Career indecision: a survey amongst students at the University of Pretoria

These days, students approach their graduation and career prospects with a great deal of uncertainty and pessimism. It is granted that the circumstances within South Africa might not be conducive to creating positive career perceptions, but a large deal of this can attributed to the students themselves. Career indecision plays a role in how students formulate career goals, influences career-related thoughts and decisions, and is a good indicator of how optimistic or pessimistic students are about their future careers. Understanding career indecision and its contributory factors might help students to formulate effective strategies that they may use to enhance their chances of career advancement. This study aims to determine if there is a difference in the levels of career indecision experienced by students enrolled in different fields of study, in different employment status situations, and between different gender groups. A convenience sample of 202 was drawn and students levels of career indecision were measured with the use of a self-administered questionnaire. The study demonstrates that a difference exists amongst students from the sample groups whose employment status differs, and those who were studying for different degrees. The findings suggest that a student\u27s degree of study and employment status may have an influence on his or her levels of career indecision. The findings also indicated that there is no significant difference in the levels of career indecision experienced by males and females. Consequently, this study has important implications for certain groups that are, or should be involved in the career decision-making processes of university students, namely tertiary education institutions, career guidance counsellors and internship programme developers