The Duty invites you once again to the back roads of university life. A proposal that is both scholarly and intimate, to be picked up all summer long like a postcard. Today, we are interested in the vocational indecision of CEGEP students.
Inaya is in her second semester at CEGEP in the natural sciences program. Although she is very invested in her studies, her academic results unfortunately do not live up to her expectations and those of her parents. She is experiencing a deep and distressing questioning of her desire to become a doctor and that of her parents.
Camille is in her final year of her special education program. Although she enjoys her program, her career future is tormenting her: should she start her career as an educator so she can buy a house and start a family more quickly, or should she instead enroll in university to pursue her dream of becoming a psychoeducator?
William is in his third program since entering college two years ago. He does not see the point of the courses he is taking, but perseveres as best he can by accumulating failures in his courses. Like his parents, William is deeply worried about his professional future and doubts that he will ever find a career that will truly suit him.
Inaya, Camille and William have different questions, but they still have something in common. These three young adults suffer from vocational indecision and the anxiety that goes with it. They are far from alone in their situation; more than half of newly admitted CEGEP students are undecided about their professional future, according to data from the “Provincial Survey of CEGEP Students” conducted in 2016.
While it is not surprising that many CEGEP students feel indecisive about the complex and important decisions they have to make, this state is unfortunately not without consequences for them. In addition to increasing anxiety, indecision can lead young adults to change their programs many times, increase the length of their studies, and decrease their academic motivation and self-esteem when it becomes chronic. As a result, many CEGEP students consult a guidance counselor for help in their decision-making.
The beneficial effects of support
Our data indicate that more than three-quarters of CEGEP students suffer from both indecision and significant anxiety about their career future at the time of their first session with a career counsellor. Even more worrying, more than four out of five have little knowledge of their personality and the job market, as well as a lack of understanding of the steps to take to make a satisfactory career decision. These difficulties deserve special attention, because several studies have shown that they are associated with a lower level of satisfaction in training and employment in the long term.
Fortunately, the support offered by guidance counsellors—which includes accompanying CEGEP students through a rigorous and informed decision-making process and equipping them to make career decisions independently in the future—is proving to be very useful to those who seek their help. At least, that’s what the data we collected over the past three years from more than 2,000 students who sought guidance counselling at one of the 25 colleges that took part in our study, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Chaire-Réseau de recherche sur la jeunesse du Québec, indicate.
More specifically, our results show that by taking part in a career guidance process lasting three to four sessions (on average), the CEGEP students in our sample saw, on average, their levels of indecision and anxiety about their professional future reduced by 36% and 25%, respectively. While such reductions occurring in such a few sessions constitute very significant effects, it is in terms of acquiring the knowledge needed to make a satisfactory decision that the beneficial effects of career guidance interventions are most notable.
Indeed, during these same orientation processes, CEGEP students saw their knowledge of the career decision-making process increase by 54%; their self-knowledge by 43%; and their knowledge of the training programs and career opportunities available to them by 70%. These effects are considered to be of great magnitude in light of the benchmarks recognized in the scientific community.
Encouraging results
Career decisions involve a degree of unpredictability and uncertainty, particularly due to the difficulty in predicting how young people’s interests and life contexts will evolve, as well as the job market. Despite the great complexity of career choices in college, our results are very encouraging for CEGEP students who experience indecision and anxiety about their professional future.
Our results show that college orientation interventions can not only help to alleviate the immediate discomfort (indecision and anxiety) experienced by CEGEP students, but also provide them with the tools needed to make informed decisions about their careers throughout their lives.
One question remains, however. What will be the repercussions associated with the career decision that these students made following their guidance process? The data that we will collect until 2027 with our colleagues Sabruna Dorceus and Mathieu Busque-Carrier will allow us to document the career paths of CEGEP students up to three years after their approach with a guidance counselor. In the meantime, our results indicate that Inaya, Camille, William and their colleagues who consulted in guidance are less undecided and less anxious and made a career decision following a rigorous and informed process.
So there is reason to be optimistic.