ; Tikly et al., 2018 ). Although some of these endeavours have been helpful, career decision-making still poses challenges among students (Fogarty & McGregor-Bayne, 2008 ).

Literature review

Global literature is rich in empirical evidence about the factors influencing career decision-making, some of which are family influence, passion, capacity, self-efficacy, apparent difficulty, values, sense of belonging, gender and race (Bieri Buschor, Berweger, Keck Frei, & Kappler, 2014 ; Lent et al., 2005 ; Rainey, Dancy, Mickelson, Stearns, & Moller, 2018 ; Rainey, Dancy, Mickelson, Stearns, & Moller, 2019 ). The bulk of attention for the past two decades has been on investigating career decision-making in STEM in western countries. However, there is potential in examining how the phenomenon is experienced in the South African context.

Career decision-making comprises several domains and complex processes. Gelatt’s ( 1962 ) progressive decision-making model offers a supporting foundation for comprehending how career decisions are made. The model shows the process of decision-making as an on-going activity that changes dynamically with the acquisition of additional information. For instance, a young learner who is exposed to technological tools used by their father could learn how to use them and decide over time to choose a career in technology. Furthering the view of Gelatt ( 1962 ), Niles, Amundson, and Neault ( 2010 ) propose that adolescents are pre-emptive catalysts of the socio-cultural domain. Hence, they dynamically integrate knowledge and texts from others to ultimately develop a repository of decision-making.

Outcome expectancy is one of the major constructs that inform career decision-making. It involves the perceived outcomes of performing specific actions (i.e., “if I do this, what will happen?”). The construct assesses young people’s perceptions of several professions based on their apparent economic, shared, and self-satisfaction outcomes. In established frameworks such as the social cognitive career theory (SCCT), career outcome expectancy is positioned as a key mediator of profession and scholarly interest and skill development (Nugent et al., 2015 ). In addition, there are empirical proofs that outcome expectancy, career interest, and self-efficacy are influential in predicting intentions to pursue a career (Blotnicky, Franz-Odendaal, French, & Joy, 2018 ; Fouad & Smith, 1996 ).

Another construct, career interest, is a predictor of both career preference and outcome (Nugent et al., 2015 ). Scholars found that career interest is positively connected to decisions to enrol in a field (Hulleman, Durik, Schweigert, & Harackiewicz, 2008 ). Students who show interests in STEM early in life often decide to study STEM ultimately (OECD, 2005 ).

Furthermore, self-efficacy has been examined as a predictor of career interest using SCCT theories (Fouad & Smith, 1996 ; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994 ). Personal factors and practical STEM-related behaviors influence the formation of self-efficacy, interests, and values, which impact decisions in STEM (Jacobs, Davis-Kean, Bleeker, Eccles, & Malanchuk, 2005 ; Tate et al., 2015 ). Eccles and her associates propose that educators, peers, and families are well positioned to create prospects for students to participate in several STEM-associated activities via learning experiences and special courses (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1997 ; Wang & Eccles, 2012 ).

Additionally, the decision to pursue a career in STEM associates with parental influence. Mzobe ( 2014 ) confirmed that in a study conducted in South Africa, the role played by family in the career decision of students was more significant than monetary influences. Furthermore, Bandura ( 1977 ) asserts that families, educators, and peers are vitally influential in the enhancement of self-efficacy beliefs. Studies have established that self-efficacy could be developed when families and educators accentuate the significance and worth of career proficiencies (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001 ). The influence of family support and attitudes to STEM have been operationalized in several ways, for example, the development of SCCT to incorporate social-contextual factors (Lent, Lopez Jr, Lopez, & Sheu, 2008 ). Workman ( 2015 ) confirms that parental influence was dominant among the themes in learner decision-making processes. This claim is confirmed by several other scholars (Nugent et al., 2015 ). Jacobs, Chhin, and Bleeker ( 2006 ) report that the girl learner’s self-perceptions and proficiencies were influenced by parental gender labelling and encouraged gender-typed career choices. This could be responsible for the under participation of the female gender in STEM as reported globally (Hartung, Porfeli, & Vondracek, 2005 ; Tikly et al., 2018 ; Wang & Degol, 2017 ).

Studies have shown that educators have a strong influence on learner decision-making (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007 ; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005 ). Likewise, the attitudes of students’ peers, their accomplishments, and standards can wield a sharp influence on young people’s interest in choosing and deciding to study a specific course (Olitsky, Flohr, Gardner, & Billups, 2010 ). The period of growing up is a time of acquiring a personality and sense of self, and during this period peers can be very instrumental in guiding each other’s choices, behaviors, and career interests (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2013 ).

The role of personality in career decision-making behavior is well researched (Holland, 1997 , 1959 ; Seibert and Kraimer, 2001 ; Sullivan & Hansen, 2004 ). Holland ( 1959 ) proposed a theory suggesting that an individual’s career interest expresses their personality. The theory suggested that personality is a combination of several factors comprising capabilities, interests, behaviors, and principles.

