What University Personnel Should Know: Student Career Confidence, Help-Seeking Stigmas, and Use of Career Center Services

Research showed that many career centers are underutilized by students because of unawareness of services or help-seeking stigmas. Further, gender and ethnicity may affect utilization and perceptions. A pair of studies was conducted to investigate student perceptions of college career center services. In the first study, undergraduates completed questionnaires evaluating their awareness and use of career center services, stigma related to career counseling, and career decision self-efficacy. In the second study, students evaluated individual career center counseling and workshops, while identifying any changes in confidence to face future career decisions. The results showed that students rated the career center very highly. However, there were a few significant gender differences, with females offering more approval towards the career center than males. Additionally, students who held higher stigmas of help-seeking were less likely to value career center services