Comparing the Effectiveness of Two Different Career Education Courses on Career Decidedness for College Freshmen: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

An exploratory study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of two different career education courses on career decision making for college freshmen in Taiwan. Two different career education courses were designed for college students; one was a cognitive restructuring intervention and the other was a career decision skills training intervention. The cognitive restructuring career education course was compared to two other conditions. Approximately 164 college freshmen were administered the Career Decision Scale, a demographic sheet, and a follow-up questionnaire. The design selected for the study was a pre- and post-test design, using two experimental groups (two approaches to career education courses) and one control group. A total of 152 subjects completed both pre- and post-analyses. A 3 x 2 multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was performed. The factors were treatment and gender. In the comparisons of the students who took the two different approaches to career education courses and the students who did not, statistical analyses of the data indicated that regardless of gender, a significant treatment main effect on the indecision scale of the Career Decision Scale was found. However, there were no significant treatment group differences between the two experimental groups. Implications and suggestions for designing a college career education course were also discussed.