The overarching aim of the present study was to explore the career decision-making of STEM students in a South African university to understand the students’ perspectives about the factors that significantly influenced their decision to study STEM. This qualitative research explored the influential factors in the career decision-making of the participants. The research integrated a hermeneutic phenomenological method to traditional content analysis. Since the study is exploratory in nature, attention was given to describing the different range of students’ viewpoints and experiences. Several students reported, among other factors, that their families, personality, and expectations played influential roles in their career decision-making. Thus, this paper presents the meaning of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and outcome expectations with respect to career decision-making for STEM students in a South African university. With better insight into students’ perspectives on career decision-making, educators can better educate students about their chosen field.

Research question

The investigators explored what students perceived influenced their career decision-making within the intricate context of STEM education settings in a university in South Africa. The aim was to uncover influential factors entrenched in students’ decision-making. The investigators sought to interpret students’ career decision-making journeys and experiences. The term “career decision-making journey” is used here to describe students’ education experiences and the circumstances, individuals, and actions that impacted on their career decision-making. The major question of this study was what defining situation, event, or individual helped STEM students to make the decision to pursue a career in STEM? The question contains many entrenched and intersecting occurrences needing obvious consideration to comprehend and interpret the key phenomenon of this research.

Methodology

Conceptual approach.

Hermeneutic phenomenology proposed by Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) (Laverty, 2003 ), tries to discover the “essence” of people’s lived encounters with phenomena and the factors that influence those encounters (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ; Creswell & Poth, 2016 ). The technique reflects other people’s encounters and considerations to explain the deeper meaning of phenomena (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ). Through the examination of people who went through an experience, researchers acquire greater understanding of factors that influence the wider context of STEM education. This method was selected partly because the topic of this research, “exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa,” was of personal interest to the researchers who had themselves experienced career decision-making challenges (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ).

Hermeneutic analysis additionally permits investigators to explore factors that are “taken for granted” (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ), like those reported in several prior studies (Bennett & Phillips, 2010 ; Clinite et al., 2014 ; Grayson, Newton, & Thompson, 2012 ; Klingensmith et al., 2015 ; Phillips, Peterson, Fang, Kovar-Gough, & Phillips Jr, 2019 a), that learners and residents in the medical profession are motivated by earnings and debts in their career decision-making process. By using a hermeneutic approach, investigators recognise contextual effects of participants’ encounters that ordinarily couch beneath, undetected (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ). In line with Bennett and Phillips’ model (Bennett & Phillips, 2010 ) which accentuates that learners experience career preparation in diverse manners, this study focuses on the array of students’ lived experiences as they made their career decisions.

This qualitative research was conducted on one campus of the largest university in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Study participants were enlisted from undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at the university investigated in 2019, and they were in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of study, respectively.

Data collection and participants

Within the viewpoint supporting hermeneutic phenomenology, investigators need to create a research approach that runs directly from the research question and aims of the study. Questions in a semi-structured format (see Additional file 1 ) were designed to determine the factors that influenced STEM students’ career decision-making at the university in South Africa (see Additional file 1 ). According to the reports of Phillips, Wilbanks, Rodriguez-Salinas, and Doberneck ( 2019 b), data gathering using written texts (essays) permits many learners to participate in the research, answering in their own words. In line with Phillips et al. ( 2019 a), six semi-structured questions to uncover factors affecting STEM students’ career decision-making were crafted. Participants were expected to respond to all six questions instead of one to generate meaningful data. The questions were piloted with a group of students who were not among the participating fields for clarity. Thereafter, the questionnaire was published on the university’s website for participants to access and complete. Consent forms for each participant were also posted online.

Based on Krejcie and Morgan’s ( 1970 ) table for determining sample size, from a target population of 2000 undergraduate STEM students, a sample of 322 was selected. Out of the sample of 322 STEM students, a total of 203 (63% response rate) responded to the questionnaire. Data was collected over a six-month period. However, the purposeful sampling technique (Patton, 2002 ) was further used to select 150 responses out of the 203 total responses when saturation occurred.

Saturation happens at the point where “additional data does not lead to any new emergent themes” (Given, 2015 , p. 134). In this study, although a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis was adopted, saturation occurred more across than inside individual cases, owing to the large number of participants who participated. Scholars suggest that saturation’s importance and meaning are variously attributed by researchers contingent upon theoretical role and analytical approach used; hence, it could serve dissimilar purposes for various types of studies (Saunders et al., 2018 ). In this context, saturation in this study was interpreted as the point where the researchers found that the responses from participants seemed to be revolving around the captured themes and no more significantly new information could be derived from the remaining collected data.

This research was appraised and approved by the ethics committee of the university as a part of the postdoctoral study funded by the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology.

Data analysis

The research team included a Ph.D. student (Nneka Akwu) in Sciences, a professional data analyst (Idris Ganiyu) who also holds a Ph.D. in management studies, an education professor (Vitallis Chikoko), and a leadership expert (Isaac I. Abe) also holding a Ph.D. in leadership studies. Since this study was designed as an exploratory one, the responses were analyzed qualitatively through a hermeneutic phenomenological method to typical content analysis, with themes developing inductively from the collected data (instead of by a prearranged, concept-driven coding system) (Crabtree & Miller, 1999 ; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ). This method permitted themes and their descriptions to proceed from the data (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ), which is vital in exploratory research. Since the data source for this study was a voluminous text pool from many participants instead of in-depth interviews, the researchers could not ask follow-up queries or investigate the vital concepts further. Hence, the analysis fused several student opinions and concepts into developing themes instead of trying to broadly depict each student’s personal experiences and opinions.

