Career decision-making difficulties of undergraduate students in Kazakhstan

• In Event: Student experiences in higher education

Proposal

Introduction
Difficulties related to career decision-making are among the most common problems experienced by young people (Hijazi et al., 2004; Osipow, 1999). Studies indicate that these difficulties can be influenced by various factors, including gender and age, field and year of study, type of school and linguistic identity, personality factors and region, and academic standing, as well as the availability of career counseling services (Akpochafo, 2021; Kleiman et al., 2004; Shen et al., 2021; Sovet et al., 2017). The literature shows that personality traits like self-perception and self-evaluation affect career decision-making. Individuals with higher self-esteem and self-efficacy experience fewer difficulties (Jiang, 2015).

Literature review
International research shows that girls face more challenges than boys, with difficulties generally decreasing as students grow older (Bacanli, 2016; Gati & Saka, 2001; Zhou & Santos, 2007). Students from rural areas also struggle more with career decisions compared to their urban peers (Shen et al., 2021). Educational factors such as school type and language identity further complicate decisions (Akpochafo, 2021; Firdaus & Arjanggi, 2020; Sovet et al., 2017). Sophomores, for example, often feel more pressure selecting majors than seniors (Kleiman et al., 2004; Tinsley et al., 1989).
Gifted students also face unique challenges due to difficulty in choosing from many options (Emmett & Minor, 1993; Jung, 2013; Jung & Young, 2019). Core self-evaluation has been studied as a predictor of career indecision, offering insights into how individuals’ self-assessments influence their readiness to make career choices (Di Fabio & Palazzeschi, 2012; Koumoundourou et al., 2011; Jiang, 2015). Integrating this concept can help better understand the psychological processes behind career decisions.
In this study, core self-evaluation will serve as a key theoretical framework for examining its association with career decision-making difficulties among undergraduate students in Kazakhstan. By investigating how core self-evaluation interacts with demographic and contextual factors, we aim to uncover patterns and subgroup differences contributing to the broader discourse on career development and decision-making.

Kazakhstan Context
Career decision-making difficulties are widely discussed in Western contexts but less so in post-Soviet regions like Kazakhstan. Despite having over 600,000 students across 112 higher education institutions, challenges persist, with nearly 2 million employed Kazakhstanis working outside their specialties. About 40% of graduates are in jobs unrelated to their majors, leading to negative outcomes for both students and the economy (Forbes, 2023). Population growth and an increase in school graduates add pressure to the educational system and job market. Government policies now prioritize human capital development and 21st-century skills to boost the economy and strengthen global competitiveness (Aqorda, 2022).

Purposes of the inquiry
Given the difficulties outlined in global contexts, career decision-making is a complex challenge influenced by different students’ characteristics. Regional dynamics, gender, year of study, and field of study might mediate the relationship between core self-evaluation and career decision-making difficulties (Shen et al., 2021). This contrast sets the stage for a deeper exploration within the Kazakhstani context, where the impact of educational policies on career decision-making among students has not been thoroughly examined.
While literature documents career decision-making difficulties among young people in various international contexts, there needs to be more research focusing on Kazakhstan - a country undergoing significant educational and economic transformations. The research questions for this study are:
1) How is core self-evaluation associated with career decision-making difficulties among undergraduate students in Kazakhstan?
2) How does this association vary in different subgroups of students by age, gender, year, field of study, region, self-reported academic standing, and language of the program?

Research Design and Methodology
To address the research questions, researchers used a shorter version of the Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire comprising 34 items (Gati et al., 1996) and the core self-evaluation scale comprising 8 items (Judge et al., 2003). According to this taxonomy, an ideal decision-maker is a person who is aware of the decision-making requirements, ready to make the decisions, and able to make a decision that aligns with his/her personal aims (Gati et al., 1996). Respondents rate their agreement on a 9-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (does not describe me) to 9 (describes me well). The higher the score, the greater the career decision-making difficulty. The CDDQ questionnaire is translated into Kazakh and Russian languages. In addition, the eight items are included to measure core self-evaluation.
Students over 18 years old enrolled in different fields and universities in Kazakhstan are asked to complete the questionnaire voluntarily and anonymously via the Qualtrics online survey platform. The factor analysis will be performed to validate the translated Kazakh and Russian versions of the questionnaire. Using Stata software, descriptive and multiple linear regression analyses will answer the research questions. The model for regression to predict the career decision-making difficulties (cdm〖d〗_ijk) for student i in university j in cohort k considering their core self-evaluation (cs〖e〗_ijk) and self-reported GPA (sgp〖a〗_ijk) and additional covariates (〖X'〗_ijk) is as follows:
cdm〖d〗_ijk = 〖β〗_0 + 〖β〗_1 cs〖e〗_ijk +〖β〗_2 sgp〖a〗_ijk +〖α〗_ 〖X'〗_ijk +〖δ〗_j +〖π〗_k
Findings
A pilot study of 90 students found that female participants face greater career decision-making difficulties than males. Health and Medicine students reported less stress in making career decisions compared to those in other majors. At this stage, the study has not yet produced findings. However, based on previous research in other contexts, some hypothesized outcomes have been identified:
Hypothesized Finding 1: Students with higher core self-evaluation will likely have lower career decision-making difficulties.
Hypothesized Finding 2: The study may uncover nuanced subgroup differences, indicating that the relationship between core self-evaluation and career decision-making difficulties may be contingent on factors such as gender, year and field of studies, and region where students came from.

Expected implications
First, the study addresses a research gap in the existing career decision-making literature by focusing on Kazakhstan and adding insights from a post-Soviet context on career decision-making difficulties among young people. Next, introducing a translated questionnaire in Kazakh and Russian can be a significant methodological contribution. Finally, by analyzing how different socio-economic factors impact individuals’ career decision-making in Kazakhstan, the study contributes to a broader understanding of the socioeconomic determinants of career paths.

Authors

• Ainur Jumagaliyeva, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Dinara Ibrayeva, Florida Sate University