Career and Degree Choice at Transition to University

Abstract

First year students' degree and career decision-making has been found to be important to their satisfaction with degrees, making a successful transition into university studies, and finding motivation to persist with degree choices. Counsellors at Griffith University Gold Coast campus initiated a research project to investigate degree and career decision-making needs of first year students. The findings of this research indicated the majority of students were satisfied with what they were doing and where they were heading, but a substantial proportion was uncertain of their degree and career plans, and indicated they had not received enough help in decision-making prior to commencing university. Results indicate that providing assistance can be of benefit, and this assistance should be timed appropriately and matched to students' needs. The type of assistance should vary from normalising messages about being uncertain, through to more extensive assistance when it is required.