thesis about career

Essay on Career for Students and Children

500+ words essay on career.

Career is a very important thing in one’s life. Whatever career path you choose to follow, it will impact your life greatly. Your career will define your status in a society in addition to your lifestyle. In other words, your career will determine your social circle and relationships.

Therefore, it is extremely important to choose the correct career path . From a very young age, we aspire to be something or the other. While someone aims to be a doctor, some wish to become a painter. Our career choices depend on a lot of things. Thus, it is important to consider all factors before choosing a career path.

How to Choose your Career?

You must consider a number of factors before deciding on your career. Each factor plays a significant role in your choice. Firstly, always assess yourself thoroughly. You must understand your area of interest to choose a career. For instance, someone who dances well can surely become a doctor, but his interest will always be in dance. Thus, ensure that you have the caliber to perform well in the field you choose. This will come from your area of interest itself.

After that, you look for the opportunities available as per your area of interest. Now that you are aware of what you like and dislike, you can easily look for occupations matching your passion. Make a list of the occupations you can get into following your interests. Furthermore, shorten the list you have prepared. You must do so as per what suits you best. Consult with your seniors and parents to make informed decisions.

Most importantly, acquire the skills for the career option you are interested in. Ensure you earn the qualifications and degrees for it. Try taking training programs to enhance your skills. This will give you an upper hand in knowing whether you are correct in choosing the specific career plan. Furthermore, create an impressive resume which can help you get the right opportunities.

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How to Achieve your Career Goal?

There are steps you need to take before achieving your career goal. As they say, success doesn’t come overnight. You must work along the way to accomplish your goals. There is always hope if you have the will. Firstly, create profiles on different job portals to attract the employer’s attention. When you maintain your profile well, you will be able to get good career opportunities.

Moreover, always maintain your network. Build a solid network and create sources in the field. This way you can update yourself with the latest happenings in the industry. In addition, try to attend the related seminars and workshops that happen related to your career choice. You will meet influential people of the same field who can broaden your thinking.

In short, always remember to stay determined. You can easily achieve your career goal if you set your mind to it. In other words, people usually distract themselves easily. You must not do so and focus on your career path to achieve your goals efficiently.

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Systematic review article, a systematic review of factors that influence youths career choices—the role of culture.

• 1 College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
• 2 College of Public Health, Medical and Veterinary Sciences, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia
• 3 College of Arts, Society and Education, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia

Good career planning leads to life fulfillment however; cultural heritage can conflict with youths' personal interests. This systematic review examined existing literature on factors that influence youths' career choices in both collectivist and individualistic cultural settings from around the globe with the aim of identifying knowledge gaps and providing direction for future research. A systematic review strategy using the Joana Briggs Institute's format was conducted. The ERIC, PsychInfo, Scopus, and Informit Platform databases were searched for articles published between January 1997 and May 2018. A total of 30 articles were included in the review, findings revealed that youth from collectivist cultures were mainly influenced by family expectations, whereby higher career congruence with parents increased career confidence and self-efficacy. Personal interest was highlighted as the major factor that influenced career choice in individualistic settings, and the youth were more independent in their career decision making. Bicultural youth who were more acculturated to their host countries were more intrinsically motivated in their career decision making. Further research is imperative to guide the understanding of parental influence and diversity, particularly for bicultural youths' career prospects and their ability to use the resources available in their new environments to attain meaningful future career goals.

Introduction

Career choice is a significant issue in the developmental live of youths because it is reported to be associated with positive as well as harmful psychological, physical and socio-economic inequalities that persist well beyond the youthful age into an individual's adult life ( Robertson, 2014 ; Bubić and Ivanišević, 2016 ). The term “youth” is described by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as a more fluid category than a fixed age group and it refers to young people within the period of transitioning from the dependence of childhood to adulthood independence and awareness of their interdependence as members of a community ( UNESCO, 2017 ).

The complexity of career decision-making increases as age increases ( Gati and Saka, 2001 ). Younger children are more likely to offer answers about their ideal career which may represent their envisioned utopia and phenomenal perceptions about what they want to do when they grow up ( Howard and Walsh, 2011 ). As children get older, they are more likely to describe their career choice as a dynamic interplay of their developmental stages and the prevailing environmental circumstances ( Howard and Walsh, 2011 ). Youth career decision-making is required to go through a process of understanding by defining what they want to do and exploring a variety of career options with the aid of guidance and planning ( Porfeli and Lee, 2012 ). Proper handling of the process affirms individual identity and fosters wellbeing, job satisfaction and stability ( Kunnen, 2013 ).

Many theoretical models have been proposed to explain the process of career development and decision-making, one of which is the Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) by Lent et al. (1994) . According to the SCCT, career development behaviors are affected by three social cognitive processes - self-efficacy beliefs, outcome expectations and career goals and intentions which interplay with ethnicity, culture, gender, socio-economic status, social support, and any perceived barriers to shape a person's educational and career trajectories ( Lent et al., 2000 ; Blanco, 2011 ). This emphasizes the complex interplay between the personal aspirations of youths in their career choices and decision-making and the external influences which act upon them. Carpenter and Foster (1977) postulated that the earlier experiences and influences which individuals are exposed to form the bedrock of how they conceive their career aspirations ( Carpenter and Foster, 1977 ). These authors' assertion lends support to the tenets of SCCT and they have developed a three-dimensional framework to classify the factors that influence career choice. Carpenter and Foster proposed that all career-influencing factors derive from either intrinsic, extrinsic, or interpersonal dimensions. They referred to the intrinsic dimension as a set of interests related to a profession and its role in society. Extrinsic refers to the desire for social recognition and security meanwhile the interpersonal dimension is connected to the influence of others such as family, friends, and teachers ( Carpenter and Foster, 1977 ).

Further exploration by other researchers reveal that youth who are motivated by intrinsic factors are driven by their interests in certain professions, and employments that are personally satisfying ( Gokuladas, 2010 ; Kunnen, 2013 ). Therefore, intrinsic factors relate to decisions emanating from self, and the actions that follow are stimulated by interest, enjoyment, curiosity or pleasure and they include personality traits, job satisfaction, advancement in career, and learning experiences ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ; Kunnen, 2013 ; Nyamwange, 2016 ). Extrinsic factors revolve around external regulations and the benefits associated with certain occupations ( Shoffner et al., 2015 ). Prestigious occupations, availability of jobs and well-paying employments have also been reported to motivate youth career decision-making ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ). Consequently, extrinsically motivated youth may choose their career based on the fringe benefits associated with a particular profession such as financial remuneration, job security, job accessibility, and satisfaction ( Ryan and Deci, 2000 ; Edwards and Quinter, 2011 ; Bakar et al., 2014 ). Interpersonal factors encompass the activities of agents of socialization in one's life and these include the influence of family members, teachers/educators, peers, and societal responsibilities ( Gokuladas, 2010 ; Bossman, 2014 ; Wu et al., 2015 ). Beynon et al. reported that Chinese-Canadian students' focus in selecting a career was to bring honor to the family ( Beynon et al., 1998 ). Students who are influenced by interpersonal factors highly value the opinions of family members and significant others; they therefore consult with and depend on these people and are willing to compromise their personal interest ( Guan et al., 2015 ).

Studies have shown that cultural values have an impact on the factors that influence the career choices of youths ( Mau, 2000 ; Caldera et al., 2003 ; Wambu et al., 2017 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Culture is the collective programming of the mind that distinguishes one group of people from another ( Hofstede, 2001 , p.9) ( Hofstede, 2001 ). Hofstede (1980) seminal work on culture dimensions identified four major cultural dimensions in his forty-country comparative research ( Hofstede, 1980 ). The first dimension is known as “individualism-collectivism.” In individualistic cultures, an individual is perceived as an “independent entity,” whilst in collectivistic cultures he/she is perceived as an “interdependent entity.” That said, decision-making in individualistic cultures are based on individuals ‘own wishes and desires, whilst in collectivistic cultures, decisions are made jointly with the “in-group” (such as family, significant others and peers), and the primary objective is to optimize the group's benefit. The second dimension is power distance. In high power distant cultures; power inequality in society and its organizations exist and is accepted. The third dimension - uncertainty avoidance denotes the extent to which uncertainty and ambiguity is tolerated in society. In high uncertainty avoidant cultures, it is less tolerated, whereas in low uncertainty avoidant cultures it is more tolerated. Lastly, masculinity and femininity dimension deals with the prevailing values and priorities. In masculine cultures, achievement and accumulation of wealth is valued and strongly encouraged; in feminine cultures, maintaining good interpersonal relationships is the priority.

In his later work on “Cultural Dimension Scores,” Hofstede suggested that countries' score on power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation, and indulgence depicts whether they are collectivist inclined or individualistic-oriented ( Hofstede, 2011 ). Countries that espoused collectivist values may score low and countries that are entrenched in individualistic values may score high on the above-mentioned six cultural dimension score models ( Hofstede, 1980 , 2001 , 2011 ). This model aids the characterization of countries into either individualistic or collectivist cultural settings.

On this basis, western countries like Australia, United Kingdom (UK) and the United States of America (USA) have been shown to align with individualism and such cultures are oriented around independence, self-reliance, freedom and individual autonomy; while African and Asian nations align more closely with collectivism in which people identify with societal interdependence and communal benefits ( Hofstede, 1980 ; Sinha, 2014 ). Research indicates that basing cultures on individualistic versus collectivist dimensions may explain the classical differences in career decision-making among youths ( Mau, 2004 ; Amit and Gati, 2013 ; Sinha, 2014 ). The normative practice in individualistic societies is for the youth to be encouraged to choose their own careers and develop competency in establishing a career path for themselves, while youths from collectivist societies may be required to conform to familial and societal standards and they are often expected to follow a pre-determined career track ( Oettingen and Zosuls, 2006 ).

The interaction between individualistic and collectivist cultures has increased in frequency over the last 20 years due to global migration. Given that different standards are prescribed for the youths' career selection from the two cultures (collectivist—relatedness, and individualistic—autonomy), making a personal career decision could be quite daunting in situations where migrant families have moved from their heritage cultures into a host country. Friction may arise between the adapting youths and their often traditionally focused and opinionated parents as the families resettle in the host countries.

According to a report by the United Nations (UN), the world counted 173–258 million international migrants from 2000 to 2017, representing 3.4 percent of the global population. Migration is defined by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) as the movement of a person or a group of persons, either across an international border, or within a state ( IOM, 2018 ). In this era of mass migration, migrant students who accompanied their parents to another country and are still discerning their career pathways could be exposed to the unfamiliar cultural values in general and the school/educational system in particular ( Zhang et al., 2014 ). On this note, migrant students might face a daunting task in negotiating their career needs both within host countries' school systems and perhaps within their own family setups. These migrant youth undoubtedly face uncertainties and complexities as career decision-making trajectory could be different in their heritage cultures compared to the prevailing status quo of the host country's culture ( Sawitri and Creed, 2017 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). As youth plan and make career decisions, in the face of both expected and unexpected interests, goals, expectations, personal experiences as well as obligations and responsibilities, cultural undercurrents underpin what the youth can do, and how they are required to think. Some studies have examined cross-cultural variations in factors influencing the career choice of youth from both similar and dissimilar cultural settings ( Mau, 2000 ; Lee, 2001 ; Fan et al., 2012 , 2014 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). However, there may be large differences between different migrant populations.

Given the influence of cultural heritage on career choice and with the increasing numbers of transitions between cultures, it is important to examine the scope and range of research activities available in the area of youths' career choice, particularly in relation to how movements across cultures affect the youth in their career decision making. To the best of our knowledge, there is no comprehensive review of existing literature available in this area. Using the three-dimensional framework proposed by Carpenter and Foster (1977) , this systematic review aims to examine the factors influencing youths' career choices, with particular reference to cultural impact. It will also identify any gaps in the existing literature and make recommendations that will help guide future research and aid policy makers and educational counselors in developing adequately equipped and well-integrated career choice support systems that will foster a more effective workforce.

Literature Search

A systematic review strategy was devised and the literature search was conducted using the Joana Briggs Institute's (JBI) format. The search was conducted between December 2016 and May 2018, utilizing James Cook University's subscription to access the following databases: Education Resources Information Centre (ERIC), PsycINFO, Scopus and Informit. The subject and keyword searches were conducted in three parts.

1. Career and its cognate terms:

“Career development” OR “Career decision” OR “career choice” OR “Career choices” OR “Career planning” OR “Career guidance” OR Career OR Careers OR “Career advancement” OR “Career exploration” OR Vocation OR Vocations OR Vocational OR “Occupational aspiration” OR Job OR Jobs OR Occupations OR Occupation OR Occupational” AND

2. Youth and its cognate terms:

“Youth OR Youths” OR “Young adults” OR adolescent* OR teenage* OR student” AND

3. Factors and variables:

“Intrinsic OR Extrinsic OR Interpersonal OR Individualistic OR Collectivist OR Culture OR Cultures OR Cultural OR “Cross Cultural.”

The Boolean operators (OR/AND) and search filters were applied to obtain more focused results. The articles included in the final search were peer-reviewed and the references of publications sourced from these searches were hand searched to obtain additional abstracts. Searches of reference and citation lists commenced in December 2016, repeated in March, July and November 2017 and finally May 2018 to identify and include any new, relevant articles.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria

Only peer-reviewed articles published in English within the last 20 years (1997-2018) and with full text available were included. Studies included in the final analysis were original research articles that focused on career choices of youth from all cultures including migrant youth who are also known as bicultural (those who accompanied their parents to another country). The rationale for using the cultural concepts of collectivist and individualistic cultural settings was inspired by Hofstede's Cultural Dimensional Scores Model ( Hofstede, 2011 ). Abstracts were excluded if they focused on students below secondary school level and those already in the workforce as the study mainly focused on youth discerning their career choices and not those already in the workforce.

