College students' perspectives on their career decision making

This mixed methods study examined how college student participants discussed their approach to making career decisions, with a focus on how their perspective may be consistent with various models of career decision making. Brief telephone interviews were conducted with 20 college students, and the narrative data were analyzed using qualitative methods informed by grounded theory and consensual qualitative research (CQR). Based on themes generated by qualitative analysis, a ratings instrument was developed. The instrument was used by two individuals who dually served as auditors of the qualitative findings and as independent raters. Themes, as well as correlations and frequency data derived from the ratings, are discussed. It was found that the views of the participants, in terms of how they thought decisions should be made and how they were approaching their own decisions, were consistent with models of career decision making that include notions of interdependence, experience, intuition, and emotion.