Finding their way on: Career decision-making processes of urban science teachers

In this qualitative study, we investigated the academic major and career decision-making processes of honors college students who were declared as “exploratory” students in their freshman year at a large, public, midwestern university. We used semistandardized interviews and document analysis as primary data collection methods to answer four research questions. Results indicated that the 17 participants used aspects of rational choice and alternate models in making decisions. They perceived both advantages and disadvantages of their multipotentiality and developed strategies, such as selecting broad or multiple majors, to offset the disadvantages. Students consulted college academic advisors less than expected when making decisions, and they expressed more concern about happiness than either job availability or earnings than did students in other studies.

Download Full-text

Retaining Disciplinary Talents as Informal Learning Outcomes in the Digital Age

Handbook of Research on Learning Outcomes and Opportunities in the Digital Age - Advances in Educational Technologies and Instructional Design ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-9577-1.ch018 ◽

2016 ◽

pp. 402-420 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Wen-Hao David Huang ◽

Eunjung Oh

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Decision Making ◽

Informal Learning ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Career Decision ◽

Learning Opportunities ◽

Learning Resources ◽

Career Decision Making ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Media Environments

Considering the national need for developing a variety of professional talents through higher education, this chapter proposes an exploratory conceptual framework, to allow educators and parents to harness informal learning opportunities afforded by virtually endless resources on the Internet, in order to engage undergraduate students with necessary career decision-making processes early on in their college experience. The thesis of this chapter asserts that we must consider students' career decision-making processes as a relevant higher education learning outcome. The proposed Digital Informal Learning Resources for Career Decision-Making (DILR-CDM) framework is grounded in the Social Cognitive Career Theory and the Self-Determination Theory to identify attributes of informal learning resources manifested by digital game-based environments and social media environments. These attributes, in turn, afford informal learning opportunities to scaffold and facilitate career decision-making processes among undergraduate students.

Download Full-text

Effects of client/computer interaction on career decision-making processes.

Journal of Counseling Psychology ◽

10.1037/0022-0167.24.4.308 ◽

1977 ◽

Vol 24 (4) ◽

pp. 308-312 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Donald J. Cochran ◽

S. David Hoffman ◽

Kenneth H. Strand ◽

Penelope M. Warren

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Career Decision ◽

Career Decision Making ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Client Computer ◽

Computer Interaction

Download Full-text

Extending a Conceptual Framework for Junior Doctors’ Career Decision Making and Rural Careers: Explorers versus Planners and Finding the ‘Right Fit’

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17041352 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (4) ◽

pp. 1352

Author(s):

Beatriz Cuesta-Briand ◽

Mathew Coleman ◽

Rebekah Ledingham ◽

Sarah Moore ◽

Helen Wright ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Western Australia ◽

Career Decision ◽

Early Career ◽

Junior Doctors ◽

Career Decision Making ◽

Rural Workforce ◽

Decision Making Processes ◽

Rural Work ◽

The Right

This study uses data from a Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA) and WA Country Health (WACHS) study on rural work intentions among junior doctors to explore their internal decision-making processes and gain a better understanding of how junior doctors make decisions along their career pathway. This was a qualitative study involving junior doctor participants in postgraduate years (PGY) 1 to 5 undergoing training in Western Australia (WA). Data was collected through semi-structured telephone interviews. Two main themes were identified: career decision-making as an on-going process; and early career doctors’ internal decision-making process, which fell broadly into two groups (‘explorers’ and ‘planners’). Both groups of junior doctors require ongoing personalised career advice, training pathways, and career development opportunities that best “fit” their internal decision-making processes for the purposes of enhancing rural workforce outcomes.

Download Full-text