Attention was given to describing the different groups of participants’ lived experiences, focusing on minority views. Regardless of the limitations associated with the static data source, a large quantity of data permits for a comprehensive exploration of participants’ viewpoints about career decision-making. The scholars primarily immersed themselves in the collected information by reading the texts repetitively to create meaning out of the entire data (Crabtree & Miller, 1999 ; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ). Preliminary codes were generated from repeated readings of individual texts and documented in a comprehensive codebook. Through a continuous comparative procedure, commonalities and divergences were refined and documented in the codebook.

Each participant’s submitted text was subsequently separately coded by a minimum of two members of the team, and their coding choices were assessed, and differences fixed in frequent study team meetings. Final coding was posted into QSR NVivo version 12 and the codes were then categorized into meaningful nascent themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994 ; Ys, 1985 ). All through the analytical process, the scholars reflected on the way each data point (coded reports in texts) furthered the whole (developing themes), i.e., the “hermeneutic cycle” (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ; Creswell & Poth, 2016 ). Explanations of each coded statement were equally scrutinised carefully by reverting to source texts and appraising them totally to confirm that the individual explanation matches the context of an individual participant’s story.

The use of QSR NVivo software permitted the scholars to confirm that each code and developing theme were backed by the text. Text coding and careful examination of codes and themes were sustained until data saturation was arrived at no novel themes emerged (Miles & Huberman, 1994 ; Ys, 1985 ). The scholars concentrated principally on the subject matter of interest: the factors that influence the career decision-making of STEM students (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 , Creswell & Poth, 2016 ). Nevertheless in the procedure of examining these phenomena, factors linked to students’ career decision-making emerged. Additionally, although the participants had created a lot of texts about several factors, they were silent about peer influence, although it was mentioned in the semi-structured questionnaire. Therefore, the research team agreed not to explore this topic in the study although literature is rich with studies on its influence on students’ career decision-making (Wang & Eccles, 2012 ; Eccles et al., 1997 ; Olitsky et al., 2010 ; Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2013 ), acknowledging that since peer influence was directly mentioned in the primary research questionnaire, the exploration of peer influence in this study should be preliminary instead of thorough.

This study ensured that various approaches to confirm quality and rigour were applied (Anfara Jr, Brown, & Mangione, 2002 ; Crabtree & Miller, 1999 ). To confirm credibility, the sciences student brought clarity on students’ ethos as a form of peer examination at every phase of the analytical process. Her viewpoint assisted to explain nuances in student feelings, particularly when the codebooks were being refined. When the analysis was completed, developing themes were presented to a group of postgraduate STEM students and they corroborated that the themes echoed their experiences. Since these students did not participate in the study, this step was a revised type of member checking. The investigators added explicit inclusion and exclusion code standards and findings were conveyed by using deep, rich narrative to strengthen transferability. To confirm dependability, the study team applied the code-recode principle and used QSR NVivo version 12 to create an appraisal path (Anfara Jr et al., 2002 ).

Lastly, hermeneutic phenomenology demands that investigators acknowledge their previous encounters as “embedded in and essential to the analysis process” (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ). The investigators followed reflexivity by disclosing, pondering on, and listening to their experiences and ideas. Researchers talked about their individual responses to the data all through the investigation process. The study team often scrutinised and inspected their emerging explanations of the texts as a group and urged honest discussion about conflicting or divergent interpretations. These processes were adopted to confirm the researchers’ experiences in education leadership, management, data analysis, sciences, and leadership, and to ensure other uncharted preconceptions did not influence the quality of the analytical process and findings.

Three key themes about STEM students’ career decision-making emerged from the analysis, namely interpersonal factors, intrapersonal factors, and career outcomes expectancy. Interpersonal factors are of varying types and have numerous levels of importance to different students. Intrapersonal factors resonated with many students and they reported a variety of reasons including career interest, personality, and self-efficacy as very influential in their career decision-making. Finally, students also stated that career outcomes expectancy was relevant to their career decision-making. The results are summarised in Table 1 . Below is a presentation of the key themes and sub-themes that emerged from this study.

Key theme 1: interpersonal influences

STEM students who participated in this study generally considered interpersonal influence, but in describing the family, they reported different levels of family influence on their decision-making. Some students wrote that family was of no influence at all in their decision to study STEM.

Family influence

The key finding common to all (100%) participating students in the study was family influence. The phenomenon was embedded in specific situations and in the context of decision-making. They reasoned that they made their best career decisions when around their families or in their learning environment. The students’ perceptions of their families’ influence on their decision to study STEM are summarily described as: “very influential,” “somehow influential,” “no influence,” and “family needs my support.” The responses captured under the “no-influence” subcategory was further grouped into “career prejudice” and “left alone to decide.” The use of these adjectives does not in any way carry measurable significance but explains the meaning of the content derived from participants’ responses.