Data Extraction

Two of the researchers (PAT and BMA) independently assessed data for extraction, using coding sheets. Study variables compared were author and year of publication, country and continent of participant enrolment, cultural setting, study design, participant numbers, and educational level, factors influencing career choice and major outcomes. Data were crosschecked in a consensus meeting and discrepancies resolved through discussion and mutual agreement between the two reviewers. The third and fourth authors (T.I.E and D.L) were available to adjudicate if required.

Quality of Methods Assessment

In this study, two reviewers (PAT and TIE) ascertained the quality and validity of the articles using JBI Critical Appraisal (CA) tools for qualitative and cross-sectional studies ( Aromataris and Munn, 2017 ). In any event of disagreement, a third reviewer (BMA) interceded to make a judgement. Both JBI CA tools assess the methodological quality of the included studies to derive a score ranging from 0 (low quality) to 8 or 10 (high quality). Using these tools, studies with a total score between 0 and 3 were deemed of low quality, studies with a score between 4 and 6 were classed as of moderate quality and studies with scores from 7 were deemed to be of high quality (sound methodology).

Study Selection

Articles retrieved from the initial database search totaled 5,201. An additional 38 articles were retrieved from direct journal search by bibliographic search. A total of 597 records remained after duplicates and unrelated articles were removed. Of this number, 521 were excluded after abstract review mainly for not meeting the inclusion criteria, leaving 76 full text articles for eligibility check. A further 46 were excluded because they focused on career difficulties, counseling, retention, working adolescents, or the cultural setting was not stated. Applying this screening process resulted in 30 studies for inclusion in the qualitative review synthesis (see Figure 1 ).

Figure 1 . Search strategy. The figure shows the search strategy including databases assessed for this study.

Study Characteristics

All three factors (Intrinsic, Extrinsic, and Interpersonal) affecting adolescents' career choices were identified in this review (Figure 2 ). Out of the 30 articles, five (17%) explored interpersonal factors exclusively ( Cheung et al., 2013 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ; Fan et al., 2014 ; Zhang et al., 2014 ; Fouad et al., 2016 ). Majority of the studies, 16 out of 30 (53%) explored interpersonal and intrinsic factors solely ( Mau, 2000 ; Lee, 2001 ; Caldera et al., 2003 ; Howard et al., 2009 ; Lent et al., 2010 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Li et al., 2015 ; Sawitri and Creed, 2015 , 2017 ; Kim et al, 2016 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ).

Figure 2 . Diagrammatic illustration of the included studies highlighting the factors that influence youth career choices. The figure shows the number of studies focusing on each of the three factors (intrinsic, extrinsic and interpersonal).

No articles focused solely on extrinsic or intrinsic factors. Two studies each explored the relationship between intrinsic and extrinsic ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ; Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ) as well as extrinsic and interpersonal factors ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). The remaining five articles (17%) explored all three factors (intrinsic, extrinsic, and interpersonal, ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Agarwala, 2008 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Fan et al., 2012 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Table 1 summarizes the 30 articles included in this review. Intrinsic factors explored in the literature include self-interest, job satisfaction, and learning experiences. Extrinsic factors include job security, guaranteed job opportunities, high salaries, prestigious professions and future benefits. Meanwhile, interpersonal factors include parental support, family cohesion, peer influence, and interaction with educators.

Table 1 . Summary of studies included in the review.

The collectivist cultural settings examined in the reviewed articles included Argentina, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan and Ukraine; while the individualistic ones were Canada, Finland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and United States of America. Italy was considered as partly individualistic and collectivist. Fourteen studies included participants from both collectivist and individualistic cultural settings ( Mau, 2000 ; Lee, 2001 ; Caldera et al., 2003 ; Howard et al., 2009 ; Fan et al., 2012 , 2014 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ; Choi and Kim, 2013 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Zhang et al., 2014 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Fouad et al., 2016 ; Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ; Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Twelve studies focused on collectivist cultural settings ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Agarwala, 2008 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Lent et al., 2010 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Li et al., 2015 ; Kim et al, 2016 ; Sawitri and Creed, 2017 ). Three studies examined participants who moved from collectivist to individualistic settings ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ) and one study considered both cultural dimensions within a single setting ( Howard et al., 2009 ). Twenty-nine of the included studies used a range of quantitative designs. Participant numbers in these ranged from 80 to 2087. One study used qualitative design with 12 participants.

Quality of Methods of Included Studies

The quality assessment of methods employed in the 30 studies included in this review are outlined in Table 2 . The qualitative study was assessed using the JBI qualitative CA tool and was of sound methodology (Table 2A ). Using the JBI cross-sectional CA tool, 9 of the 29 quantitative studies (31 %) were of sound methodology (score of 6.5–7). The other 20 studies (69 %) were of moderate quality (Table 2B ).

Table 2 . Quality assessment of included articles.

Synthesis of Study Results

Table 1 and Figure 3 details the study setting and the underlying factors influencing youth career choices. Analysis of the reviewed articles revealed four major themes namely: extrinsic, intrinsic and interpersonal factors and emergent bicultural influence on career choice. These four major themes had several subthemes and are reported below.

Figure 3 . Career influencing factors. The figures shows identified career influencing factors and their distribution in cultural settings.

Extrinsic Factors

Extrinsic factors examined in the reviewed articles included financial remuneration, job security, professional prestige and job accessibility.

Financial Remuneration

Financial remuneration was identified as the most influential extrinsic factor in career choice decision. Income was considered as an important component of life, particularly among youth who had a higher level of individualism ( Agarwala, 2008 ; Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). Wüst and Leko Šimić reported that German students ranked “a high income” highest with a 3.7 out of 5 and regarded it as the most important feature of their future job in comparison to Croatian students who gave it a lower ranking of 3 out of 5 ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). While amongst Indian management students, it was rated as the third most important factor influencing career choice ( Agarwala, 2008 ). Financial reward was also a high motivator for career decision among Chinese migrant students in Canada ( Tao et al., 2018 ), and Korean students ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ). In contrast, the need for higher remuneration did not influence career decision making among engineering students in India ( Gokuladas, 2010 ), and Japanese senior college students ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ).

Professional Prestige

Professional prestige was identified as an important deciding factor for youth career decision making in India ( Agarwala, 2008 ), South Africa ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ), Croatia ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ), Japan and Korea ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ), which are all collectivist settings. Prestige statuses attached to some occupations were strong incentives to career choices; was ranked as the second most important positive influence in career decision making by over half of the respondents in a South African study, indicating that these youth wanted prestigious jobs so that they could live good lives and be respected in the society ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ). Japanese and Korean students were also highly influenced by occupational prestige ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ); however, the Korean students considered it of higher importance than their Japanese counterparts.

Job Accessibility

Job accessibility was also considered as a deciding factor for youth's career decision in a collectivist Burkina Faso society where nearness to employment locations prevented students from choosing careers related to their preferred fields of endeavor ( Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). Another study explored the perceptions of hospitality and tourism career among college students and demonstrated that Korean students are more likely to focus on current market trends such as job accessibility in comparison to their American counterparts ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ), implying that they are less flexible with their choices. However, job accessibility and vocational interest were less predictive of career explorations than personality traits in both cultural settings in a different study ( Fan et al., 2012 ).

Job Security

Job security was reported as influential in only one study where it was identified as highly important by German youth in comparison to their Croatian counterparts ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ). They suggested that their finding are in line with the uncertainty avoidance index proposed by Hofstede (2011) which also takes on a relatively high value for Germans. They provided two major reasons for the findings—(1) “secure jobs” has a tradition for young Germans and (2) change in employment contracts in Germany; with fewer employees under 25 having permanent contracts ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ).

Intrinsic Factors

The literature explored intrinsic factors such as personal interests, self-efficacy, outcome expectations and professional development opportunities.

Personal Interests

Personal interests in career decision-making appeared to be an important factor in the selection of a life career ( Caldera et al., 2003 ; Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Lent et al., 2010 ; Choi and Kim, 2013 ; Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa ascertained that about fifty per cent of youth career decisions are based on their personal interests ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ), and Gokuladas maintained that students from urban areas are most likely to consider their personal interests before societal interests when making career decisions ( Gokuladas, 2010 ). Lent et al., reported that personal interest predict youth's career outcome expectations ( Lent et al., 2010 ) while Li et al., indicated that in collectivist Chinese culture, personal interests matter significantly however individual preferences are strongly influenced by social comparison ( Li et al., 2015 ). Atitsogbe et al., observed that Swiss students are more influenced by personal interests ( Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). They reported that in Switzerland, interest differentiation was significantly associated with self-identity. This scenario was compared to the situation in the collectivist Burkina Faso culture where interest differentiation and consistency were less associated self-identity ( Atitsogbe et al., 2018 ). Similarly, Korean students were reported to focus on the prevailing market trends such as salary, job positions, and promotion opportunities in contrast to American student who were more future oriented and interested in setting individual desired goals in their reality oriented-perceptions ( Choi and Kim, 2013 ). Personal interest was also linked to career aspirations in Mexican American women ( Caldera et al., 2003 ).

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy was considered a vital intrinsic factor in the career decision-making process of youth ( Howard et al., 2009 ; Fan et al., 2012 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ). Howard et al. reported individualistic and collectivist dimensions in two different regions within the same country due to economic factors ( Howard et al., 2009 ). In collectivist cultures, students' self-efficacy was linked to their level of congruence with their parents. Whereas in individualistic cultural settings, like America, families encourage students to become self-sufficient and independent ( Mau, 2000 ; Fan et al., 2012 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Hui and Lent, 2018 ).

Outcome Expectations

Two studies carried out in collectivist cultural settings reported that youth's outcome expectation are contingent/dependent on the degree of perceived congruence with parents ( Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Sawitri et al., 2015 ). One article that studied the outcome expectations of youth in individualistic cultural setting reported that among students in the United States, strong career maturity, confidence, and outcome expectations were culturally based ( Lee, 2001 ).

Professional Development Opportunities

The opportunity for professional development is also a major intrinsic career-influencing factor ( Lee, 2001 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Guan et al., 2015 ). University students in China were individually matured and influenced by career development opportunities ( Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ). While American students were shown to score higher for ideal occupations ( Guan et al., 2015 ), and influenced by goal motivation and strong career maturity ( Lee, 2001 ). This is similar to high school students in Indonesia, although dependent on congruence with parents ( Sawitri and Creed, 2015 ).

Interpersonal Factors

The literature discussed the extent to which family members, teachers/educators, peers, and social responsibilities influence youth's career decision-making.

Influence of Family Members

Agarwala suggested the father was seen as the most significant individual influencing the career choice of Indian management students ( Agarwala, 2008 ). This could be understood in the context of a reasonably patriarchal society. According to the study, most of the participants' fathers were mainly professionals, which may have motivated their career selection. In another study, mothers (52.50%) were regarded as the most significant family member that impacted positively on students' career choices ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ). Fathers (18.75%) were the second most significant individual, followed by siblings or guardians (16.25%) ( Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ). Good rapport among family members culminating in an effective communication within the family set up is crucial for laying sound foundation for career decision making. Higher career congruence with parents also increased career confidence and self-efficacy ( Sawitri et al., 2014 , 2015 ; Sawitri and Creed, 2015 , 2017 ; Kim et al, 2016 ). Furthermore, parents' profession influences career choice as children from agricultural backgrounds tend to take on their parents' job, while those from industrialized settings have more autonomy and career decidedness ( Howard et al., 2009 ).

Other familial influence on career decision-making according to the results of the only qualitative study in our review, include parental values, parental pressure, cultural capital and family obligations ( Polenova et al., 2018 ). The study indicated the apparent Asian American cultural preference for certain professions/careers. Students indicated that, parental opinion sometimes put an emphasis on a specific career. In that study, several participants emphasized that they were not forced, but “strongly encouraged” ( Polenova et al., 2018 ).

It's not like your parents are going to put a gun to your head and say “You're going to be a doctor” but from a young age, they say things like, “You're going to be a great doctor, I can't wait until you have that stethoscope around your neck.”

Polenova et al., 2018

Teachers and Educators

Teachers and educators are significant figures in the process of youth's career decision-making ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Howard et al., 2009 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ). Cheung et al. and Howard et al. reported that in both collectivist and individualistic cultures, teacher are seen as significant figures who are agents of development and could have influence on students' career decision making ( Howard et al., 2009 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ). Cheung et al. further reported that students in Hong Kong rated perceived efficacy of teachers higher than parents due to lower level of parental education ( Cheung et al., 2013 ). In addition, Cheung and Arnold demonstrated a strong student dependence on teachers followed by peers and less of parents ( Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ).

Peer Influence

Two studies carried out in both cultural settings showed peer influence as a third potent force (after parents and teachers) that can significantly impact on the career decisions of youth, especially girls ( Howard et al., 2009 ; Cheung et al., 2013 ). Other studies reported that peers are a branch of the significant others and as social agents, they influence their kinds through social comparisons and acceptance ( Yamashita et al., 1999 ; Lee, 2001 ; Bojuwoye and Mbanjwa, 2006 ; Gokuladas, 2010 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ).

Social Responsibilities

The impact of social responsibility as a driving force in youth career decision-making was identified by Fouad et al. (2016) , who noted that the career decision-making of South Korean youth is influenced by societal expectations. This is supported by another research, which suggested that societal expectations influenced youth career choices in both collectivist and individualistic cultures ( Lee, 2001 ; Mau, 2004 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ).

