A Phenomenological Study of Career Anxiety Among College Students

Abstract

This study explored the phenomenon of career anxiety through a qualitative investigation of the experiences of 7 traditional-aged college students who were in various stages of their undergraduate degree programs. Using Moustakas's (1994) method of transcendental phenomenology, the authors conducted in-depth interviews to answer the following questions: (a) What are coresearchers' (participants') experiences with the phenomenon of career anxiety? and (b) In what contexts do the coresearchers experience career anxiety? Seven themes emerged: general symptoms of anxiety, existential concerns, pressure, lack of career guidance, cognitive distortions, social comparisons, and economic/occupational uncertainty. The findings provide a contextual and developmental perspective on career-related anxiety that can guide counselors in the implementation of interventions for reducing anxiety associated with career choice and development.

Impact of Worry on Career Thoughts, Career Decision State, and Cognitive Information Processing Skills

“…The results of this study provide a detailed overview of the relationship of negative career thoughts and career decision state with affective states, such as worry, and affective aspects of metacognitions, as measured by the CTI's emotion-focused items . These results align with previous studies (e .g ., Pisarik et al ., 2017;Xiao et al ., 2014) indicating the connection between affective states such as career anxiety and the process of making a career decision . The association between negative career thoughts and career decision state found in the current study is consistent with previous research (Chason et al ., 2013) .…”

From Role Conflict to Job Burnout: A Mediation Model Moderated by Mindfulness

“…Therefore, practitioners can introduce mindfulness programs in order to provide employees with resources to handle occupational stressors such as role conflict. Previously, mindfulness has been suggested as a coping skill to handle employment uncertainty (Jacobs & Blustein, 2008), to alleviate career anxiety (Pisarik, Rowell, & Thompson, 2017), and to reduce negative career thoughts (Galles et al, 2019). Our results expand the known benefits of mindfulness by suggesting that it can also reduce the impact of role conflict on burnout.…”

Self‐Focused Attention and Career Anxiety: The Mediating Role of Career Adaptability

“…Career anxiety refers to negative emotions experienced before or during various stages of the career decision‐making process and during job performance (Fouad, 2007; Saka et al, 2008). Experiences of career anxiety are especially common among college students, regardless of their ethnic and cultural backgrounds (Gordon & Steele, 2015; Pisarik, Rowell, & Thompson, 2017). A certain amount of anxiety can help individuals prepare for career‐related tasks (Cho, 2008; Harren, 1979).…”