Effects of a Program to Correct Career Myths Among University of Nebraska Undergraduates

The career myths concept was developed in recent years to explain one type of difficulty that counselors have in helping clients implement a rational plan of career decision-making.Career myths are those incorrect or self-defeating career-related beliefs or attitudes which either 1) serve to inhibit the client from making a career decision, or 2) cause the client to make a premature decision, without sufficient regard for self or occupational information.College counselors consider career myths to be a major impediment to rational career planning. The main goal of this study has been to test the hypothesis that career myths can be effectively corrected by short-term outreach. A pretest-treatment-posttest design, with treatment and control groups, was used. The second goal of this study has been to determine the relationship between career myths and commitment to college major. The results of this study show in spite of the anomalies of the research data, it is possible to impact college students’ career belief system by means of a persuasive lecture.Freshmen, undeclared, or liberal arts students should be the target group(s) for any further investigation of career myths intervention. It was also suggested that any career myths intervention be considered as part of a broader program related to career planning or making a decision about a college major. Advisor: James W. Pinkne