Emergent Bicultural Influence on Youth Career Choices

Of the 30 articles, only three explored the career decision making of bicultural youths ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ). Strong family support influenced US-born and Asian-born students as shown by a recent study ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ). Hui and Lent found that students with stronger adherence to Asian values were more likely to perceive family support to pursue science related careers ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ). High sense of obligation to parents (filial piety), internal locus of control, and personal interests were identified as factors that influenced bi-cultural Asian American students' career decision making ( Polenova et al., 2018 ). Bicultural Chinese students who were acculturated to Canada were highly intrinsically motivated (internal locus of control and self-efficacy) in their career decision-making, while those who had stronger Chinese acculturations were influenced by extrinsic (financial stability) and interpersonal (family) factors ( Tao et al., 2018 ).

This systematic review examined the existent factors influencing the career choices of the youths from different countries around the globe, from either or both collectivist and individualistic cultural settings. Intrinsic and interpersonal factors were more investigated than extrinsic factors in the reviewed articles. In these articles, intrinsic factors included personal interests, professional advancement, and personality traits. Extrinsic factors included guaranteed employment opportunities, job security, high salaries, prestigious professions and future benefits. Meanwhile, interpersonal factors are the activities of agents of socialization in one's life, such as parental support, family cohesion, status, peer influence as well as interaction with other social agents such as school counsellors, teachers and other educators ( Lent et al., 2010 ; Shin and Kelly, 2013 ; Cheung and Arnold, 2014 ; Guan et al., 2015 ; Kim et al, 2016 ).

The three factors (intrinsic, extrinsic and interpersonal) relating to career choices are pervasive in both cultures. Their level of influence on the youth differs from culture to culture and appear to be dependent on perceived parental congruence leading to self-efficacy and better career choice outcomes. The studies carried out in Canada, Finland, Germany, Spain, Switzerland and United States of America showed a high level of individualism, which typifies intrinsic motivation for career choice. Youths in individualistic cultural settings were influenced by the combinations of intrinsic (personal interest, personality trait, self-efficacy), extrinsic (job security, high salaries) and to a lesser extent, interpersonal (parental guidance) factors and are encouraged to make their own career decisions ( Mau, 2004 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ). In contrast, studies carried out in Argentina, Burkina Faso, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Portugal, South Africa, South Korea, Taiwan, and Ukraine showed a high level of collectivism. Youths in collectivist cultures were mainly influenced by interpersonal (honoring parental and societal expectations and parental requirements to follow a prescribed career path) and extrinsic (prestigious professions) ( Mau, 2000 ; Gunkel et al., 2013 ). The opinions of significant others matter significantly to youths from collectivist cultural settings. Whereas, in individualistic cultures, youths tend to focus on professions that offer higher income and satisfy their personal interests ( Wüst and Leko Šimić, 2017 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ).

Parental influences were found to be significant in collectivist cultural settings ( Agarwala, 2008 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 ), implying that youths from this culture value the involvement of significant others, especially parents, and other family members, during their career decision-making processes. The activities of parents and significant others are very pivotal in the lives of the youth as they navigate their career paths. Cheung et al. reported the role of significant others (teachers) in influencing youth career choices when parents are unable to suitably play such role ( Cheung et al., 2013 ). Interestingly, one article focused on two different cultural orientations within one country and reported that parents' profession influence career choice as children from agricultural backgrounds tend to take on their parents' job, while those from industrialized settings have more autonomy and career decidedness ( Howard et al., 2009 ). This finding emphasizes the complex interplay of cultural context and the environment in the career aspirations of youths ( Fouad et al., 2016 ).

The review suggests that youths of collectivist orientations, tend to subordinate personal interests to group goals, emphasizing the standards and importance of relatedness and family cohesion ( Kim et al, 2016 ). However, such patterns of behavior may be conflicted, particularly during cross-cultural transitions. Parental influence have been reported to generate difficulties within the family and discrepancies over career choice decisions are not uncommon within both cultures ( Myburgh, 2005 ; Keller and Whiston, 2008 ; Dietrich and Kracke, 2009 ; Sawitri et al., 2014 ). The conundrum is will adolescents of collectivist orientation be comfortable with their cultural ethos after resettling in a different environment with individualistic cultural beliefs and practices?

Our study revealed that when youth transfer from their heritage culture to a different cultural setting, their cultural values are challenged and their career decision-making patterns may be affected. For instance, Tao et al. reported that students of Chinese descent who were acculturated to Canada primed personal interests, self-efficacy and financial stability instead of honoring parental and societal expectations in their career decision-making ( Tao et al., 2018 ). Similarly, Asian American students with stronger adherence to Asian values had a high sense of obligation to parents ( Polenova et al., 2018 ) and were more likely to perceive family support than their counterparts who were more acculturated to American values ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ). Our data also suggest a strong interplay of individualist and collectivist cultural values coexisting in harmony and jointly influencing how the youth in the current global environment define themselves, relate to others, and decide priorities in conforming to social/societal norms. Movement across cultures (migration) leads to several changes and adjustments in an individual's life. The internal and psychological changes the youth may encounter, otherwise known as psychological acculturation, also affect their career identity ( Berry, 1997 ). Given that only three out of the 30 reviewed studies were conducted in bicultural settings ( Hui and Lent, 2018 ; Polenova et al., 2018 ; Tao et al., 2018 ), further studies are recommended to examine the career choice practices of youths who have transferred from collectivistic to individualistic cultures and vice versa.

Practical Implications for Counsellors and Policy Makers

Social Learning Theory proposes that the role of a career counselor is to help clients expand their career choices and help clarify beliefs that can interfere or promote their career plans ( Krumboltz, 1996 ). Culture has a major influence on people's beliefs therefore, it is integral that career counselors are able to provide culturally responsive career directions to guide the youth in the pursuit of their career aspirations. Providing accessible sources of support and empowering youths to openly discuss their concerns relating to career decision-making will broaden the youths' understanding and this could have a significant impact on their academic and career pathways. Family support is important for all youths as they navigate their career explorations, especially for migrants. The role of counselors is not only limited to the youths, it can also benefit the entire family. Essentially, counselors can attempt to engage not just the youths in exploring academic and vocational opportunities, but also offer avenues for families to become involved and connected to the career decision-making processes.

Cultural identities combined with the varied expectations for achievement can be an overwhelming experience for the youth. Counselors can seize this opportunity to provide companionship and direction as the youth figure out their career pathways ( Gushue et al., 2006 ; Risco and Duffy, 2011 ).

The significance of a school environment that is conducive and embraces the racial and academic identity of its students can be a huge asset to boost youth morale. Gonzalez et al. reported that students who feel culturally validated by others at school and experience positive ethnic regard, have more confidence in their career aspirations ( Gonzalez et al., 2013 ). Career counselors together with other educators and service providers hold influential positions as they can furnish academic, cultural and social support that family members alone cannot provide.

Strengths and Limitations of This Study

The major strength of this review is that it has provided increased understanding of the cultural underpinnings of the factors that influence the career choices of youths. The study has also highlighted areas of knowledge gap in the literature, such as fewer studies exploring the impact of extrinsic factors on career choice and the need for more bicultural studies. However, the conclusions drawn from this review are limited to the data that were extracted from the studies identified. We acknowledge that there are caveats with the use of the concepts “collectivist and individualistic” to describe the cultural underpinnings of different countries as there are some fluidity around their usage as suggested by Hofstede (1991 , 2001) . However, the use of these concepts was helpful in classifying the cultural background of the participants included in this review. The findings of the studies reviewed within each country may not necessarily be representative of all the cultural orientations in those countries. Furthermore, researchers from different cultures (or studying different cultures) may have chosen to study only the variables that they believe will have relevance. Nevertheless, most of the studies reviewed had large sample sizes and were conducted in various countries across the globe.

Recommendations

• Of the 30 articles reviewed, only one involved qualitative study designs. Further qualitative studies on this topic are required to provide in-depth understanding of the influences on youth's career choices and to allow causal inferences to be made.

• There were only three articles that examined the career decision-making of the bicultural youths from the perspective of the mainstream and the heritage cultures. Better career choices for the bicultural youth will enhance their self-identity and lead to commitment to duty and eventual career satisfaction. Without harnessing the potentials of youths through career education and training, the bicultural and migrant youths' face uncertainties in the future in the host country. The rippling effects of such uncertainties in the future could have a detrimental effect on the country's economy. Therefore, there is the need for increased research activities in this area in host countries. Educational system planning should be developed to encourage youth to have self-efficacy and be more involved in job-related information seeking. This will be especially efficient in progressing bicultural youths who might have migrated with their parents into a new culture.

• Sound education at school can open ways for career decisions. Interventions designed to assist youth in strengthening their academic self-efficacy, internal motivation, and goal-setting strategies can foster improved career choice outcomes.

Conclusions

The three factors investigated in this study are pervasive in influencing the career decisions of youths in both individualistic and collectivist societies. In collectivist societies, parental intervention is understood as a requirement to support their children's efforts and equip them to be responsible and economically productive. Meanwhile, the standard practice in individualistic societies is for parents to endorse their children's opinions and encourage them to choose careers that make them happy. Overall, further research is imperative to guide the understanding of parental influence and diversity in bicultural and migrant youths' career prospects and their ability to use the resources available in their new environments to attain meaningful future career goals. Additional research, particularly qualitative, is required to explore the level of family involvement in youths' career choices among migrant families in different cultural settings.

Author Contributions

PA-T and BM-A extracted the data. BM-A, TE, and DL critically appraised and validated the study findings. PA-T developed the first draft of the manuscript. BM-A, TE, DL, and KT reviewed and edited the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript for submission.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Keywords: career choice, youths, collectivist culture, individualistic culture, cross-cultures

Citation: Akosah-Twumasi P, Emeto TI, Lindsay D, Tsey K and Malau-Aduli BS (2018) A Systematic Review of Factors That Influence Youths Career Choices—the Role of Culture. Front. Educ . 3:58. doi: 10.3389/feduc.2018.00058

Received: 31 January 2018; Accepted: 28 June 2018; Published: 19 July 2018.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2018 Akosah-Twumasi, Emeto, Lindsay, Tsey and Malau-Aduli. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Peter Akosah-Twumasi, [email protected]

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How to Make Better Decisions About Your Career

• Timothy Yen

No, it doesn’t involve a Magic 8-Ball.

Making decisions is hard — especially when you’re trying to make big career decisions. This five-step framework can help you focus on what’s important.

• What are your feelings telling you? Think about the kind of work you’re doing now, or the kind of work you’re planning to do. Brainstorm and jot down ideas of different careers you’re considering. What feelings come up?
• What matters to you? Take a psychological assessment or complete an exercise that will help you identify your values.  Understanding your values will allow you to make choices that align directly with the things you care about.
• What matters to other people? Just as it’s important to get clear on what matters to you, it’s also important to consider how your decision will impact your loved ones. Ask them for their own thoughts, input, and feelings.
• What is the reality of the situation? Be objective and consider the realities surrounding your options, not your assumptions. Otherwise, you might end up having false expectations or feeling disappointed by your choices.
• How do I put the pieces together? Once you’ve answered these four questions, review all the information you’ve just discovered. You should come to your final decision. If you don’t revisit the previous steps.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

Picking your college major, choosing the perfect career, trying to decide if you should leave your job and move to a new one — decisions like these can feel daunting. We all spend a huge amount of time at work, and we all want (and deserve) to love what we do. But the path to finding that work isn’t always clear.

• TY Timothy Yen is a clinical psychologist with a doctorate from Azusa Pacific University, practicing in the East Bay area, and leading conferences and retreats around the globe. Between his years in private practice and another eight years as a Mental Health Staff Sergeant in the US Army, he’s empowered hundreds of individuals, families, organizations, and teams to develop authentic relationships and grow into their best selves. He currently resides in Northern California with his wife and son.

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• Published: 01 December 2020

Exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa

• Ethel Ndidiamaka Abe   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1670-6801 1 &
• Vitallis Chikoko   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6135-6172 1  

International Journal of STEM Education volume  7 , Article number:  60 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) educators and stakeholders in South Africa are interested in the ways STEM students make their career decisions because of the shortages in these critical skills. Although various factors including family, teachers, peers, and career interest have been reported as determinants of career decision-making, there is a scarcity of studies that have qualitatively explored the levels of influences of any of these factors in the South African context. The main aim of this study was to investigate the factors that influence career decision-making among STEM student majors in a South African university. By better understanding students’ viewpoint on these factors, educators and policymakers can assist students in making career decisions that fit their experiences, personality, and expectations. Students in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of study respectively, were invited to respond to a semi-structured questionnaire about the factors that were influential in their decision to pursue a career in STEM. A total of 203 texts (response rate: 63%) were qualitatively analyzed utilising a hermeneutic phenomenology approach to traditional content analysis, whereby themes develop inductively from the data.

We used a hermeneutic phenomenological method to traditional content analysis to examine the factors influencing participants’ career decision-making. Peer interrogation, modified member verification, compact description, code-recode tactics, and assessment trails were engaged to confirm quality and rigour. Three key results emerged, namely interpersonal, intrapersonal, and career outcomes expectancy. The perceptions of STEM students of their career decision-making in the South African context are more multifaceted than reported previously. The insights could inform policies to counter skills shortages in the STEM area.