Sixty-eight (45.33%) students felt that their families were very influential in their decision to pursue a career in STEM, and they stated inter alia :

“My family has a huge positive influence because in my family they’ve advised me that in the field of STEM there are a lot of good opportunities as well as life itself as we use technology in our daily basis.”

“My family encouraged me to enrol for STEM and has supported me 100% in my study choices and I personally enjoy STEM related fields, this has pushed me to achieve great academic success.”

“My family influenced me a lot, everyone in the family believes in STEM, I also think STEM is the future.”

“My family has shown me what to expect in different STEM fields. They also showed me what careers might be good for my personality.”

“My current career was greatly influenced by the fact that my late uncle used to hire me to work with him part time on his Engineering related business.”

“They have a great influence, they even told how it is going to benefit me when I am done studying and how great it is.”

However, 40 other students, representing 27% of the respondents, believed that their families were somehow influential ; however, the final decision to study STEM was made by them. These students felt that their families played supportive roles in their decision to pursue STEM careers. There were innuendos suggestive that some students made their decision without family interference or that the family suggested a course different from the learner’s choice but subsequently agreed to support the student’s decision. These participants reported as follows:

“My family has been somewhat influential in me having a career and being independent. I am very determined to change my way lifestyle, therefore am willing to work hard in my chosen field.”

“I have reached a point where my family is much caring about pursuing my chosen field, they encourage me not to give up but try to tolerate every situation comes across to fulfil my potential desires.”

“I'm the only one who have a qualification at home, I get more encouragement to study from them. I was raised by a farm worker so pursuing studies under STEM is something I grew up wishing although less support from them because they are not educated.”

Yet, a worrisome sub-theme emerged where some students felt that they were under obligation to support their family. This trend could be referred to as an inverse influence on students’ decision to study STEM. The responses of the 19 (13%) participants who submitted the comments in the sub-theme family needs my support are as follows:

“I tend to take career decisions based on how urgent my family needs support. it hasn't paid off so far, but it does have an impact on my decision making.”

“They are very happy because they know that by being under STEM may lead to many job opportunities to help.”

“My family just wants me to have a career that will guarantee a good lifestyle at the end. When you are born under privileged, you are not satisfied by life. Hence, you always believe you must be successful at what you do, even if it is a career within STEM to support the family.”

Conversely, 23 students (15.33%) were convinced that their families made no contribution to their decision to study STEM. Although it seems these participants’ families did not have had any influence on their decision, none of the participants came across as predominantly worried by the lack of family influence; it just did not appear to be a huge factor in their lives, since they reasoned that poor or lack of education for instance, contributed to their non-contributory influence. Further understanding of the intricacies of family influence in the career decision-making behavior of STEM students in this university could yield meaningful results. However, the reports deduced from the texts of participants who reported that their family had no influence over their career decision, therefore, they were left alone to decide are

“My parents are not educated, so they supported and appreciated that I wanted to continue studying after Grade 12; as to what field I chose they had no influence at all.”

“My family has no influence whatsoever on my decision to study STEM.”

“My family doesn’t contribute that much in my life, so I make all the decisions by myself.”

“My family pretty much doesn't care about what I do, as long as I'm studying.” “My family they do not care what studies I take the only thing they want is to see me happy in what I do and study.”

“My family doesn't affect that much about making decisions I only have a say to what I want to learn, and I should be the one knowing about the outcomes of my learning.”

“My family members are mostly uneducated therefore my decision will not be influenced with anything that they may want to say.”

Additionally, career prejudice emerged as one of the reasons explicating why the family had no influence on the decision-making behavior of participating students that said:

“They (family) sometimes have prejudice about my career because of my gender.”

“STEM includes my area of academic learning. I am studying Engineering. My family believes that if you choose a career in STEM, you might never finish your studies because it is difficult.”

These students believed that their families were prejudiced against their decision to follow a career in STEM.

Teacher influence

This second category of theme one (interpersonal influence) showcases the influence that teachers have on the career decision-making behavior of STEM students. The 30 (20%) participants who acknowledged the significant role of their teachers in their career decision-making reported as follows:

“Well during my high school days I taught myself but influence from my teacher made me more interested in STEM As for family they had no idea what I’m doing, all they wanted was me to be successful and that all.”

“To a good extent, choosing a science stream as advised by my teacher in high school propelled me to do science related careers which I enjoy the most.”

Key theme 2: intrapersonal influences

Mzobe ( 2014 ) agrees with Young and Collin ( 2004 ) that there is an intrapersonal level of influence on career decisions. This level depicts the interface of self in the decision-making process of the individual student. The sub-themes here include the following:

“Champion” mentality

The first category under theme two is what is titled “champion” mind set. Individuals with champion mentality often want to “save” or “change” the world. The word was merely chosen to summarily capture the content of the responses of the 45 (30%) participants in this category:

“STEM is most effective way in fast development of our country, since we need more people in STEM related field in South Africa to quickly grow our economy and have a much broad experience in our own to benefit the country and the world at large, I decided to choose a career in STEM.”

