Extracurricular activities and career indecision: A look at the mediating role of vocational exploration

This study examined whether vocational exploration mediated the association between participation in extracurricular activities and career indecision among high school students. A total of 312 students were surveyed over three waves of data collection (Secondary 3 to Secondary 5). Participation in extracurricular activities (number and types), vocational exploration (self and environment), and career indecision (undecidedness, self-unclarity, and career choice unimportance) were self-reported. Results revealed that participation in a higher number of extracurricular activities predicted an increase in vocational exploration the following year. Moreover, vocational exploration predicted a decrease in career indecision the year after that. However, the predictive association between participation in extracurricular activities and career indecision was not mediated by vocational exploration. Examination of the types of activities (sports; arts and sociocultural activities; academic-related committees, volunteering, and civic activities) also showed that participation in arts and sociocultural activities predicted an increase in vocational exploration, whereas participation in academic-related committees, volunteering, and civic activities predicted a decrease in career indecision by the end of the high school years. These results suggest that extracurricular activities could be promoted by career counselors as an additional strategy for supporting students in their exploration o...
Source: Journal of Vocational Behavior - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research