Conclusions

In this exploratory study, we gave attention to describing the various ranges of students’ perceptions and experiences regarding their career decision-making. Several students reported, among other factors, that their families, personality, and expectations played influential roles in their career decision-making. Here, we discuss the meaning of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and outcome expectations with respect to career decision-making from the perspective of STEM students in a South African university.

Introduction

South Africa ranks among the top nations globally to spend a large amount of her national resources on education with respect to percentage gross domestic product (GDP) (Van der Berg & Burger, 2003 ). Practically, government and stakeholders in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education try to grow sustainable decisions in STEM among students through the provision of funding from the National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) and other supportive initiatives (Manuel, 2019 ). The NSFAS funding, through a ring-fenced system, provided for learning materials, tuition, and subsistence for beneficiaries. However, a recent change in its ring-fenced policy to outright cash transfers to beneficiary accounts seems to have resulted in a notable drop in the rate of textbook purchase and decline in academic performance by students. A non-profit organisation called the Alliance for Academic Success cautions that most beneficiaries of the monetary disbursements are using the funds to address family challenges instead of their academic needs (Duma, 2019 ).

Unfortunately, South Africa was among the four lowest performing nations in STEM at the tertiary level in sub-Saharan Africa between 2011 and 2015 (Tikly et al., 2018 ), with “only 1 in 10” high school learners deciding to pursue a career in STEM at tertiary level (Planet Earth Institute, 2016 ). Furthermore, high attrition and low performance among enrolled STEM students is frequently documented (Prince, 2017 ). Therefore, additional high school and university programmes have been developed to further motivate students to choose STEM courses (Kirby & Dempster, 2018 ; Tikly et al., 2018 ). Although some of these endeavours have been helpful, career decision-making still poses challenges among students (Fogarty & McGregor-Bayne, 2008 ).

Literature review

Global literature is rich in empirical evidence about the factors influencing career decision-making, some of which are family influence, passion, capacity, self-efficacy, apparent difficulty, values, sense of belonging, gender and race (Bieri Buschor, Berweger, Keck Frei, & Kappler, 2014 ; Lent et al., 2005 ; Rainey, Dancy, Mickelson, Stearns, & Moller, 2018 ; Rainey, Dancy, Mickelson, Stearns, & Moller, 2019 ). The bulk of attention for the past two decades has been on investigating career decision-making in STEM in western countries. However, there is potential in examining how the phenomenon is experienced in the South African context.

Career decision-making comprises several domains and complex processes. Gelatt’s ( 1962 ) progressive decision-making model offers a supporting foundation for comprehending how career decisions are made. The model shows the process of decision-making as an on-going activity that changes dynamically with the acquisition of additional information. For instance, a young learner who is exposed to technological tools used by their father could learn how to use them and decide over time to choose a career in technology. Furthering the view of Gelatt ( 1962 ), Niles, Amundson, and Neault ( 2010 ) propose that adolescents are pre-emptive catalysts of the socio-cultural domain. Hence, they dynamically integrate knowledge and texts from others to ultimately develop a repository of decision-making.

Outcome expectancy is one of the major constructs that inform career decision-making. It involves the perceived outcomes of performing specific actions (i.e., “if I do this, what will happen?”). The construct assesses young people’s perceptions of several professions based on their apparent economic, shared, and self-satisfaction outcomes. In established frameworks such as the social cognitive career theory (SCCT), career outcome expectancy is positioned as a key mediator of profession and scholarly interest and skill development (Nugent et al., 2015 ). In addition, there are empirical proofs that outcome expectancy, career interest, and self-efficacy are influential in predicting intentions to pursue a career (Blotnicky, Franz-Odendaal, French, & Joy, 2018 ; Fouad & Smith, 1996 ).

Another construct, career interest, is a predictor of both career preference and outcome (Nugent et al., 2015 ). Scholars found that career interest is positively connected to decisions to enrol in a field (Hulleman, Durik, Schweigert, & Harackiewicz, 2008 ). Students who show interests in STEM early in life often decide to study STEM ultimately (OECD, 2005 ).

Furthermore, self-efficacy has been examined as a predictor of career interest using SCCT theories (Fouad & Smith, 1996 ; Lent, Brown, & Hackett, 1994 ). Personal factors and practical STEM-related behaviors influence the formation of self-efficacy, interests, and values, which impact decisions in STEM (Jacobs, Davis-Kean, Bleeker, Eccles, & Malanchuk, 2005 ; Tate et al., 2015 ). Eccles and her associates propose that educators, peers, and families are well positioned to create prospects for students to participate in several STEM-associated activities via learning experiences and special courses (Eccles, Wigfield, & Schiefele, 1997 ; Wang & Eccles, 2012 ).

Additionally, the decision to pursue a career in STEM associates with parental influence. Mzobe ( 2014 ) confirmed that in a study conducted in South Africa, the role played by family in the career decision of students was more significant than monetary influences. Furthermore, Bandura ( 1977 ) asserts that families, educators, and peers are vitally influential in the enhancement of self-efficacy beliefs. Studies have established that self-efficacy could be developed when families and educators accentuate the significance and worth of career proficiencies (Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara, & Pastorelli, 2001 ). The influence of family support and attitudes to STEM have been operationalized in several ways, for example, the development of SCCT to incorporate social-contextual factors (Lent, Lopez Jr, Lopez, & Sheu, 2008 ). Workman ( 2015 ) confirms that parental influence was dominant among the themes in learner decision-making processes. This claim is confirmed by several other scholars (Nugent et al., 2015 ). Jacobs, Chhin, and Bleeker ( 2006 ) report that the girl learner’s self-perceptions and proficiencies were influenced by parental gender labelling and encouraged gender-typed career choices. This could be responsible for the under participation of the female gender in STEM as reported globally (Hartung, Porfeli, & Vondracek, 2005 ; Tikly et al., 2018 ; Wang & Degol, 2017 ).

Studies have shown that educators have a strong influence on learner decision-making (Clotfelter, Ladd, & Vigdor, 2007 ; Rivkin, Hanushek, & Kain, 2005 ). Likewise, the attitudes of students’ peers, their accomplishments, and standards can wield a sharp influence on young people’s interest in choosing and deciding to study a specific course (Olitsky, Flohr, Gardner, & Billups, 2010 ). The period of growing up is a time of acquiring a personality and sense of self, and during this period peers can be very instrumental in guiding each other’s choices, behaviors, and career interests (Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2013 ).

The role of personality in career decision-making behavior is well researched (Holland, 1997 , 1959 ; Seibert and Kraimer, 2001 ; Sullivan & Hansen, 2004 ). Holland ( 1959 ) proposed a theory suggesting that an individual’s career interest expresses their personality. The theory suggested that personality is a combination of several factors comprising capabilities, interests, behaviors, and principles.

The overarching aim of the present study was to explore the career decision-making of STEM students in a South African university to understand the students’ perspectives about the factors that significantly influenced their decision to study STEM. This qualitative research explored the influential factors in the career decision-making of the participants. The research integrated a hermeneutic phenomenological method to traditional content analysis. Since the study is exploratory in nature, attention was given to describing the different range of students’ viewpoints and experiences. Several students reported, among other factors, that their families, personality, and expectations played influential roles in their career decision-making. Thus, this paper presents the meaning of interpersonal, intrapersonal, and outcome expectations with respect to career decision-making for STEM students in a South African university. With better insight into students’ perspectives on career decision-making, educators can better educate students about their chosen field.

Research question

The investigators explored what students perceived influenced their career decision-making within the intricate context of STEM education settings in a university in South Africa. The aim was to uncover influential factors entrenched in students’ decision-making. The investigators sought to interpret students’ career decision-making journeys and experiences. The term “career decision-making journey” is used here to describe students’ education experiences and the circumstances, individuals, and actions that impacted on their career decision-making. The major question of this study was what defining situation, event, or individual helped STEM students to make the decision to pursue a career in STEM? The question contains many entrenched and intersecting occurrences needing obvious consideration to comprehend and interpret the key phenomenon of this research.

Methodology

Conceptual approach.

Hermeneutic phenomenology proposed by Martin Heidegger (1889–1976) (Laverty, 2003 ), tries to discover the “essence” of people’s lived encounters with phenomena and the factors that influence those encounters (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ; Creswell & Poth, 2016 ). The technique reflects other people’s encounters and considerations to explain the deeper meaning of phenomena (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ). Through the examination of people who went through an experience, researchers acquire greater understanding of factors that influence the wider context of STEM education. This method was selected partly because the topic of this research, “exploring the factors that influence the career decision of STEM students at a university in South Africa,” was of personal interest to the researchers who had themselves experienced career decision-making challenges (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ).

Hermeneutic analysis additionally permits investigators to explore factors that are “taken for granted” (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ), like those reported in several prior studies (Bennett & Phillips, 2010 ; Clinite et al., 2014 ; Grayson, Newton, & Thompson, 2012 ; Klingensmith et al., 2015 ; Phillips, Peterson, Fang, Kovar-Gough, & Phillips Jr, 2019 a), that learners and residents in the medical profession are motivated by earnings and debts in their career decision-making process. By using a hermeneutic approach, investigators recognise contextual effects of participants’ encounters that ordinarily couch beneath, undetected (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ). In line with Bennett and Phillips’ model (Bennett & Phillips, 2010 ) which accentuates that learners experience career preparation in diverse manners, this study focuses on the array of students’ lived experiences as they made their career decisions.

This qualitative research was conducted on one campus of the largest university in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Study participants were enlisted from undergraduate students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) at the university investigated in 2019, and they were in their 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th year of study, respectively.

Data collection and participants

Within the viewpoint supporting hermeneutic phenomenology, investigators need to create a research approach that runs directly from the research question and aims of the study. Questions in a semi-structured format (see Additional file 1 ) were designed to determine the factors that influenced STEM students’ career decision-making at the university in South Africa (see Additional file 1 ). According to the reports of Phillips, Wilbanks, Rodriguez-Salinas, and Doberneck ( 2019 b), data gathering using written texts (essays) permits many learners to participate in the research, answering in their own words. In line with Phillips et al. ( 2019 a), six semi-structured questions to uncover factors affecting STEM students’ career decision-making were crafted. Participants were expected to respond to all six questions instead of one to generate meaningful data. The questions were piloted with a group of students who were not among the participating fields for clarity. Thereafter, the questionnaire was published on the university’s website for participants to access and complete. Consent forms for each participant were also posted online.

Based on Krejcie and Morgan’s ( 1970 ) table for determining sample size, from a target population of 2000 undergraduate STEM students, a sample of 322 was selected. Out of the sample of 322 STEM students, a total of 203 (63% response rate) responded to the questionnaire. Data was collected over a six-month period. However, the purposeful sampling technique (Patton, 2002 ) was further used to select 150 responses out of the 203 total responses when saturation occurred.

Saturation happens at the point where “additional data does not lead to any new emergent themes” (Given, 2015 , p. 134). In this study, although a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis was adopted, saturation occurred more across than inside individual cases, owing to the large number of participants who participated. Scholars suggest that saturation’s importance and meaning are variously attributed by researchers contingent upon theoretical role and analytical approach used; hence, it could serve dissimilar purposes for various types of studies (Saunders et al., 2018 ). In this context, saturation in this study was interpreted as the point where the researchers found that the responses from participants seemed to be revolving around the captured themes and no more significantly new information could be derived from the remaining collected data.

This research was appraised and approved by the ethics committee of the university as a part of the postdoctoral study funded by the National Research Foundation and the Department of Science and Technology.

Data analysis

The research team included a Ph.D. student (Nneka Akwu) in Sciences, a professional data analyst (Idris Ganiyu) who also holds a Ph.D. in management studies, an education professor (Vitallis Chikoko), and a leadership expert (Isaac I. Abe) also holding a Ph.D. in leadership studies. Since this study was designed as an exploratory one, the responses were analyzed qualitatively through a hermeneutic phenomenological method to typical content analysis, with themes developing inductively from the collected data (instead of by a prearranged, concept-driven coding system) (Crabtree & Miller, 1999 ; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ). This method permitted themes and their descriptions to proceed from the data (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ), which is vital in exploratory research. Since the data source for this study was a voluminous text pool from many participants instead of in-depth interviews, the researchers could not ask follow-up queries or investigate the vital concepts further. Hence, the analysis fused several student opinions and concepts into developing themes instead of trying to broadly depict each student’s personal experiences and opinions.

Attention was given to describing the different groups of participants’ lived experiences, focusing on minority views. Regardless of the limitations associated with the static data source, a large quantity of data permits for a comprehensive exploration of participants’ viewpoints about career decision-making. The scholars primarily immersed themselves in the collected information by reading the texts repetitively to create meaning out of the entire data (Crabtree & Miller, 1999 ; Hsieh & Shannon, 2005 ). Preliminary codes were generated from repeated readings of individual texts and documented in a comprehensive codebook. Through a continuous comparative procedure, commonalities and divergences were refined and documented in the codebook.

Each participant’s submitted text was subsequently separately coded by a minimum of two members of the team, and their coding choices were assessed, and differences fixed in frequent study team meetings. Final coding was posted into QSR NVivo version 12 and the codes were then categorized into meaningful nascent themes (Miles & Huberman, 1994 ; Ys, 1985 ). All through the analytical process, the scholars reflected on the way each data point (coded reports in texts) furthered the whole (developing themes), i.e., the “hermeneutic cycle” (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ; Creswell & Poth, 2016 ). Explanations of each coded statement were equally scrutinised carefully by reverting to source texts and appraising them totally to confirm that the individual explanation matches the context of an individual participant’s story.