“In my family, we’ve never had an Engineer, so If complete my studies, I’ll be the first engineer in my family and surely I will make a difference and my family will be really proud.”

“Engineering seemed like a fun major and that it can lead to great things by helping people.”

“To become one of the scientists in the world and be able to improve the living of people in the world using different skills in science.”

“My family and personal traits influenced me a lot as in the world we are living in families are viewed as inferior or people who won’t do science, so I wanted to prove to the world that I can.”

Commonly participants whose responses are documented in this category desire to make a difference in their family and/or society. They strongly believe that by pursuing a career in STEM they would be changing their family’s status or helping society at large.

Career interest in STEM

This is the second category under theme two. Interestingly, 83 students (55.33%) stated that the decision to pursue a career in STEM was based on their career interest. These participants’ passion, dreams, aspirations, desire, and curiosity to study a career in STEM were highlighted in their responses. Career interest is important in the decision-making process of students and has implication for policy decisions. Participants’ statements include the following:

“My personal interest in this career influenced my decision to study STEM to a great extent.”

“I'm passionate about the field of science.”

“I've always loved science, especially biology. My parents always encouraged me to pursue a career I am passionate about.”

“Passion and curiosity for the environment attracted me to science.”

“I have always been curious and enjoyed STEM.”

“I have always loved nature and what makes it, hence i have always enjoyed biology.”

“My decision to study STEM was influenced more by my own interests and my traits than my family.”

“I've always had a passion for helping other people and a fascination for the human body and this influenced my decision to choose a degree in health sciences.”

“I am interested in evolving things, research and innovations. This encouraged me towards STEM field.”

Personality

This is the third category of factors influencing career decision-making as found in theme two. This term is used purely as a descriptive presentation of interpretations of individual student’s personality, reasoning, or aptitude deduced from their feedback. Fifty-three (35.33%) participants identified their personality as being influential in their decision-making behavior. Their comments are as follows:

“No one other than myself who has the say in my life influences and to what I decide on doing.”

“It’s certainly only personal traits that influenced my career choice and decision.”

“My inquisitive approach to life at large and my family supportive nature on supporting my journey in obtaining such information.”

“Individual traits: my (particular sort of) intelligence and manner of thinking resulted in an affinity for mathematics and physics.”

“I am a very logical thinker and naturally very curious. These traits lead me to study STEM and makes learning easier as I am interested in what I'm learning.” “I think my critical reasoning skills are the pain driver towards STEM.”

Personal development

The fourth category of factors identified in theme two is personal development. Participants’ desire to develop themselves with knowledge and skills attributed to STEM fields underpinned their decision to pursue a career in STEM. The 17 students (11.33%) that responded in this category thought that a career in STEM would challenge and develop their potentials.

“STEM is incorporated in our everyday lives, pouring a litre of milk, baking a cake to sell to make a living, providing electricity for households. It is nice to know what goes on in the smaller parts of life which become the greater ones. I love learning about all that to improve the lives of others and mine.” “To keep myself updated with new and incoming technology.”

“I like to be challenged so that’s why I choose a course in STEM which is a challenging course to bring out my potential.”

Self-efficacy

This is the fifth category of concepts under theme two. Self-efficacy is the confident belief in one’s self about one’s ability to achieve goals and it develops from earlier experiences and verbal persuasions attributable to the environment of upbringing. In this study, 38% (57) of the participants appeared to believe that they could be successful in a career in STEM. They seemed to understand what they could do as stated below:

“I believe in me. Being in harmony with my family and with myself, I've known to accept my strengths and weaknesses and through assessing those, I know I wouldn't want to study anything else. And accepting that I'm studying what I believe I was born to do, makes me appreciate more and work harder.”

“Family satisfaction makes for a motivating environment which allows me to grow and believe in myself during my studying journey.”

“My family believes in me, I believe and know that I can succeed in almost everything that I set my mind into, which is why I went to science even though it wasn't my first or even second option. I'm doing well my results are good.”

Spirituality

This is the sixth concept in the category of factors found in theme two. Participants seemed to believe that they were influenced by their spiritual life to pursue a career in STEM. Others saw morality and values as being supreme to financial benefits deriving from a successful completion of study in STEM. These 21 (14%) participants said:

“I pray about all my decisions and entrust them to Jesus.”

“Being in the STEM requires one to be in tune with their moral and spiritual values more than financial needs.”

Theme 3: career outcomes expectancy

Career outcomes expectancy expresses young people’s perception of some careers based on their apparent financial, societal, and self-satisfaction outcomes. Sub-themes that emerged here are as follows:

Financial matters

Financial matters describe the first category of factors that emerged in theme three. This study did not set out to evaluate the effect of finance on career decision-making behavior of students in STEM, but it emerged as a theme. However, 64 (43%) students appeared to perceive a career in STEM as economically very rewarding. Therefore, the expectation of better pay when studies are completed could have stimulated their decision to pursue a career in STEM. Participants’ statements are as follows:

“It’s a good career path and it’s paying well since it’s a scarce skill.”

