Predicting Undergraduate Student Retention in STEM Majors Based on Career Development Factors

A research gap exists with regard to examining the influence of career interventions and career readiness assessments on student retention in college majors related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To address this gap, the authors examined 3 variables as potential predictors of retention in STEM‐related majors: (a) a STEM‐focused career planning intervention, (b) students' initial major declarations, and (c) changes in scores on a measure of career readiness. Results revealed that all 3 independent variables were significant predictors of STEM retention but did not accurately predict students who would not be retained. These results have implications for undergraduate STEM initiatives, college counselors and career advisors, and researchers investigating the predictors of STEM retention. Future research should include additional predictor variables.     

Career decision-making difficulties among career-decided college students

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

Factors Influencing STEM Career Aspirations of Underrepresented High School Students

A shortage of female and minority students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers has prompted researchers and policy makers to examine the current STEM supply pipeline. This study examined factors influencing STEM career aspirations of a nationally representative sample of 9th‐grade students (N = 21,444). Characteristics of students who aspired to STEM careers and non‐STEM careers were examined. Guided by the career aspirations model (Mau & Bikos, 2000 ), the authors conducted logistic regression analyses to investigate variables predicting STEM career aspirations. Results indicated that race, gender, socioeconomic status, math interest, and science self‐efficacy were the most important predictors of STEM career aspirations. Counselors in school and related career services contexts are encouraged to consider these important factors in identifying high school students who are interested in STEM career choices, as well as in planning career interventions to facilitate their career paths. Future researchers could test the applicability of this model with middle school students or adults.     

Negative Career Outlook and the Working Alliance in Career Counseling

The authors investigated 3 dimensions of the working alliance—goal, task, and bond—and the reduction of negative career‐related thoughts. A pretest–posttest design revealed a significant reduction in negative career thoughts after an initial career counseling interview was provided to college students (N = 87). Regression analyses revealed that task predicted negative career thoughts. The findings offer evidence of the effectiveness of career counseling and of the contribution of working alliance to counseling as a process and outcome variable.     

Chance Events and Career Decidedness: Latent Profiles in Relation to Work Motivation

Research has shown that chance events affect careers but has not established the nature of their effects. Moreover, the relationship between chance and career decidedness is not well understood. The authors used a person‐centered approach with latent profile analysis to examine 312 Swiss adolescents in their 1st year of vocational training. The authors identified 5 qualitatively differing profiles according to levels of perceived chance events and career decidedness: balanced scorers, undecided with mean chance, undecided with high chance, decided with chance, and decided without chance. The groups differed significantly in work motivation (i.e., occupational self‐efficacy beliefs, perceived person–job fit, and work engagement). Decided adolescents reported more favorable work motivation regardless of their level of perceived chance events. The results imply that promoting decidedness remains a valuable goal in career counseling despite the occurrence of unpredicted events.     

Mindfulness and Decision‐Making Style: Predicting Career Thoughts and Vocational Identity

Mindfulness has been a focus of psychological research and practice in recent decades. Yet, there is limited research on the relationship between mindfulness and vocational decision‐making. This study’s purpose was to examine the role of mindfulness in a career context by investigating the relationships among mindfulness, decision‐making style, negative career thoughts, and vocational identity. The sample included 258 undergraduate students (204 women, 54 men) at a large southeastern U.S. university. Mindfulness was significantly (p < .01) associated with fewer negative career thoughts, external and thinking‐based decision‐making styles, and higher vocational identity. Multiple regression procedures found that mindfulness, coupled with decision‐making style, accounted for 31% of the variance in negative career thoughts and 22% of the variance in vocational identity. These findings suggest that more holistic career counseling interventions could incorporate mindfulness techniques to help reduce anxiety and negative thoughts while increasing self‐clarity and problem‐solving skills. Future research could include more diverse samples, additional constructs (e.g., choice volition, self‐efficacy), and a pretest–posttest design to examine the efficacy of mindfulness‐based career interventions.     

Toward a Framework for Multicultural STEM‐Focused Career Interventions

Numerous federal and national commissions have called for policies, funds, and initiatives aimed at expanding the nation's science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce and education investments to create a significantly larger, more diverse talent pool of individuals who pursue technical careers. Career development professionals are poised to contribute to the equity discourse about broadening STEM participation. However, few are aware of STEM‐related career development matters, career opportunities and pathways, or strategies for promoting STEM pursuits. The author summarizes STEM education and workforce trends and articulates an equity imperative for broadening and diversifying STEM participation. The author then offers a multicultural STEM‐focused career development framework to encourage career development professionals’ knowledge and awareness of STEM education and careers and delineates considerations for practice aimed at increasing the attainment and achievement of diverse groups in STEM fields.     