The use of QSR NVivo software permitted the scholars to confirm that each code and developing theme were backed by the text. Text coding and careful examination of codes and themes were sustained until data saturation was arrived at no novel themes emerged (Miles & Huberman, 1994 ; Ys, 1985 ). The scholars concentrated principally on the subject matter of interest: the factors that influence the career decision-making of STEM students (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 , Creswell & Poth, 2016 ). Nevertheless in the procedure of examining these phenomena, factors linked to students’ career decision-making emerged. Additionally, although the participants had created a lot of texts about several factors, they were silent about peer influence, although it was mentioned in the semi-structured questionnaire. Therefore, the research team agreed not to explore this topic in the study although literature is rich with studies on its influence on students’ career decision-making (Wang & Eccles, 2012 ; Eccles et al., 1997 ; Olitsky et al., 2010 ; Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2013 ), acknowledging that since peer influence was directly mentioned in the primary research questionnaire, the exploration of peer influence in this study should be preliminary instead of thorough.

This study ensured that various approaches to confirm quality and rigour were applied (Anfara Jr, Brown, & Mangione, 2002 ; Crabtree & Miller, 1999 ). To confirm credibility, the sciences student brought clarity on students’ ethos as a form of peer examination at every phase of the analytical process. Her viewpoint assisted to explain nuances in student feelings, particularly when the codebooks were being refined. When the analysis was completed, developing themes were presented to a group of postgraduate STEM students and they corroborated that the themes echoed their experiences. Since these students did not participate in the study, this step was a revised type of member checking. The investigators added explicit inclusion and exclusion code standards and findings were conveyed by using deep, rich narrative to strengthen transferability. To confirm dependability, the study team applied the code-recode principle and used QSR NVivo version 12 to create an appraisal path (Anfara Jr et al., 2002 ).

Lastly, hermeneutic phenomenology demands that investigators acknowledge their previous encounters as “embedded in and essential to the analysis process” (Bynum & Varpio, 2018 ). The investigators followed reflexivity by disclosing, pondering on, and listening to their experiences and ideas. Researchers talked about their individual responses to the data all through the investigation process. The study team often scrutinised and inspected their emerging explanations of the texts as a group and urged honest discussion about conflicting or divergent interpretations. These processes were adopted to confirm the researchers’ experiences in education leadership, management, data analysis, sciences, and leadership, and to ensure other uncharted preconceptions did not influence the quality of the analytical process and findings.

Three key themes about STEM students’ career decision-making emerged from the analysis, namely interpersonal factors, intrapersonal factors, and career outcomes expectancy. Interpersonal factors are of varying types and have numerous levels of importance to different students. Intrapersonal factors resonated with many students and they reported a variety of reasons including career interest, personality, and self-efficacy as very influential in their career decision-making. Finally, students also stated that career outcomes expectancy was relevant to their career decision-making. The results are summarised in Table 1 . Below is a presentation of the key themes and sub-themes that emerged from this study.

Key theme 1: interpersonal influences

STEM students who participated in this study generally considered interpersonal influence, but in describing the family, they reported different levels of family influence on their decision-making. Some students wrote that family was of no influence at all in their decision to study STEM.

Family influence

The key finding common to all (100%) participating students in the study was family influence. The phenomenon was embedded in specific situations and in the context of decision-making. They reasoned that they made their best career decisions when around their families or in their learning environment. The students’ perceptions of their families’ influence on their decision to study STEM are summarily described as: “very influential,” “somehow influential,” “no influence,” and “family needs my support.” The responses captured under the “no-influence” subcategory was further grouped into “career prejudice” and “left alone to decide.” The use of these adjectives does not in any way carry measurable significance but explains the meaning of the content derived from participants’ responses.

Sixty-eight (45.33%) students felt that their families were very influential in their decision to pursue a career in STEM, and they stated inter alia :

“My family has a huge positive influence because in my family they’ve advised me that in the field of STEM there are a lot of good opportunities as well as life itself as we use technology in our daily basis.”

“My family encouraged me to enrol for STEM and has supported me 100% in my study choices and I personally enjoy STEM related fields, this has pushed me to achieve great academic success.”

“My family influenced me a lot, everyone in the family believes in STEM, I also think STEM is the future.”

“My family has shown me what to expect in different STEM fields. They also showed me what careers might be good for my personality.”

“My current career was greatly influenced by the fact that my late uncle used to hire me to work with him part time on his Engineering related business.”

“They have a great influence, they even told how it is going to benefit me when I am done studying and how great it is.”

However, 40 other students, representing 27% of the respondents, believed that their families were somehow influential ; however, the final decision to study STEM was made by them. These students felt that their families played supportive roles in their decision to pursue STEM careers. There were innuendos suggestive that some students made their decision without family interference or that the family suggested a course different from the learner’s choice but subsequently agreed to support the student’s decision. These participants reported as follows:

“My family has been somewhat influential in me having a career and being independent. I am very determined to change my way lifestyle, therefore am willing to work hard in my chosen field.”

“I have reached a point where my family is much caring about pursuing my chosen field, they encourage me not to give up but try to tolerate every situation comes across to fulfil my potential desires.”

“I'm the only one who have a qualification at home, I get more encouragement to study from them. I was raised by a farm worker so pursuing studies under STEM is something I grew up wishing although less support from them because they are not educated.”

Yet, a worrisome sub-theme emerged where some students felt that they were under obligation to support their family. This trend could be referred to as an inverse influence on students’ decision to study STEM. The responses of the 19 (13%) participants who submitted the comments in the sub-theme family needs my support are as follows:

“I tend to take career decisions based on how urgent my family needs support. it hasn't paid off so far, but it does have an impact on my decision making.”

“They are very happy because they know that by being under STEM may lead to many job opportunities to help.”

“My family just wants me to have a career that will guarantee a good lifestyle at the end. When you are born under privileged, you are not satisfied by life. Hence, you always believe you must be successful at what you do, even if it is a career within STEM to support the family.”

Conversely, 23 students (15.33%) were convinced that their families made no contribution to their decision to study STEM. Although it seems these participants’ families did not have had any influence on their decision, none of the participants came across as predominantly worried by the lack of family influence; it just did not appear to be a huge factor in their lives, since they reasoned that poor or lack of education for instance, contributed to their non-contributory influence. Further understanding of the intricacies of family influence in the career decision-making behavior of STEM students in this university could yield meaningful results. However, the reports deduced from the texts of participants who reported that their family had no influence over their career decision, therefore, they were left alone to decide are

“My parents are not educated, so they supported and appreciated that I wanted to continue studying after Grade 12; as to what field I chose they had no influence at all.”

“My family has no influence whatsoever on my decision to study STEM.”

“My family doesn’t contribute that much in my life, so I make all the decisions by myself.”

“My family pretty much doesn't care about what I do, as long as I'm studying.” “My family they do not care what studies I take the only thing they want is to see me happy in what I do and study.”

“My family doesn't affect that much about making decisions I only have a say to what I want to learn, and I should be the one knowing about the outcomes of my learning.”

“My family members are mostly uneducated therefore my decision will not be influenced with anything that they may want to say.”

Additionally, career prejudice emerged as one of the reasons explicating why the family had no influence on the decision-making behavior of participating students that said:

“They (family) sometimes have prejudice about my career because of my gender.”

“STEM includes my area of academic learning. I am studying Engineering. My family believes that if you choose a career in STEM, you might never finish your studies because it is difficult.”

These students believed that their families were prejudiced against their decision to follow a career in STEM.

Teacher influence

This second category of theme one (interpersonal influence) showcases the influence that teachers have on the career decision-making behavior of STEM students. The 30 (20%) participants who acknowledged the significant role of their teachers in their career decision-making reported as follows:

“Well during my high school days I taught myself but influence from my teacher made me more interested in STEM As for family they had no idea what I’m doing, all they wanted was me to be successful and that all.”

“To a good extent, choosing a science stream as advised by my teacher in high school propelled me to do science related careers which I enjoy the most.”

Key theme 2: intrapersonal influences

Mzobe ( 2014 ) agrees with Young and Collin ( 2004 ) that there is an intrapersonal level of influence on career decisions. This level depicts the interface of self in the decision-making process of the individual student. The sub-themes here include the following:

“Champion” mentality

The first category under theme two is what is titled “champion” mind set. Individuals with champion mentality often want to “save” or “change” the world. The word was merely chosen to summarily capture the content of the responses of the 45 (30%) participants in this category:

“STEM is most effective way in fast development of our country, since we need more people in STEM related field in South Africa to quickly grow our economy and have a much broad experience in our own to benefit the country and the world at large, I decided to choose a career in STEM.”

“In my family, we’ve never had an Engineer, so If complete my studies, I’ll be the first engineer in my family and surely I will make a difference and my family will be really proud.”

“Engineering seemed like a fun major and that it can lead to great things by helping people.”

“To become one of the scientists in the world and be able to improve the living of people in the world using different skills in science.”

“My family and personal traits influenced me a lot as in the world we are living in families are viewed as inferior or people who won’t do science, so I wanted to prove to the world that I can.”

Commonly participants whose responses are documented in this category desire to make a difference in their family and/or society. They strongly believe that by pursuing a career in STEM they would be changing their family’s status or helping society at large.

Career interest in STEM

This is the second category under theme two. Interestingly, 83 students (55.33%) stated that the decision to pursue a career in STEM was based on their career interest. These participants’ passion, dreams, aspirations, desire, and curiosity to study a career in STEM were highlighted in their responses. Career interest is important in the decision-making process of students and has implication for policy decisions. Participants’ statements include the following:

“My personal interest in this career influenced my decision to study STEM to a great extent.”

“I'm passionate about the field of science.”

“I've always loved science, especially biology. My parents always encouraged me to pursue a career I am passionate about.”

“Passion and curiosity for the environment attracted me to science.”

“I have always been curious and enjoyed STEM.”

“I have always loved nature and what makes it, hence i have always enjoyed biology.”

“My decision to study STEM was influenced more by my own interests and my traits than my family.”

“I've always had a passion for helping other people and a fascination for the human body and this influenced my decision to choose a degree in health sciences.”

“I am interested in evolving things, research and innovations. This encouraged me towards STEM field.”

Personality

This is the third category of factors influencing career decision-making as found in theme two. This term is used purely as a descriptive presentation of interpretations of individual student’s personality, reasoning, or aptitude deduced from their feedback. Fifty-three (35.33%) participants identified their personality as being influential in their decision-making behavior. Their comments are as follows:

“No one other than myself who has the say in my life influences and to what I decide on doing.”

“It’s certainly only personal traits that influenced my career choice and decision.”

“My inquisitive approach to life at large and my family supportive nature on supporting my journey in obtaining such information.”

“Individual traits: my (particular sort of) intelligence and manner of thinking resulted in an affinity for mathematics and physics.”

“I am a very logical thinker and naturally very curious. These traits lead me to study STEM and makes learning easier as I am interested in what I'm learning.” “I think my critical reasoning skills are the pain driver towards STEM.”

Personal development

The fourth category of factors identified in theme two is personal development. Participants’ desire to develop themselves with knowledge and skills attributed to STEM fields underpinned their decision to pursue a career in STEM. The 17 students (11.33%) that responded in this category thought that a career in STEM would challenge and develop their potentials.

“STEM is incorporated in our everyday lives, pouring a litre of milk, baking a cake to sell to make a living, providing electricity for households. It is nice to know what goes on in the smaller parts of life which become the greater ones. I love learning about all that to improve the lives of others and mine.” “To keep myself updated with new and incoming technology.”

“I like to be challenged so that’s why I choose a course in STEM which is a challenging course to bring out my potential.”

Self-efficacy

This is the fifth category of concepts under theme two. Self-efficacy is the confident belief in one’s self about one’s ability to achieve goals and it develops from earlier experiences and verbal persuasions attributable to the environment of upbringing. In this study, 38% (57) of the participants appeared to believe that they could be successful in a career in STEM. They seemed to understand what they could do as stated below:

“I believe in me. Being in harmony with my family and with myself, I've known to accept my strengths and weaknesses and through assessing those, I know I wouldn't want to study anything else. And accepting that I'm studying what I believe I was born to do, makes me appreciate more and work harder.”

“Family satisfaction makes for a motivating environment which allows me to grow and believe in myself during my studying journey.”

“My family believes in me, I believe and know that I can succeed in almost everything that I set my mind into, which is why I went to science even though it wasn't my first or even second option. I'm doing well my results are good.”

Spirituality

This is the sixth concept in the category of factors found in theme two. Participants seemed to believe that they were influenced by their spiritual life to pursue a career in STEM. Others saw morality and values as being supreme to financial benefits deriving from a successful completion of study in STEM. These 21 (14%) participants said:

“I pray about all my decisions and entrust them to Jesus.”

“Being in the STEM requires one to be in tune with their moral and spiritual values more than financial needs.”

Theme 3: career outcomes expectancy

Career outcomes expectancy expresses young people’s perception of some careers based on their apparent financial, societal, and self-satisfaction outcomes. Sub-themes that emerged here are as follows:

Financial matters

Financial matters describe the first category of factors that emerged in theme three. This study did not set out to evaluate the effect of finance on career decision-making behavior of students in STEM, but it emerged as a theme. However, 64 (43%) students appeared to perceive a career in STEM as economically very rewarding. Therefore, the expectation of better pay when studies are completed could have stimulated their decision to pursue a career in STEM. Participants’ statements are as follows:

“It’s a good career path and it’s paying well since it’s a scarce skill.”