“I chose my career according to my ability and interests and future financial stability.”

“Finance greatly affected my learning decision, especially family related issues that demanded financial contribution.”

“I wanna be happy in what I do and be glad of my finances being able to help and support my parents in every way possible for me, so I’d be happy.”

Career opportunities and prospects

These factors emerged as the second category of theme three. Forty-three students (29%) who participated in this study felt that families understood the benefits and prospects of pursuing a career in STEM. Their comments are stated below:

“My family believes Science has more opportunities, benefits and career prospects more than other fields of study.”

“STEM there are lots of job opportunities and you can get a job. Some of the jobs are similar and you can use skills from one job in the other job.”

“My family had always told me about the opportunities that sciences provided, the money and also the respect for STEM learners.”

This qualitative research provides insight and perspective into the factors that influenced the career decisions of participating STEM students in a South African university.

• Interpersonal factors

The finding in this study that the interpersonal relationships that students had formed with family, teachers, and peers are vital in relation to career decision-making is supported by Bennett and Phillips’ ( 2010 ) model, which confirmed that in making their career decisions, students consider various values and experiences that impact individual decisions differently. For instance family and teacher influences were found to have had varying degrees of influence on participants’ career decision-making in this study. This result is also supported by previous evidence that showcases family influence as a leading theme among the themes in career decision-making (Jacobs et al., 2006 ; Nugent et al., 2015 ; Workman, 2015 ).

Unlike prior studies on career development of students (Mzobe, 2014 ; Zahra & Malik, 2017 ), using a qualitative approach, this study uniquely identified a dimensional angle to family influence on the phenomenon investigated. For several participants, family was found to be very influential in their career decision-making, as commonly reported by scholars (Mzobe, 2014 ; Nugent et al., 2015 ; Workman, 2015 ). However, it was interesting to find in this study that some participants distanced themselves from the family as an influential factor on their career decision-making. Those students firmly reported that other factors such as the need to support their family took greater priority in their career decision-making. Summarily, interpersonal factors were found to be the most prominent reason cited by participants for career decision-making in this study. This implies that educators and stakeholders who have an interest in closing the STEM skills gap by understanding how students make their decision to major in STEM can take note of the levels of influence that the family has on student career decision-making, create constructive initiatives, and offer structures that foster robust interpersonal connections in a productively strategic manner.

Although participants indicated that support received from their families influenced their decision to study STEM, the present study did not classify the form of support received. Further studies could unravel this relationship.

• Intrapersonal factors

STEM students also cited champion mind set, career interest, personality, personal development, self-efficacy, spirituality, and morality, which were categorized as intrapersonal factors, to explain why they decided to pursue a study in the STEM field. This is an essential discovery to note because it agrees with the idea that interest, self-efficacy, and personality are influential in career decision-making (Tzu-Ling, 2019 ; Wu, Zhang, Zhou, & Chen, 2020 ; Yu & Jen, 2019 ), and implies that focus on individual cognitive factors in investigations on career decision-making is founded. However, champion mind set, spirituality, and morality also mentioned by participants as reasons for their career decision-making—even though cognitive factors have meaningful influence on career decision-making—is notable. This finding importantly implies that operational and cultural factors in addition to individual cognitive and interpersonal factors should be considered in future investigations of representation in STEM.

Outcome expectancy

An outcome expectancy as a construct measuring students’ perception of some careers based on their perceived financial, societal, and self-satisfaction effects (Nugent et al., 2015 ) was confirmed to be influential in STEM student career decision-making in this study. Participating students expect to gain financial stability and independence by exploiting the career opportunities and prospects they foresee in the STEM fields. For the participants who place value on financial and economic expectations, the earnings could offer them the ability to meet the financial needs of their family members. The findings also clarify the understanding of the lens through which participants view the STEM field for opportunities and prospects. This characterisation of outcome expectancy is specifically useful because it could assist career counselors in supporting the students in defining their career pursuit in STEM.

Furthermore, the findings of the present study showed that in addition to outcomes expectancy; family, teachers, self-efficacy, interest, spirituality, morality, and personality, among other factors, are influential in students’ decision to pursue a career in STEM. Several studies on career interest, career growth, self-efficacy, and career outcomes expectancy have been conducted among students in high schools and tertiary institutions. A study was conducted among university students in Spain to investigate the effect of perceived supports and hindrances to self-efficacy convictions and other social-cognitive variables associated with STEM students’ career development (Peña-Calvo, Inda-Caro, Rodríguez-Menéndez, & Fernández-García, 2016 ). While another study among Taiwanese college students investigated their career interests and career goals for majoring in STEM (Mau, Chen, & Lin, 2020 ), Baglama and Uzunboylu ( 2017 ) examined the association between career decision-making self-efficacy and career outcomes expectancy among Turkish preservice teachers. They found that career decision-making self-efficacy significantly predicts career outcome expectancy.

