Adolescence and emerging adulthood mark critical phases where individuals face significant challenges in making career decisions. This developmental task, though inevitable, often proves difficult and can lead to suboptimal outcomes that impact various life aspects, including career environments and personal relationships. Career decision-making is inherently stressful, underscoring the need for effective career guidance interventions.

Theoretical Framework

Career indecision encompasses the difficulties individuals encounter when making career decisions. According to Gati et al., these difficulties can be classified into three major categories: Lack of Readiness, Lack of Information, and Inconsistent Information.

1. Lack of Readiness: This category involves difficulties experienced before the decision-making process starts, including lack of motivation, general indecisiveness, and dysfunctional beliefs.
2. Lack of Information: This refers to insufficient information necessary for career path selection, including knowledge about the decision-making process, self-awareness, occupational information, and ways to obtain additional information.
3. Inconsistent Information: This pertains to inconsistencies in available information during the decision-making process, encompassing unreliable information, internal conflicts, and external conflicts.

The Career Decision-Making Questionnaire (CDDQ), devised by Gati et al., assesses these ten dimensions of decision-making difficulties and is widely used in career counseling and research.

Individual and Contextual Variables

Numerous studies have examined individual variables linked to career decision-making, including personality traits, self-perceptions, self-evaluation, and emotional intelligence. Contextual factors, such as age, school level, and cultural influences, also play significant roles. Research indicates that career decision-making difficulties may decrease from adolescence to early adulthood, though some studies suggest these difficulties increase as individuals approach career transition points.

Sex differences in career decision-making are controversial, with some studies finding no significant differences and others reporting variations in motivation and external conflicts, often indicating males experience greater difficulties.

Current Study

This study aims to identify career indecision profiles among Italian late adolescents using the CDDQ and examine the influence of sex and school grade on these profiles. The goal is to develop a nuanced understanding of career indecision and provide valuable insights for career guidance interventions.

Methodology

Utilizing a person-centered approach, the study analyzed data from Italian late adolescents to identify distinct profiles of career indecision. This approach allows for a more detailed understanding of how career indecision manifests differently among individuals, offering a strategic framework for tailored career interventions.

Findings

The study identified four profiles of career indecision:

1. Lower Indecision: This profile includes most of the sample and is characterized by low levels of all career decision-making difficulties.
2. High Indecision: Individuals in this profile display high levels of all career decision-making difficulties.
3. Very High Indecision: This high-risk profile comprises adolescents reporting the highest scores across all dimensions of career decision-making difficulties, though it includes only 7% of the population.
4. Moderate Indecision: This profile is characterized by moderate levels of career indecision and is the second most represented among adolescents.

The profiles highlight that difficulties related to dysfunctional beliefs, general indecisiveness, and lack of motivation are common across all profiles. In contrast, lack of information about the self, occupations, and ways to obtain reliable information are key differentiators among the profiles.

Implications for Career Guidance

The findings suggest that career guidance interventions should focus on improving self-information and providing reliable occupational information. High-risk profiles, such as “Very High Indecision,” particularly benefit from targeted interventions addressing self-awareness and reliable information.

The study also found a significant association between school grade and career indecision profiles. Adolescents in their final year of high school are more likely to belong to the “High” and “Very High Indecision” profiles, indicating increased indecision as they approach critical career choices. However, no significant association was found between sex and career indecision profiles.

Limitations and Future Research

The study has several limitations, including the use of convenience sampling and a cross-sectional design, which limits the generalizability of the results and prevents causal inferences. Future research should adopt longitudinal designs to examine temporal patterns of profile membership and include additional measures to validate the identified profiles.

Moreover, the reliance on self-reported data may introduce reporting bias. Future studies could employ observational or mixed-method approaches to provide more objective insights into the career decision-making process.

Practical Implications

The study‘s findings have important implications for career guidance practices in Italian secondary schools. Currently, Italian schools lack career practitioners, and adolescents often seek help from psychologists or university career days. However, these resources may not adequately address the complexities of career decision-making.

Implementing specific career guidance activities in schools is crucial to enhance motivation and provide comprehensive information about career options. The CDDQ can serve as a valuable tool for school psychologists and practitioners to assess and address career decision-making difficulties among adolescents.

Conclusion

This study provides valuable insights into the profiles of career indecision among Italian late adolescents. By identifying four distinct profiles and highlighting the importance of self-information and reliable occupational information, the findings offer a strategic framework for developing effective career guidance interventions. Addressing career indecision through tailored interventions can significantly support adolescents in making informed and confident career choices, ultimately enhancing their career development and overall well-being.