Comparing Career Development Outcomes Among Undergraduate Students in Cognitive Information Processing Theory–Based Versus Human Relations Courses

The effectiveness of undergraduate career courses has been demonstrated for multiple variables, including career certainty, maturity, decision-making skills, and reduction of dysfunctional career thoughts. Although such studies used the career course as an intervention, most failed to include a comparison course, nor were grounded in career theory. This study used a comparison group of 152 undergraduates enrolled in career development courses and 50 students enrolled in undergraduate human relations courses. Pre- and posttest comparisons indicated that the career course yielded significant improvements in career decision state, cognitive information processing (CIP) skills, career decision-making stage, knowledge of next steps, and anxiety about current career concern, but the human relations course did not. The CIP-based career course is supported as a valid career intervention, and individuals may benefit from targeted interventions depending on their CASVE cycle position. Future research might compare different career theory–based or atheoretical career courses on career development outcomes.     

The Separate and Combined Effects of SIGI or DISCOVER and a Career Planning Course on Undecided University Students

Research to consider the effectiveness of computer-assisted guidance systems (CACG) and credit career planning courses was conducted during the 1988 spring semester at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Virginia. The research methodology included use of a four-group pretest-posttest design at each university. Group treatment conditions using undecided university students were the following: (a) CACG use by students enrolled in a career planning course, (b) students enrolled only in a career planning course without CACG use, (c) CACG use by students enrolled in an introductory business or psychology course, and (d) students enrolled only in an introductory business or psychology course. Participants (N = 112) were in first through fifth semester standing and were assigned randomly to CACG use conditions.     

A Moderated Mediation Model of Planned Happenstance Skills,Career Engagement,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Career Decision Certainty

This study examined how college students’ levels of planned happenstance skills influenced the relationships among career engagement, career decision self‐efficacy, and career decision certainty. Moderated mediation analysis was used with a sample of 217 Korean undergraduate students. The results indicated that career decision self‐efficacy mediated the relationship between career engagement and career decision certainty. Moreover, the positive indirect effect of career engagement on career decision through career decision self‐efficacy was strengthened as the level of planned happenstance skills increased. In conclusion, college students’ career engagement strengthens their career decision certainty via career decision self‐efficacy when they have enough planned happenstance skills to discover unexpected career opportunities.     

Career Assessment and Counseling for STEM: A Critical Review

Career counselors must continually enhance their knowledge and skills to assist clients contemplating careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Therefore, the authors review STEM disciplines and theory‐driven strategies for assisting diverse individuals to explore, enter, and persist in STEM careers. Appropriate use of career assessments can contribute greatly to this effort. To identify available measures for STEM‐focused domains and constructs, the authors conducted a journal content analysis of stand‐alone STEM‐related career assessments from 1983 to 2016, identifying 39 articles with 153 measures. Notable results included the emergence of social cognitive theory and social cognitive career theory as prevailing frameworks for instrument development, a wide variety of disciplines and journals represented, an underrepresentation of minority samples, and untapped potential for cross‐discipline and researcher–practitioner collaboration. Useful strategies and resources for counselors and recommendations for enhancing career assessments and interventions are addressed.     

Neuroticism,Negative Thinking,and Coping With Respect to Career Decision State

Using structural equation modeling, the present study investigated relationships between neuroticism, coping strategies, and negative career thoughts within the context of attaining a positive career decision state. Results from the initial model, based on a sample of college students (119 women, 113 men; M = 20.3 years) enrolled in a career development course, revealed that coping strategies were not a significant contribution to the model. The final model, without coping strategies, showed that neuroticism had a significant indirect effect on career decision state through negative thinking and that the relationship between neuroticism and career decision state was also significant. Findings also indicate that in the presence of negative career thoughts, neuroticism becomes associated with a more positive career decision state. Practical implications include suggestions that counselors intervene on clients' negative career thoughts to potentially render their neurotic tendencies more productive in reaching a desired career decision state.     

Impact of Dysfunctional Career Thoughts on Career Decision Self‐Efficacy and Vocational Identity

This study examined the mediating role of dysfunctional career thoughts in the relationship between career decision self‐efficacy (CDSE) and vocational identity (VI). For this purpose, the data were collected from 446 Korean college students. The authors used the Hayes ( 2013 ) PROCESS tool to analyze the data. The results showed that CDSE positively correlated with VI, whereas all 3 types of dysfunctional career thoughts negatively correlated with CDSE and VI. The results also indicated that all 3 subscales of dysfunctional career thoughts partially mediate the association between CDSE and VI. We provide implications and limitations of the findings.     

