The Undecided Student: Effects of Combining Levels of Treatment Parameters on Career Certainty, Career Indecision, and Client Satisfaction

The author investigated the impact of a 4-phase combined intervention on outcomes of career certainty, career indecision, and client satisfaction in undecided college students and compared it to a 2-phase intervention. Both interventions were effective in increasing career certainty in the sample population; however, the 4-phase treatment was significantly more effective in increasing career certainty. Both treatments were effective in decreasing career indecision, although no significant difference was found between these 2 groups. There was no significant difference in ratings of satisfaction between the 2 groups. The findings suggest that even the most basic and cost-effective intervention may benefit the undecided student. For over 70 years, indecision in educationally and vocationally undecided-undeclared college students has been a concern of college faculty, counselors, academic advisors, administrators, and researchers. In the last decade, attention has focused on these students at an unparalleled pace, perhaps due to retention concerns and the steady rise in the numbers of these students (Gordon, 1995). In an effort to assist undecided-undeclared college students with their career decision-making skills, many interventions have been offered. Fretz (1981) categorized these interventions based on three treatment parameters: content domain, interpersonal context, and degree of structure. CONTENT DOMAIN Content domain includes occupational information, self-knowledge, and decision skills (Fretz, 1981). Occupational information data can be obtained from a variety of sources including publications, audiovisual aids, programmed instructional materials, computer-based systems, interviews with experts, simulated situations, artificial reproduction of work settings, direct observation, directed exploratory experiences, and on-the-job tryouts (Isaacson & Brown, 1993). Several researchers have studied the impact of the method of presenting occupational information on the amount and accuracy of information obtained. In general, a combination of media presentations (e.g., computer, video, or audio) and written information was a superior mode of delivery as compared with written presentation alone (Jepsen, 1972; Johnson, Korn, & Dunn, 1975). In addition, career courses were shown to increase occupational information seeking (McAuliffe, 1991; McAuliffe & Fredrickson, 1990; Oliver & Spokane, 1988; Rayman, Bernard, Holland, & Barnett, 1983; Savickas, 1990). The second component of the content domain, self-knowledge, can be developed through assessment results. Assessment results can identify individual characteristics and generate further career development activities (Zunker & Norris, 1998). A major issue concerning assessment results is how these results can be used most effectively in career counseling programs. A good approach considers assessment results as only a single aspect to be evaluated in the career decision process and seeks active participation from the individual in the assessment interpretation session (Dressel & Matteson, 1950; Zunker, 1998). Decision skills are the final element of content domain. Much time and energy has been spent over the years attempting to understand the process of career decision making and developing strategies for intervention. Many designs recommend ways to enhance decisionmaking skills, and workshops and books have attempted to alleviate the difficulty of the process. Research supports the notion that most participants benefit from career interventions aimed at enhancing decision-making skills (Holland, Magoon, & Spokane, 1981; Oliver & Spokane, 1988; Zagora & Cramer, 1994). INTERPERSONAL CONTEXT The second treatment parameter, interpersonal context, includes one-to-one counseling, group counseling, and self- or computer-administered interventions (Fretz, 1981). Cooper (1986) examined the effects of individual and group vocational counseling on personal indecisiveness and career indecision. …