“I chose my career according to my ability and interests and future financial stability.”

“Finance greatly affected my learning decision, especially family related issues that demanded financial contribution.”

“I wanna be happy in what I do and be glad of my finances being able to help and support my parents in every way possible for me, so I’d be happy.”

Career opportunities and prospects

These factors emerged as the second category of theme three. Forty-three students (29%) who participated in this study felt that families understood the benefits and prospects of pursuing a career in STEM. Their comments are stated below:

“My family believes Science has more opportunities, benefits and career prospects more than other fields of study.”

“STEM there are lots of job opportunities and you can get a job. Some of the jobs are similar and you can use skills from one job in the other job.”

“My family had always told me about the opportunities that sciences provided, the money and also the respect for STEM learners.”

This qualitative research provides insight and perspective into the factors that influenced the career decisions of participating STEM students in a South African university.

• Interpersonal factors

The finding in this study that the interpersonal relationships that students had formed with family, teachers, and peers are vital in relation to career decision-making is supported by Bennett and Phillips’ ( 2010 ) model, which confirmed that in making their career decisions, students consider various values and experiences that impact individual decisions differently. For instance family and teacher influences were found to have had varying degrees of influence on participants’ career decision-making in this study. This result is also supported by previous evidence that showcases family influence as a leading theme among the themes in career decision-making (Jacobs et al., 2006 ; Nugent et al., 2015 ; Workman, 2015 ).

Unlike prior studies on career development of students (Mzobe, 2014 ; Zahra & Malik, 2017 ), using a qualitative approach, this study uniquely identified a dimensional angle to family influence on the phenomenon investigated. For several participants, family was found to be very influential in their career decision-making, as commonly reported by scholars (Mzobe, 2014 ; Nugent et al., 2015 ; Workman, 2015 ). However, it was interesting to find in this study that some participants distanced themselves from the family as an influential factor on their career decision-making. Those students firmly reported that other factors such as the need to support their family took greater priority in their career decision-making. Summarily, interpersonal factors were found to be the most prominent reason cited by participants for career decision-making in this study. This implies that educators and stakeholders who have an interest in closing the STEM skills gap by understanding how students make their decision to major in STEM can take note of the levels of influence that the family has on student career decision-making, create constructive initiatives, and offer structures that foster robust interpersonal connections in a productively strategic manner.

Although participants indicated that support received from their families influenced their decision to study STEM, the present study did not classify the form of support received. Further studies could unravel this relationship.

• Intrapersonal factors

STEM students also cited champion mind set, career interest, personality, personal development, self-efficacy, spirituality, and morality, which were categorized as intrapersonal factors, to explain why they decided to pursue a study in the STEM field. This is an essential discovery to note because it agrees with the idea that interest, self-efficacy, and personality are influential in career decision-making (Tzu-Ling, 2019 ; Wu, Zhang, Zhou, & Chen, 2020 ; Yu & Jen, 2019 ), and implies that focus on individual cognitive factors in investigations on career decision-making is founded. However, champion mind set, spirituality, and morality also mentioned by participants as reasons for their career decision-making—even though cognitive factors have meaningful influence on career decision-making—is notable. This finding importantly implies that operational and cultural factors in addition to individual cognitive and interpersonal factors should be considered in future investigations of representation in STEM.

Outcome expectancy

An outcome expectancy as a construct measuring students’ perception of some careers based on their perceived financial, societal, and self-satisfaction effects (Nugent et al., 2015 ) was confirmed to be influential in STEM student career decision-making in this study. Participating students expect to gain financial stability and independence by exploiting the career opportunities and prospects they foresee in the STEM fields. For the participants who place value on financial and economic expectations, the earnings could offer them the ability to meet the financial needs of their family members. The findings also clarify the understanding of the lens through which participants view the STEM field for opportunities and prospects. This characterisation of outcome expectancy is specifically useful because it could assist career counselors in supporting the students in defining their career pursuit in STEM.

Furthermore, the findings of the present study showed that in addition to outcomes expectancy; family, teachers, self-efficacy, interest, spirituality, morality, and personality, among other factors, are influential in students’ decision to pursue a career in STEM. Several studies on career interest, career growth, self-efficacy, and career outcomes expectancy have been conducted among students in high schools and tertiary institutions. A study was conducted among university students in Spain to investigate the effect of perceived supports and hindrances to self-efficacy convictions and other social-cognitive variables associated with STEM students’ career development (Peña-Calvo, Inda-Caro, Rodríguez-Menéndez, & Fernández-García, 2016 ). While another study among Taiwanese college students investigated their career interests and career goals for majoring in STEM (Mau, Chen, & Lin, 2020 ), Baglama and Uzunboylu ( 2017 ) examined the association between career decision-making self-efficacy and career outcomes expectancy among Turkish preservice teachers. They found that career decision-making self-efficacy significantly predicts career outcome expectancy.

However, STEM students need assistance in finding information concerning the world of work, transforming from students to professionals, planning for work, and coping with pressure (Güneri, Aydın, & Skovholt, 2003 ). The transitioning process may not be easy on the students. A study conducted by Gizir ( 2005 ) among graduating university students found that they feel apprehensive about getting employed after graduation and are also uncertain about what the future holds for them. For this purpose, this study may be of value-adding benefit in describing the career counseling needs of STEM students. It could be implied then that knowing what to do post-graduation and the way to approach the world of work could make STEM undergraduates commit to their career.

A study carried out by Vertsberger and Gati ( 2016 ) discovered that adolescents facing career decision challenges and pessimistic outcomes expectancy concerning their potential careers are inclined to seek help in the process. This has a significantly important implication with regards to career counseling initiatives designed to assist students and heightens the cognisance of the value of offering support for students in their career decision-making process. Ascertaining the variables that influence career-associated opinions and behaviors of STEM students in tertiary institutions could result in the control of these variables and the learners being assisted. Because of the importance of providing career guidance and support, it could be inferred that the present study will add to the improvement of counseling interventions. In addition, numerous scholars have focused on student career decision processes elsewhere globally, it is therefore expected that the present study would offer a dissimilar cultural viewpoint to findings from Sub-Saharan Africa. Scholars from elsewhere globally, including the USA, China, Turkey, Taiwan, Spain, and other regions in Africa, would derive benefit from the results of this study.

STEM students approach their career decision-making from diverse perspectives and experiences. Likewise, they appraise the influence of interpersonal and intrapersonal factors to different levels and for a variety of reasons, and interestingly, the family emerged as a dominantly influential element among a host of others found in this study. By comprehending students’ perspectives on career decision-making, STEM educators can assist students in making decisions that reflect their values and experiences.

Limitations

A few limitations should be acknowledged. This research was undertaken at a single tertiary institution. Learners at other institutions could have dissimilar opinions on interpersonal and intrapersonal factors and career outcomes expectation. Texts generated from undergraduate STEM students offered insights into their perceptions at that period; these ideas could change as career plans develop, for instance in postgraduate years. Participants wrote their responses in the context of semi-structured questions. Their answers could have been influenced by the desire to provide generally satisfactory information. As stated above, the data gathering method—the assessment of student texts—differs from the typical hermeneutic phenomenology approach, whereby data is gathered from people using in-depth interviews (Phillips et al., 2019 a). The investigators had no chance to ask follow-up questions to make more enquiry into matters of interest as would have been done in a procedure involving interviews. Lastly, since the questionnaire did not ask participants to respond to financial issues and gender, the findings may not mirror the full range of participants’ ideas of the effects of finances and gender on career decision-making. Further investigation is required to explore these constructs further to confirm the study’s results as generalizable.

Implications

These findings involving interpersonal, intrapersonal, and career outcomes expectancy in the decision to pursue a career in STEM have important theoretical and practical implications. Firstly, this study, like several other studies, has yet again been supported using a phenomenological hermeneutic approach. However, the researchers are quick to agree that this finding is limited to the university investigated and the peculiarity of the environment, bearing in mind Holland’s ( 1959 ) position. He was of the conviction that the experience that an individual acquires in the environment of his/her upbringing creates the inclination towards specific interests or behaviors that combine with the individual’s values to shape their personality trait.

Secondly, this study invites awareness to the finding that although peer influence was prominent in extant literature as an influence on students’ career decision-making (Eccles et al., 1997 ; Olitsky et al., 2010 ; Vedder-Weiss & Fortus, 2013 ; Wang & Eccles, 2012 ), the present study found a different result—peer influence was not notable. Further studies are recommended to explicate the reason behind this finding.

Interestingly, the need to support family was an unexpected sub-theme that emerged from family influence on career decision-making in this study. The students who reported that they needed to support their families were not very pointed about the way in which they needed to support their families and why. Further study would be needed to explore this phenomenon and could be meaningful in assisting educators and policymakers in making more informed decisions on how best to serve this category of STEM students. However, individuals interested in motivating students to pursue STEM careers could consider the fact that majority of the students affirmed that their family was influential in their career decision-making, while some other students considered it financially rewarding. These, in addition to the other factors identified in this study, could be taken into consideration and integrated into future STEM outreach and initiatives. The factors influencing students’ career decision-making have implications for how institutional practices, educational caretakers, and stakeholders shape students’ support.

Availability of data and materials

University ethics approval does not include release of the raw information. Data was collected from the STEM students under the stringent condition of anonymity and cannot be shared. Please contact the corresponding author for more information.

Abbreviations

National Student Financial Aid Scheme

Social Cognitive Career Theory

Doctor of Philosophy

Technology & Software Solutions, owners of NVivo software

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided to author by a grant from the National Research Foundation of South Africa. We are thankful to the individuals who helped our team with vetting the coding structure and proof-reading the manuscript. Dr. Isaac I. Abe and Dr. Idris Ganiyu made extensive contributions to data analysis and interpretation and reviewed the paper critically. Nneka Akwu made substantial contribution to the code-recode process bringing the viewpoint of student nuance into consideration in the process of data collection and analysis.

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How to Write a Career Goals Essay (with 3 Examples)

Mar 7, 2022

Mar 7, 2022 | Blog

Any student planning a bright career path should consider writing a career goals essay. This will help you select the university of your choice depending on what you want to specialize in. The same essay will assist when applying for jobs after you are done with college.

Many scholarship applicants often have to write a “How will this scholarship help you achieve your goals” essay. This gives the scholarship committee an understanding of how the scholarship will help students pursue his or her goals. Needless to say, the essay is very important to the scholarship application.

If you are not conversant with career goal essays, you can consider seeking help from an individual ahead of you in your career. This is because they must have done the career goal essay writing while applying for jobs at one time or another. As a student, it is upon you to ensure you learn and understand how this essay is written because it will benefit you in the future.

Let us now break down what a career goal essay is and how it should be written.

What is a career goal essay?

A career goal essay is a piece of writing that narrates your career path regarding what you want to achieve and where you want to be in the future. You should explain your achievements so far, the career aspirations that make you appropriate for the position, and how this position will contribute to your growth in the future.

Therefore, a career goal essay aims to show either the admission board, the scholarship committee or an employer whether you fit in the field you are applying for. The college admission essays will also show whether your ambitions and goals apply to the project you might be hired for. You need to assure your potential employer or admission board that you deserve to have the position you are applying for; if not, you may lose this chance.

If you are now asking how to write an interesting piece, Essay Freelance Writers are here to assist in achieving that.

How to write a career goals essay

When writing a a college scholarship essay, you need to follow particular rules to create an amazing and attractive essay. The process of writing a career essay is not as difficult as it may initially seem. If you feel that you need assistance, then there are several options available to you.

1. Adhere to your style

The career goal essay is all about yourself, goals, and ambition.

There is no single recipe for a career goals essay, because everyone is different. Adhere to your style. You will have to include the most important parts and try to express it in a simple way, not wasting time and space with unnecessary details.

Therefore, anyone who reads your piece should see your personality and personal goals in terms of content. You should never copy or imitate another person during the scholarship application process. Everything should be all about you.

You are the center of the essay, and therefore the reader needs to see you in it.

2. Ensure you have a strong thesis statement

The first step to writing a great essay is to ensure you have a strong thesis statement. Your thesis statement sets the tone for your entire essay, so take the time to craft a concise, concise statement that clearly explains your argument.

This will make your essay more compelling and effective. The thesis statement should have the main points about your set career goal. First, you should indicate all you want to achieve and explain your goals to acquire the interest in the future.

When you have goals and set to writing them, show instead of telling. Use concrete examples and facts from your life and past experiences that demonstrate why you want to go back to school, what you hope to do with your degree, and why you are a good candidate.

3. The structure should be clear

Just like any other piece of writing, it is important for you to have an outline for your career goals essay. This will help ensure that you have a flow from one idea to another and also provide direction for your readers as they attempt to understand what your essay is all about.

The structure should be clear and logical. Be sure to include an introduction that presents your thesis statement, body paragraphs that discuss your goals and evidence supporting them, and a conclusion that ties everything together.

Usually, this essay consists of the following paragraph breakdown sections:

Introduction: The first step to writing a great essay is to plan what you are going to write about. Before you start writing, make an outline of the key points that you want to mention in your essay. For example:

Paragraph 1: Introduction and thesis statement

Paragraph 2: Explain more about career A and how it relates to your future goals

Paragraph 3: Explain more about career B and how it relates to your future goals

Paragraph 4: Explain how both careers are related to each other and how they will help you achieve your goals in life.

Paragraph 5: Conclusion restating your thesis statement and outlining the key points of the body.

4. Have relevance

Ensure all your thoughts and flow of ideas have meaning in attracting the reader.

