Selected Background Variables as They Influence the Choice of a College Major.

Abstract

In order to facilitate the process of choosing a major, educators need more information about the background factors that lead to successful decision making. This study was an attempt to isolate some of the factors and to determine which would be useful in predicting a college student's ability to make educational and career decisions. The sample for this study consisted of 158 students enrolled in a private college of medium-to-high selectivity. Two sub-groups were formed on the basis of consistency of major choice from the time of college entrance to graduation. All students had completed the American College Testing Profile (ACT) and the Cooperative Institutional Research Program Survey (CIRP) at the time of college entrance. Forty-seven items were selected which related to John Krumboltz's categories of career decision-making influencers: Genetic Endowment and Special Abilities, Environmental Conditions, Instrumental Learning Experiences, and Associative Learning Experiences. The study proposed to investigate the relationship of these variables to the two groups of students by using simple linear regression and one-way analysis of variance to test for significant differences between the groups. A step-wise multiple regression equation tested for the amount of variance contributed to the criterion by each of the significant variables. It was hypothesized that the backgrounds of the most consistent group would show significantly different decision-making determinants than the less consistent group, that the category of Associative Learning Experiences would exert the most influence, and that the category of Environmental Conditions would exert the least. Eight of the variables tested showed significant differences between groups at the .05 level. Six of these were in the category of Associative Learning Experiences and none were in the category of Environmental Conditions. The step-wise multiple regression equation showed that five of the eight significant variables contributed 14.76% of the amount of variance in the criterion. This study barely scratched the surface in the attempt to identify the influencers which contribute to the development of decision-making skills. The reliability of the predictor variables should be tested by further research using larger, less homogeneous samples.