A taxonomy of difficulties in career decision making.

Abstract

A general theoretical taxonomy of career decision-making difficulties, based on decision theory, has been developed. To examine the proposed taxonomy empirically, a questionnaire was constructed in which the various possible difficulties in the theoretical model were represented by respective statements. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of 259 young Israeli adults who were at the beginning of their career decision-making process and to an American sample of 304 university students. The observed relations among the 10 scales, which represent the 10 theoretical categories of difficulties, and those among the items within 2 selected categories, were similar in the 2 samples and compatible with the expected relations derived from the theoretical model. The implications for career counseling and research are discussed. The growing rate of change in the world of work increases the number of career transitions individuals make during their lifetime. The quality of the career decisions made during these transitions is significant for both the individual and society. Making a career decision is, however, a complex process. Although some people make such decisions easily, at least apparently, others face difficulties in making their career decisions, and many seek professional help. One of the central aims of career counseling is to facilitate the career decision-making process of counselees and, in particular, to help them overcome the difficulties they encounter during this process. Therefore, identifying the unique difficulties that prevent individuals from reaching a decision is an essential step in providing them with the help they need. The construct of career indecision has been used to refer to the problems individuals may have in making their career decision (for a review, see Slaney, 1988). Because of its recognized significance, career indecision is one of the central research issues of career psychology (Betz, 1992;