Besides, you should align what you are aiming at with the position you are applying for.

Your essay must be relevant to what you want to do and why you want it so much. It must show how your career goals are connected with what you want to learn at the university and how the degree will bring you closer to the desired position in life.

5. Understand the concept of career goals

To get a full grasp of what this essay is about, you need to understand the concept of career goals. A career goal is a statement that defines your goals for the future. This means that you have to state the objectives you want to achieve in your career. You can write short-term career goals, long-term career goals, high school goal and professional goals,

To write a successful essay, you should be able to show your enthusiasm and determination in achieving your career goals. You must be able to write it with confidence and enthusiasm as well as showing how your chosen course or job will help you achieve it.

6. Set goals for different stages of your career

The student should begin writing the essay by goal planning, and clearly defining the goals and objectives of their career. The student should discuss their plans for the future and how they plan to make those plans a reality. The student should explain how they will use the degree they are pursuing in order to achieve these goals.

A common pitfall students fall into is writing a personal narrative statement that is vague and uninspiring. Students should instead focus on writing about what they want to do with their lives, rather than what they hope the reader wants to hear. Students often write general statements telling readers they have great leadership skills or are great team players. Instead, students should provide specific examples of times when they demonstrated these traits in a work or academic setting.

The student should also discuss how the degree will impact their career as well as how it will help them better serve their community. For example, a student who wants to be a doctor can explain how their education will allow them to help more people in need of medical care in underserved areas, or a student interested in law can discuss how studying law can help them fight for the rights of others .

7. Choose a title

Before you start writing your paper, it may be helpful for you to know more about the person who will be reading your work or the person who has requested you to write a paper on career personal goals. This will allow you to get an idea on how their mind works or what they expect from people

Writing Tips for Career Goals Scholarship Essays

There are a number of other things you can do to make your scholarship essay a huge success. These include:

• Highlight Your Accomplishments and Experience
• Start with a Strong Hook
• Avoid Plagiarism
• Be Brief and Concise
• Emphasize the Positive
• Give Evidence of Your Achievements
• Create an Outline for a Better Structure
• Proofread and Edit for Mistakes

Example of a career goal essay:

Reading sample essays can also give you a more vivid picture of how a good example of an essay about yourself should be crafted. Further, it will also enable you to easily distinguish between a well written example and a poorly written one. The more samples you read the better you will be able to understand the specific requirements for structuring and writing your main essay.

Scholarship Essay about Career Goals (100 Words)

Example 2: scholarship essay about career goals (250 words), example 3: scholarship essay about career goals (500 words).

With a deep understanding of the student experience, I craft blog content that resonates with young learners. My articles offer practical advice and actionable strategies to help students achieve a healthy and successful academic life.

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The Savvy Scientist

Experiences of a London PhD student and beyond

Thesis Title: Examples and Suggestions from a PhD Grad

When you’re faced with writing up a thesis, choosing a title can often fall to the bottom of the priority list. After all, it’s only a few words. How hard can it be?!

In the grand scheme of things I agree that picking your thesis title shouldn’t warrant that much thought, however my own choice is one of the few regrets I have from my PhD . I therefore think there is value in spending some time considering the options available.

In this post I’ll guide you through how to write your own thesis title and share real-world examples. Although my focus is on the PhD thesis, I’ve also included plenty of thesis title examples for bachelor’s and master’s research projects too.

Hopefully by the end of the post you’ll feel ready to start crafting your own!

Why your thesis title is at least somewhat important

It sounds obvious but your thesis title is the first, and often only, interaction people will have with your thesis. For instance, hiring managers for jobs that you may wish to apply for in the future. Therefore you want to give a good sense of what your research involved from the title.

Many people will list the title of their thesis on their CV, at least for a while after graduating. All of the example titles I’ve shared below came from my repository of academic CVs . I’d say roughly 30% of all the academics on that page list their thesis title, which includes academics all the way up to full professor.

Your thesis title could therefore feature on your CV for your whole career, so it is probably worth a bit of thought!

My suggestions for choosing a good thesis title

• Make it descriptive of the research so it’s immediately obvious what it is about! Most universities will publish student theses online ( here’s mine! ) and they’re indexed so can be found via Google Scholar etc. Therefore give your thesis a descriptive title so that interested researchers can find it in the future.
• Don’t get lost in the detail . You want a descriptive title but avoid overly lengthy descriptions of experiments. Unless a certain analytical technique etc was central to your research, I’d suggest by default* to avoid having it in your title. Including certain techniques will make your title, and therefore research, look overly dated, which isn’t ideal for potential job applications after you graduate.
• The title should tie together the chapters of your thesis. A well-phrased title can do a good job of summarising the overall story of your thesis. Think about each of your research chapters and ensure that the title makes sense for each of them.
• Be strategic . Certain parts of your work you want to emphasise? Consider making them more prominent in your title. For instance, if you know you want to pivot to a slightly different research area or career path after your PhD, there may be alternative phrasings which describe your work just as well but could be better understood by those in the field you’re moving into. I utilised this a bit in my own title which we’ll come onto shortly.
• Do your own thing. Having just laid out some suggestions, do make sure you’re personally happy with the title. You get a lot of freedom to choose your title, so use it however you fancy. For example, I’ve known people to use puns in their title, so if that’s what you’re into don’t feel overly constrained.

*This doesn’t always hold true and certainly don’t take my advice if 1) listing something in your title could be a strategic move 2) you love the technique so much that you’re desperate to include it!

Thesis title examples

To help give you some ideas, here are some example thesis titles from Bachelors, Masters and PhD graduates. These all came from the academic CVs listed in my repository here .

Bachelor’s thesis title examples

Hysteresis and Avalanches Paul Jager , 2014 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

The bioenergetics of a marine ciliate, Mesodinium rubrum Holly Moeller , 2008 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Functional syntactic analysis of prepositional and causal constructions for a grammatical parser of Russian Ekaterina Kochmar , 2008 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Master’s thesis title examples

Creation of an autonomous impulse response measurement system for rooms and transducers with different methods Guy-Bart Stan , 2000 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Segmentation of Nerve Bundles and Ganglia in Spine MRI using Particle Filters Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2012 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

The detection of oil under ice by remote mode conversion of ultrasound Eric Yeatman , 1986 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Ensemble-Based Learning for Morphological Analysis of German Ekaterina Kochmar , 2010 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

VARiD: A Variation Detection Framework for Color-Space and Letter-Space Platforms Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2010 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Identification of a Writer’s Native Language by Error Analysis Ekaterina Kochmar , 2011 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

On the economic optimality of marine reserves when fishing damages habitat Holly Moeller , 2010 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Sensitivity Studies for the Time-Dependent CP Violation Measurement in B 0 → K S K S K S at the Belle II-Experiment Paul Jager , 2016 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

PhD thesis title examples

Spatio-temporal analysis of three-dimensional real-time ultrasound for quantification of ventricular function Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

The role and maintenance of diversity in a multi-partner mutualism: Trees and Ectomycorrhizal Fungi Holly Moeller , 2015 – Ecology & Marine Biology – UC Santa Barbara Assistant Professor –  direct link to Holly’s marine biology academic CV

Bayesian Gaussian processes for sequential prediction, optimisation and quadrature Michael Osborne , 2010 – Machine Learning – Oxford Full Professor –  direct link to Michael’s machine learning academic CV

Global analysis and synthesis of oscillations: a dissipativity approach Guy-Bart Stan , 2005 – Bioengineering – Imperial Professor –  direct link to Guy-Bart’s bioengineering academic CV

Coarse-grained modelling of DNA and DNA self-assembly Thomas Ouldridge , 2011– Bioengineering – Imperial College London Senior Lecturer / Associate Prof –  direct link to Thomas’ bioengineering academic CV

4D tomographic image reconstruction and parametric maps estimation: a model-based strategy for algorithm design using Bayesian inference in Probabilistic Graphical Models (PGM) Michele Scipioni , 2018– Biomedical Engineer – Harvard Postdoctoral Research Fellow –  direct link to Michele’s biomedical engineer academic CV

Error Detection in Content Word Combinations Ekaterina Kochmar , 2016 – Computer Science – University of Bath Lecturer Assistant Prof –  direct link to Ekaterina’s computer science academic CV

Genetic, Clinical and Population Priors for Brain Images Adrian Vasile Dalca , 2016 – Machine Learning for healthcare – Harvard Assistant Professor & MIT Research Scientist –  direct link to Adrian’s machine learning academic CV

Challenges and Opportunities of End-to-End Learning in Medical Image Classification Paul Jager , 2020 – Medical Imaging – DKFZ Head of ML Research Group –  direct link to Paul’s machine learning academic CV

K 2 NiF 4  materials as cathodes for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells Ainara Aguadero , 2006 – Materials Science – Imperial Reader –  direct link to Ainara’s materials science academic CV

Applications of surface plasmons – microscopy and spatial light modulation Eric Yeatman , 1989 – Electronics – Imperial Professor and Head of Department –  direct link to Eric’s electronics academic CV

Geometric Algorithms for Objects in Motion Sorelle Friedler , 2010 – Computer science – Haverford College Associate Professor –  direct link to Sorelle’s computer science academic CV .

Geometrical models, constraints design, information extraction for pathological and healthy medical image Esla Angelini  – Medicine – Imperial Senior Data Scientist –  direct link to Elsa’s medicine academic CV

Why I regret my own choice of PhD thesis title

I should say from the outset that I assembled my thesis in quite a short space of time compared to most people. So I didn’t really spend particularly long on any one section, including the title.

However, my main supervisor even spelled out for me that once the title was submitted to the university it would be permanent. In other words: think wisely about your title.

What I started with

Initially I drafted the title as something like: Three dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration . Which I thought was nice, catchy and descriptive.

I decided to go for “correlative imaging” because, not only did it describe the experiments well, but it also sounded kind of technical and fitting of a potential pivot into AI. I’m pleased with that bit of the title.

What I ended up with

Before submitting the title to the university (required ahead of the viva), I asked my supervisors for their thoughts.

One of my well intentioned supervisors suggested that, given that my project didn’t involve verifying regenerative quality, I probably shouldn’t state cartilage regeneration . Instead, they suggested, I should state what I was experimenting on (the materials) rather than the overall goal of the research (aid cartilage regeneration efforts).

With this advice I dialled back my choice of wording and the thesis title I went with was:

Three dimensional correlative imaging for measurement of strain in cartilage and cartilage replacement materials

Reading it back now I’m reminder about how less I like it than my initial idea!

I put up basically no resistance to the supervisor’s choice, even though the title sounds so much more boring in my opinion. I just didn’t think much of it at the time. Furthermore, most of my PhD was actually in a technique which is four dimensional (looking at a series of 3D scans over time, hence 4D) which would have sounded way more sciency and fitting of a PhD.

What I wish I’d gone with

If I had the choice again, I’d have gone with:

Four-dimensional correlative imaging for cartilage regeneration

Which, would you believe it, is exactly what it states on my CV…

Does the thesis title really matter?

In all honesty, your choice of thesis title isn’t that important. If you come to regret it, as I do, it’s not the end of the world. There are much more important things in life to worry about.

If you decide at a later stage that you don’t like it you can always describe it in a way that you prefer. For instance, in my CV I describe my PhD as I’d have liked the title to be. I make no claim that it’s actually the title so consider it a bit of creative license.

Given that as your career progresses you may not even refer back to your thesis much, it’s really not worth stressing over. However, if you’re yet to finalise your thesis title I do still think it is worth a bit of thought and hopefully this article has provided some insights into how to choose a good thesis title.

My advice for developing a thesis title

• Draft the title early. Drafting it early can help give clarity for the overall message of your research. For instance, while you’re assembling the rest of your thesis you can check that the title encompasses the research chapters you’re included, and likewise that the research experiments you’re including fall within what the title describes. Drafting it early also gives more time you to think it over. As with everything: having a first draft is really important to iterate on.
• Look at some example titles . Such as those featured above!
• If you’re not sure about your title, ask a few other people what they think . But remember that you have the final say!

I hope this post has been useful for those of you are finalising your thesis and need to decide on a thesis title. If you’ve enjoyed this article and would like to hear about future content (and gain access to my free resource library!) you can subscribe for free here:

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From an architecture master’s thesis to professional workflows with SketchUp

Halmstad, Sweden

For his master’s thesis, Mathias Kidron used SketchUp to design an innovative timber-constructed space inspired by antique architecture in the hopes of creating a more connected future. Today, he builds on his skills as a professional architect.

Jump to: A thesis to connect historical concepts with future hope Designing spaces for connection Inspiration from classical architecture The modern age of timber construction Building a toolset for an ambitious thesis project Building skills as a professional architect Tips for early career architects

Mathias started studying architecture at the Chalmers University of Technology in 2015 after years of architectural aspiration and a love for drawing. It was at university that Mathias started using digital tools, including SketchUp, to design 3D spaces.

My professors recommended several programs; depending on which year you studied, it was a bit different. But for the most part, you only really need SketchUp. —Mathias Kidron

When it came time for his thesis, Mathias used SketchUp to design an ambitious project — a culmination of everything he’d learned at school, and groundwork for what he hoped for his future architectural career. His goal was to make an innovative, sustainable timber structure that would help create cohesion in his community by providing a welcoming meeting space.

Portrait of Mathias Kidron, architect.

A thesis to connect historical concepts with future hope

Mathias was given free rein to create his thesis. He could situate his structures in imaginary worlds and test experimental designs. However, Mathias decided to pursue a more grounded project: a public space situated in an open space in the heart of Gothenburg. He wanted to create a public building that provided space for debate and discussions.

