Major Decisions: What Drives your Career Choice?

Research Question

Is it outdated to have students pick their college major before attending college?

Hypothesis: This social norm is outdated. The gravity of planning out ones’ career with a whirlwind of pressure and urgency can be counterproductive to self-efficacy and personal growth.

Literature Review

Examining previous research, I reviewed impacts of pressure and urgency on decision making, and sociological perspectives on major selection. One study found that students on a “searching trajectory”, exploring new career programs at university, displayed both decreased well-being and decision making (Dietrich 2013). Investigating the effectiveness of career programs, a study found that poverty, and other cultural factors, can leave lasting effects on self-efficacy which affect career preparedness beyond the efforts of curriculum and opportunity development in schools (Slaten 2024).

Design

• Qualitative Interviews with a sample population of adults(>18) attending or attended college with gift incentive

• Effort to limit bias: Purposive interview sampling from diverse interviewee college experience and major with established consistency through standardized direct questions

Highlighted Questions:

• What was the leading influence in deciding on your major pre-college or during college? 

• Did any specific experiences in college create a desire or motivation to pivot to a new major or career path?

• Coding Schema: Focus on when key experiences occur

• Pre or Post College and connection to academic environment

Findings

1. Desire for sense of stability and security

2. Prevalence of mentorship and positive exposure (ex: professors and grandparents)

3. Alignment of interests and/or hobbies 

Highlighted Quotes:

-Media and Communication, Creative Writing Major: “I think the major influence in our generation and choosing a major is something that's gonna provide a lot of financial security. You know, people are always looking for majors that are dependable......these people who are editing, and they're aspiring to be directors and editors and writers. They're extremely passionate and extremely talented, and I think that combined with what I'm learning now in college, does excite me about the job field, the job market because I know that these people are competitive. They're protective of the art, and so that excites me other than it scares me”

-Finance and Accounting Major: "Gotta make sure you can support yourself. But sometimes you know, the jobs that support yourself aren't always what you want to look forward to going to work every day....  it's reliable. You can go really anywhere with business, and you can come out of college making money. It's not like I'm gonna major in art and be in debt the rest of my life”

Reflection

Overall common expectations of and desire for stability yet differing definitions of “job security”. While individual confidence in career choice doesn’t appear to be impacted by time or specific experiences, choosing a path prior to college can limit your access to mentorship from professors and career experts, while extended contemplation can lead to decreased well-being(Dietrich 2013). I found that investigating the validity of a social norm was difficult considering confidence is subjective and layered in experience, mentorship, and expectations. In the future, a focus on student well-being may be more tangible, while ensuring diverse socioeconomic background of participants considering the effect of poverty on self-efficacy(Slaten 2024).