Predicting STEM Major and Career Intentions With the Theory of Planned Behavior

This investigation predicted ACT‐tested 11th‐ and 12th‐grade students’ intentions to choose science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) college majors and STEM careers using a measure of mathematics beliefs and attitudes based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB; Ajzen, 1991). The TPB states that the best predictor of behavior is the intention to perform that behavior, and intention is influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. Students (N = 1,958) from 11th grade (48%) or 12th grade (52%) completed the measure and also indicated their intended college major and career. Results revealed that TPB predicted STEM major and career choice incrementally over a host of additional variables. More specifically, attitude and intention were the most predictive components. Although results were similar for male and female participants, attitudes and interests were somewhat more predictive for female than for male participants. Intervention possibilities and implications for future research were discussed.     

Career Engagement: Investigating Intraindividual Predictors of Weekly Fluctuations in Proactive Career Behaviors

This study applied a microlevel perspective on how within‐individual differences in motivational and social‐cognitive factors affected the weekly fluctuations of engagement in proactive career behaviors among a group of 67 German university students. Career self‐efficacy beliefs, perceived career barriers, experienced social career support, positive and negative emotions, and career engagement were assessed weekly for 13 consecutive weeks. Hierarchical linear regression analyses showed that above average levels of career engagement within individuals were predicted by higher than average perceived social support and positive emotions during a given week. Conversely, within‐individual differences in self‐efficacy, barriers, and negative emotions had no effect. The results suggest that career interventions should provide boosts in social support and positive emotions.     

Decision‐Making Styles,Career Decision Self‐Efficacy,and Career Adaptability Among High School Students

We investigated the relationships between decision‐making styles, career decision self‐efficacy, and career adaptability among high school students. We also sought to determine whether gender moderates the relationships among these three constructs. A total of 216 Serbian final‐year high school students responded to career adaptability and decision‐making measures. Results of structural equation modeling showed that career decision self‐efficacy mediates a positive relationship between the rational and intuitive styles and a negative relationship between the dependent style and career adaptability. The rational style only had a direct effect on career adaptability. Gender moderated one path—a regression weight of self‐efficacy on career adaptability. For male students, self‐efficacy was not a significant predictor of career adaptability. The results suggest that career counselors might approach students differently depending on students' gender and that the role of gender in career decision‐making and adaptability processes should be investigated further.     

Using Narrative Career Counseling With the Underprepared College Student

An increasing number of students enter college underprepared. These students do not have the academic skills to take college‐level courses and are placed in remedial classes. Career counseling can help underprepared college students make educated career decisions based on their current situations. This article explores the characteristics of underprepared college students, examines career‐related issues these students face, and reviews the literature on narrative career counseling. The life design method is applied to a case example of an underprepared college student to demonstrate how to best serve the needs of these students.     

Affect in Daily Career Decision Self‐Efficacy and Career Choice Anxiety

The authors investigated the impact of emotional intelligence on 2 career decision variables: daily career decision self‐efficacy and daily career choice anxiety. They also examined the mediating effects of daily positive affect on these variables. At baseline, 103 Korean undergraduate and graduate students completed questionnaires about emotional intelligence. Using a daily diary method, the authors also collected data on participants’ daily positive affect, daily career decision self‐efficacy, and daily career choice anxiety for 21 consecutive days. Hierarchical linear model analyses indicated that emotional intelligence predicted daily career decision self‐efficacy and daily career choice anxiety. These findings suggest that fostering emotional intelligence and daily positive affect could help students determine their future career. For individuals experiencing difficulty in the career decision process, counselors may foster career decision self‐efficacy and reduced career choice anxiety via enhancing clients’ emotional intelligence and daily positive affect.     

Explaining Career Decision‐Making Self‐Efficacy: Personality,Cognitions, and Cultural Mistrust

The authors explore the hypothesis that career decision‐making self‐efficacy could be affected by negative career thoughts, Big Five personality factors, and cultural mistrust in a sample of African American and Caucasian college students. Findings demonstrated that negative career thinking, openness, and conscientiousness explained a significant amount of variance in career decision‐making self‐efficacy in a general sample of college students, but no unique variance was explained by cultural mistrust in a sample of African American college students.     

Self‐Focused Attention and Career Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Career Adaptability

The purpose of this study was to examine how 2 forms of self‐focused attention, self‐reflection and self‐rumination, influence career anxiety. The authors hypothesized that the association between these 2 types of self‐focused attention and career anxiety would be mediated by career adaptability on the basis of a career construction model of adaptation. The participants were 326 undergraduate students in South Korea. The results of this study supported the hypothesized mediation model by indicating significant indirect effects of self‐reflection and self‐rumination on career anxiety via career adaptability. The direct effect of self‐rumination on career anxiety was significant (B = .44, p < .01), but the direct effect of self‐reflection on career anxiety was not significant (B = –.05, p > .05). The authors discuss implications for counselors to help college students manage career anxiety by encouraging and supporting increased career adaptability. Future research to examine the cross‐cultural validity of the current findings is needed.