However, STEM students need assistance in finding information concerning the world of work, transforming from students to professionals, planning for work, and coping with pressure (Güneri, Aydın, & Skovholt, 2003 ). The transitioning process may not be easy on the students. A study conducted by Gizir ( 2005 ) among graduating university students found that they feel apprehensive about getting employed after graduation and are also uncertain about what the future holds for them. For this purpose, this study may be of value-adding benefit in describing the career counseling needs of STEM students. It could be implied then that knowing what to do post-graduation and the way to approach the world of work could make STEM undergraduates commit to their career.

A study carried out by Vertsberger and Gati ( 2016 ) discovered that adolescents facing career decision challenges and pessimistic outcomes expectancy concerning their potential careers are inclined to seek help in the process. This has a significantly important implication with regards to career counseling initiatives designed to assist students and heightens the cognisance of the value of offering support for students in their career decision-making process. Ascertaining the variables that influence career-associated opinions and behaviors of STEM students in tertiary institutions could result in the control of these variables and the learners being assisted. Because of the importance of providing career guidance and support, it could be inferred that the present study will add to the improvement of counseling interventions. In addition, numerous scholars have focused on student career decision processes elsewhere globally, it is therefore expected that the present study would offer a dissimilar cultural viewpoint to findings from Sub-Saharan Africa. Scholars from elsewhere globally, including the USA, China, Turkey, Taiwan, Spain, and other regions in Africa, would derive benefit from the results of this study.

STEM students approach their career decision-making from diverse perspectives and experiences. Likewise, they appraise the influence of interpersonal and intrapersonal factors to different levels and for a variety of reasons, and interestingly, the family emerged as a dominantly influential element among a host of others found in this study. By comprehending students’ perspectives on career decision-making, STEM educators can assist students in making decisions that reflect their values and experiences.

Limitations

A few limitations should be acknowledged. This research was undertaken at a single tertiary institution. Learners at other institutions could have dissimilar opinions on interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and career outcomes expectation. Texts generated from undergraduate STEM students offered insights into their perceptions at that period; these ideas could change as career plans develop, for instance in postgraduate years. Participants wrote their responses in the context of semi-structured questions. Their answers could have been influenced by the desire to provide generally satisfactory information. As stated above, the data gathering method—the assessment of student texts—differs from the typical hermeneutic phenomenology approach, whereby data is gathered from people using in-depth interviews (Phillips et al., 2019 a). The investigators had no chance to ask follow-up questions to make more enquiry into matters of interest as would have been done in a procedure involving interviews. Lastly, since the questionnaire did not ask participants to respond to financial issues and gender, the findings may not mirror the full range of participants’ ideas of the effects of finances and gender on career decision-making. Further investigation is required to explore these constructs further to confirm the study’s results as generalizable.

Implications

These findings involving interpersonal, intrapersonal, and career outcomes expectancy in the decision to pursue a career in STEM have important theoretical and practical implications. Firstly, this study, like several other studies, has yet again been supported using a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. However, the researchers are quick to agree that this finding is limited to the university investigated and the peculiarity of the environment, bearing in mind Holland’s ( 1959 ) position. He was of the conviction that the experience that an individual acquires in the environment of his/her upbringing creates the inclination towards specific interests or behaviors that combine with the individual’s values to shape their personality trait.

Secondly, this study invites awareness to the finding that although peer influence was prominent in extant literature as an influence on students’ career decision-making (Eccles et al., 1997 ; Olitsky et al., 2010 ; Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2013 ; Wang & Eccles, 2012 ), the present study found a different result—peer influence was not notable. Further studies are recommended to explicate the reason behind this finding.

Interestingly, the need to support family was an unexpected sub-theme that emerged from family influence on career decision-making in this study. The students who reported that they needed to support their families were not very pointed about the way in which they needed to support their families and why. Further study would be needed to explore this phenomenon and could be meaningful in assisting educators and policymakers in making more informed decisions on how best to serve this category of STEM students. However, individuals interested in motivating students to pursue STEM careers could consider the fact that majority of the students affirmed that their family was influential in their career decision-making, while some other students considered it financially rewarding. These, in addition to the other factors identified in this study, could be taken into consideration and integrated into future STEM outreach and initiatives. The factors influencing students’ career decision-making have implications for how institutional practices, educational caretakers, and stakeholders shape students’ support.

Availability of data and materials

University ethics approval does not include release of the raw information. Data was collected from the STEM students under the stringent condition of anonymity and cannot be shared. Please contact the corresponding author for more information.

Abbreviations

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

Social Cognitive Career Theory

Doctor of Philosophy

Technology & Software Solutions, owners of NVivo software

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided to author by a grant from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. We are thankful to the individuals who helped our team with vetting the coding structure and proof-reading the manuscript. Dr. Isaac I. Abe and Dr. Idris Ganiyu made extensive contributions to data analysis and interpretation and reviewed the paper critically. Nneka Akwu made substantial contribution to the code-recode process bringing the viewpoint of student nuance into consideration in the process of data collection and analysis.

