Career Decision-Making Difficulty in Relation to Ethnicity, Gender, and Academic Achievement among Final Year Students in a Public University in East Malaysia

Abstract

Making decisions about careers can be a daunting task for university graduates. This study was conducted among 242 final year public university students in East Malaysia to investigate the differences between difficulty making career decisions and ethnicity, gender as well as academic achievement. A Career Decision-Making Difficulties Questionnaire was administered. ANOVA was used to analyse difficulty making career decisions in relation to ethnicity and academic achievement. While t-test was used to analyse the difference between gender and career decision-making difficulty, The findings showed there was no significant difference in career decision-making difficulty relating to Malay, Chinese, Indian and Sabah and Sarawak indigenous groups, F(3, 238) = 1.83, p>.05.The findings also showed that there was no significant difference between gender and career decision-making difficulty, t(242) = .08, p>0.5. However, there was a significant difference between career decision-making difficulty and academic achievement, F(3, 238) = 3.80, p<.05. It is recommended that the universities' Counselling and Guidance Division of Student Affairs Departments play a more pivotal role in providing students with specialised guidance to help them overcome the inherent difficulties in choosing a career.

Emotional Intelligence and Its Relationship to the Career Decision Making Difficulties Among Israeli Palestinian High School Students

“…All education, guidance and counselling programmes are openly available to all students whether male or female. Thus, all the students have equal exposure to any form of education provided including career education (Wahab, et al, 2022).…”