Cover sheet for Mathias’ thesis.

Designing spaces for connection

Mathias looked to the past for ways of coming together for discussion, inspired by the past to alleviate the disconnect he sees in modern communication and debate. He believes that when people have disagreements on the internet, the anonymity can lead to dehumanization on both sides. When people discuss contentious topics in person, they tend to give their discussion partner the benefit of the doubt because it’s much easier to communicate the unspoken — like body language and intentions — in person. It’s easier to see a real person with feelings that can get hurt when you’re standing in front of them versus when you’re interacting with an avatar or screen name online.

Mathias believes that architecture has a unique role to play in creating better connections between people. Creating a welcoming physical space for people to come together encourages more civil discussions and a more cohesive community.

Rendering of the entrance of Mathias’ agora.

Inspiration from classical architecture

Mathias took both conceptual and aesthetic cues from the Roman Forum and the tradition of Greek agoras. In antiquity, these spaces were designed for people to come together for all aspects of civic life — commerce, art, justice, politics, spirituality, and public debate. In modern society, most of these aspects of civic life have found new architectural homes — commerce happens in malls, spiritual practice in temples, et cetera. Debate and discussion lack the same institutional support, so the internet has taken up the mantle virtually.

While Mathias’ project did not aim to be the all-encompassing center of civic life that the Forum and Greek agoras were, he believed that creating a space dedicated to community discussion would help usher in a new era of productive civil discourse.

Mathias studied both architecture and the societal effects the architecture had in ancient Rome and Greece and attempted to recreate an environment that would encourage the principles of free speech and expression through open spaces and permeable boundaries between structures. The soaring roofs promote a feeling of open space and possibilities.

Rendering of an atrium in Mathias’ agora. Scroll to see renderings of an auditorium.

The modern age of timber construction

Wood was a natural choice of material for Mathias; it’s very common in Sweden. Also, like many young architects, he sees the importance of pursuing sustainable design in architecture . Timber has become an increasingly popular material choice for sustainable construction, especially as the technologies around leveraging timber have improved.

Large-scale mass timber buildings present a unique challenge for architects and builders. Replacing steel and concrete with timber requires careful consideration. For his project, Mathias connected with a timber researcher at his university to determine how a large building could work with all-timber framing. Inspired by ancient architects and modern Japanese architect Kengo Kuma , Mathias opted to keep much of the timber construction visible in his project.

A series of images showing the agora’s timber construction. Scroll to see how the design builds on the timber frame.

Building a toolset for an ambitious thesis project

Mathias conducts in-depth research before beginning any project. While researching and reading, he would start with some hand sketching to give form to the ideas he was gathering. Very soon after his initial sketching phase, he moved into SketchUp to try different proportions and designs.

“As an architect, SketchUp is an incredibly valuable tool for fast and efficient modeling during the early stages of a project. The program's sketching capabilities are highly effective and allow for easy visualization of design concepts.” —Mathias Kidron

Mathias leveraged SketchUp’s geolocation capabilities to help place his project in the correct context: an open space in a park in central Gothenburg near a theater and commercial district, creating a place for discussion and debate near other civic activities.

Site map showing Mathias’ project in context; scroll to see a rendering of the site map. 

After a lifetime of hand-drawing before architecture school — Mathias loves how easy it is to draw in SketchUp. 

“Its intuitive interface and similarity to using a pen make it a favorite. I really appreciate the push-pull feature for its simplicity and effectiveness for quickly turning a sketch into a 3D design.” —Mathias Kidron

When his design was further along, Mathias used Twinmotion and V-Ray to create stunning visualizations that clearly communicated his design ideas.

Renderings of the exterior of the agora, located in a municipal park in Gothenburg’s city center. Scroll to see more.

Building skills as a professional architect

After graduation, Mathias began his career at a firm in Gothenburg. There, he worked on competition deliverables . With early phase design work and sketches being a big part of his workflow there, his professional work grew naturally out of his work as a student. After two years working in Gothenburg, he moved to Halmstad, Sweden, to begin working at Fredblad Arkitekter . There, he still works on competition deliverables and the early stages of projects, but also on projects that have been won and are further along in the design process.

As Mathias’ professional career has grown, so has his SketchUp skillset. He advocates for the importance of grouping work frequently, using components intelligently, and exploring all available functions to avoid unnecessary work. He’s also become more adept at integrating plugins and extensions as part of his workflow. His favorites include Joint Push/Pull , Curviloft , and Eneroth extensions . Watch the video below for tips on how to find the right extensions for your workflow. 

Check out this video for advice on finding your next favorite extension.

Mathias stays at the forefront of design technology and experiments with AI. He’s been experimenting with SketchUp’s AI technology, Diffusion , which creates images that are rendered in seconds. With SketchUp, he’s able to communicate visual ideas with clients in a variety of ways, from static presentations to real-time 3D model tours. 

Tips for early-career architects

Throughout his journey from student to professional architect, Mathias has made the most of the tools and information available to him. We asked him to pass on some wisdom for a new generation of architects navigating their early careers.

Explore as much as you can. Absorb all the information and knowledge you can get. Iterate often. Be prepared to rework your design. Be decisive. Make decisions quickly and move on with your design. Listen to your critiques. Reflect and use them to develop. Read a lot of history. There is so much to be learned from the past that can be translated into modern architecture and urban design.   Do your own thing. —Mathias Kidron

Feeling inspired to create a stunning design of your own? Start with a free trial of SketchUp , or check out our subscription options if you’re ready to start building a professional portfolio.

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A Culture Warrior Takes a Late Swing

The editor and essayist Joseph Epstein looks back on his life and career in two new books.

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By Dwight Garner

NEVER SAY YOU’VE HAD A LUCKY LIFE: Especially If You’ve Had a Lucky Life , by Joseph Epstein

FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTENT: New and Selected Essays , by Joseph Epstein

When Tammy Wynette was asked to write a memoir in her mid-30s, she initially declined, she said in an interview, because “I didn’t think my life was over yet.” The publisher responded: Has it occurred to you that in 15 years no one might care? She wrote the book. “Stand by Your Man: An Autobiography” (1979) was a hit.

The essayist and editor Joseph Epstein — whose memoir “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life,” is out now, alongside a greatest-hits collection titled “Familiarity Breeds Content” — has probably never heard Wynette sing except by accident. (In a 1993 essay, he wrote that he wished he didn’t know who Willie Nelson was, because it was a sign of a compromised intellect.) But his memoir illustrates another reason not to wait too long to commit your life to print.

There is no indication that Epstein, who is in his late 80s, has lost a step. His prose is as genial and bland, if comparison to his earlier work is any indication, as it ever was. But there’s a softness to his memories of people, perhaps because it was all so long ago. This is the sort of memoir that insists someone was funny, or erudite, or charismatic, while rarely providing the crucial details.

Epstein aw-shucks his way into “Never Say You’ve Had a Lucky Life” — pretending to be self-effacing while not being so in the least is one of his salient qualities as a writer — by warning readers, “I may not have had a sufficiently interesting life to merit an autobiography.” This is because he “did little, saw nothing notably historic, and endured not much out of the ordinary of anguish or trouble or exaltation.” Quickly, however, he concludes that his life is indeed worth relating, in part because “over the years I have acquired the literary skill to recount that life well.”

Here he is wrong in both directions. His story is interesting enough to warrant this memoir. His personal life has taken complicated turns. And as the longtime editor of the quarterly magazine The American Scholar, and a notably literate conservative culture warrior, he’s been in the thick of things.

He does lack the skill to tell his own story, though, if by “skill” we mean not well-scrubbed Strunk and White sentences but close and penetrating observation. Epstein favors tasseled loafers and bow ties, and most of his sentences read as if they were written by a sentient tasseled loafer and edited by a sentient bow tie.

He grew up in Chicago, where his father manufactured costume jewelry. The young Epstein was popular and, in high school, lettered in tennis. His title refers to being lucky, and a big part of that luck, in his estimation, was to grow up back when kids could be kids, before “the therapeutic culture” took over.

This complaint sets the tone of the book. His own story is set next to a rolling series of cultural grievances. He’s against casual dress, the prohibition of the word “Negro,” grade inflation, the Beat Generation, most of what occurred during the 1960s, standards slipping everywhere, de-Westernizing college curriculums, D.E.I. programs, you name it. His politics aren’t the problem. We can argue about those. American culture needs more well-read conservatives. The problem is that in his search for teachable moments, his memoir acquires the cardboard tone of a middling opinion column.

His youth was not all tennis lessons and root beer floats. He and his friends regularly visited brothels because, he writes, sex was not as easy to come by in the 1950s. He was kicked out of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for his role in the selling of a stolen accounting exam to other students.

He was lucky to find a place at the University of Chicago, a place of high seriousness. The school changed him. He began to reassess his values. He began to read writers like Irving Howe, Sidney Hook, Midge Decter and Norman Podhoretz, and felt his politics pull to the right.

After college, he was drafted into the Army and ended up in Little Rock, Ark., where he met his first wife. At the time, she was a waitress at a bar and restaurant called the Gar Hole. Here Epstein’s memoir briefly threatens to acquire genuine weight.

She had lost custody of her two sons after a divorce. Together they got them back, and she and Epstein had two sons of their own. After their divorce, Epstein took all four of the boys. This is grist for an entire memoir, but Epstein passes over it quickly. One never gets much of a sense of what his boys were like, or what it was like to raise them. He later tells us that he has all but lost touch with his stepsons and has not seen them for decades.

He worked for the magazine The New Leader and the Encyclopaedia Britannica before becoming the editor of The American Scholar in 1975. It was a position he would hold for 22 years. He also taught at Northwestern University for nearly three decades.

At The American Scholar he began to write a long personal essay in each issue, under the pseudonym Aristides. He wrote 92 of these, on topics such as smoking and envy and reading and height. Most ran to 6,500 words, or about 4,000 words longer than they should have been.

Many magazine editors like to write every so often, to keep a hand in. But there is something unseemly about an editor chewing up acres of space in his own publication on a regular basis. Editorially, it’s a droit du seigneur imposition.

A selection of these essays, as well as some new ones, can now be found in “Familiarity Breeds Content.” In his introduction to this book, Christopher Buckley overpraises Epstein, leaving the reader no choice but to start mentally pushing back.

Buckley calls Epstein “the most entertaining living essayist in the English language.” (Not while Michael Kinsley, Lorrie Moore, Calvin Trillin, Sloane Crosley and Geoff Dyer, among many others, walk the earth.) He repurposes Martin Amis’s comment about Saul Bellow: “One doesn’t read Saul Bellow. One can only reread him.” To this he adds, “Ditto Epstein.” (Epstein is no Saul Bellow.) Buckley says, “Joe Epstein is incapable of writing a boring sentence.”

Well. How about this one, from an essay about cats?

A cat, I realize, cannot be everyone’s cup of fur.

Or this one, from an essay about sports and other obsessions:

I have been told there are people who wig out on pasta.

Or this one, about … guess:

When I was a boy, it occurs to me now, I always had one or another kind of hat.

Juggling today appears to be undergoing a small renaissance.

If one is looking to save on fuel bills, politics is likely to heat up a room quicker than just about anything else.

In tennis I was most notable for flipping and catching my racket in various snappy routines.

The essays are, by and large, as tweedy and self-satisfied as these lines make them sound. There are no wild hairs in them, no sudden deepenings of tone. Nothing is at stake. We are stranded with him on the putt-putt course.

Epstein fills his essays with quotation after quotation, as ballast. I am a fan of well-deployed, free-range quotations. So many of Epstein’s are musty and reek of Bartlett’s. They are from figures like Lord Chesterfield and Lady Mary Montagu and Sir Herbert Grierson and Tocqueville and Walpole and Carlyle. You can feel the moths escaping from the display case in real time.

To be fair, I circled a few sentences in “Familiarity Breeds Content” happily. I’m with him on his distrust of “fun couples.” He writes, “A cowboy without a hat is suitable only for bartending.” I liked his observation, which he borrowed from someone else, that a career has five stages:

(1) Who is Joseph Epstein? (2) Get me Joseph Epstein. (3) We need someone like Joseph Epstein. (4) What we need is a young Joseph Epstein. (5) Who is Joseph Epstein?

It’s no fun to trip up a writer on what might have been a late-career victory lap. Epstein doesn’t need me to like his work. He’s published more than 30 books, and you can’t do that unless you’ve made a lot of readers happy.

NEVER SAY YOU’VE HAD A LUCKY LIFE : Especially If You’ve Had a Lucky Life | By Joseph Epstein | Free Press | 287 pp. | $29.99

FAMILIARITY BREEDS CONTENT : New and Selected Essays | By Joseph Epstein | Simon & Schuster | 441 pp. | Paperback, $20.99

Dwight Garner has been a book critic for The Times since 2008, and before that was an editor at the Book Review for a decade. More about Dwight Garner

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What can fiction tell us about the apocalypse? The writer Ayana Mathis finds unexpected hope in novels of crisis by Ling Ma, Jenny Offill and Jesmyn Ward .

At 28, the poet Tayi Tibble has been hailed as the funny, fresh and immensely skilled voice of a generation in Māori writing .

Amid a surge in book bans, the most challenged books in the United States in 2023 continued to focus on the experiences of L.G.B.T.Q. people or explore themes of race.

Each week, top authors and critics join the Book Review’s podcast to talk about the latest news in the literary world. Listen here .