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The lead investigator had oversight of the conception and design of the study, collection, analyzing, and interpretation of data, as well as drafting of the manuscript. The education professor, Vitallis Chikoko, supervised all contributions and chaired meetings for reviews of the coding and recoding, read the drafts of the manuscript, and made valuable input. All authors approved the corrections and the final manuscript for submission and are in agreement to be responsible for all facets of the work in confirming that queries concerning the accuracy and integrity of any aspect of the work are properly examined and resolved.

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Stem Study Semi-Structured Questionnaire.

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Abe, E.N., Chikoko, V. Exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa. IJ STEM Ed 7 , 60 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00256-x

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Received : 20 February 2020

Accepted : 26 October 2020

Published : 01 December 2020

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-020-00256-x

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• Career decision-making
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Career Development International

ISSN : 1362-0436

Article publication date: 25 January 2022

Issue publication date: 18 February 2022

The field of careers studies is complex and fragmented. The aim of this paper is to detail why it is important to study careers, what we study and how we study key issues in this evolving field.

Design/methodology/approach

Key theories, concepts and models are briefly reviewed to lay the groundwork for offering an agenda for future research.

The authors recommend ten key directions for future research and offer specific questions for further study.

Research limitations/implications

This paper contributes to the development of the theoretical underpinning of career studies.

Practical implications

The authors hope that the proposed agenda for future research will help advance the field and encourage more research on understudied, but important, topics.

Originality/value

This paper presents a comprehensive view of research on contemporary careers.

• Career studies
• Contemporary careers
• Future research agenda

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the two anonymous reviewers and Editor Jim Jawahar for their insightful comments.

Baruch, Y. and Sullivan, S.E. (2022), "The why, what and how of career research: a review and recommendations for future study", Career Development International , Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 135-159. https://doi.org/10.1108/CDI-10-2021-0251

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Crafting an Informative Career Research Paper

Table of Contents

Introduction

A career research paper is an extensive examination of a profession you aim to pursue. Unlike typical papers, this type of essay requires you to delve into your personality and conduct thorough research to determine your compatibility with your chosen career. In this article, we will guide you through the process of writing a career research paper and provide valuable tips for creating your career outline.

Career Research Paper Template

A career research paper typically consists of three main sections:

1. Introduction

The introduction acts as a spotlight on your interests and personality, laying the foundation for the rest of your paper.

The body section highlights essential information about the profession you have identified. It covers the responsibilities associated with the role, the educational requirements for entering the field, the average salary, and the employment outlook.

3. Conclusion

The conclusion wraps up your findings and presents your overall assessment. For example, you can discuss whether or not the career choice is suitable for you based on your research.

A well-crafted career research paper should:

• Thoroughly research your career goals
• Describe your interests accurately
• Focus on a single career path
• Analyze various aspects of the chosen profession
• Compare the advantages and disadvantages of pursuing the career

How to Write a Career Research Paper

To create an exceptional research paper, follow these steps:

1. Select a Career

The first step is to choose a career that genuinely appeals to you. This initial selection will provide the motivation you need to carefully analyze the profession and make informed conclusions.

2. Research

Engage with professionals in your desired field and explore various sources to gather information on education requirements, salary expectations, responsibilities, and employment prospects. Speaking to individuals in the industry can provide you with insights into the day-to-day operations, enabling you to assess how compatible the career is with your personality.

3. Prewriting

After collecting the necessary data, it’s recommended that you create an outline to organize your thoughts and data. This outline will help you assess the completeness of your paper and identify areas that require further thought and analysis.

4. Drafting and Revision

Using your outline as a guide, draft your research paper, ensuring to address any grammatical and structural issues. Seek feedback from peers and experts during the revision phase, as they can offer valuable insights and identify areas for improvement that you may have overlooked.

How to Start a Career Research Paper

Starting a research paper can be challenging, especially if you’re unsure how to begin. Here are some approaches you can take:

Choose a career that deeply resonates with you and investigate what it takes to build a successful path in that field. You can start by describing the specific aspects of the job that particularly attract you and explaining why these aspects hold significance for you.

2. Analyze Your Personality Traits

Another approach is to highlight your personality traits and later utilize them to evaluate the suitability of a career for your needs. Focus only on the traits relevant to the chosen profession.

3. Highlight Your Strengths and Weaknesses

To start your career research paper, emphasize your strengths and weaknesses. This approach sets the stage for discussing how these attributes manifest in your career choice and serves as a criterion for determining the relevance of a particular profession. It’s advisable to only include traits that will significantly impact your performance in the field under investigation.

Tips for Writing a Career Path Research Paper

Consider these valuable tips while crafting your career research paper:

Opt for a career that genuinely captivates your interest, even if it’s not a popular choice. This allows for in-depth research and enables you to present a compelling argument for or against a specific profession.

Seek guidance from experts in the field to gain a clear understanding of the daily tasks involved in the profession and to conduct a thorough analysis of its pros and cons.

Utilize online personality tests to gain insights into the traits that make you suitable or unsuitable for a particular career.

Remember, a career research paper requires both expertise and trustworthiness. Conduct diligent research, analyze your findings critically, and present your insights coherently. Good luck with your writing journey!

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