Chance in Career Choice: A Rank-Ordering Study

Abstract

This study attempts to investigate the position of chance among the factors affecting the career choices of university students according to gender and willingness. For this purpose, the present study based on rank-order judgments of participants was conducted. In present study, the participants (N = 417) ranked the given ten factors in terms of their perceived impact on university department choices. Further, the participants were asked to describe the chance events they experienced related to career choice. The results showed that 28% of the participants stated that chance plays a role in their career choice. Among the factors affecting career choices, chance ranked seventh in the total sample, sixth in females, eighth in males, eighth in those who chose the department willingly, and third in those chose the department unwillingly by the degree of perceived influence. Overall, these results indicate that chance events were prioritized over others such as family demands, friend opinions and media effect. The findings were discussed and implications for career counselling were presented.