Career decision-making is an important process, which also includes deciding on a course of study. While many individuals do not encounter major difficulties in this regard, others face various challenges. Students with special needs may face more or different difficulties in career decision-making than students without special needs, and the same applies , where they are faced with fulfilling their study commitments. Career decision-making self-efficacy and career maturity are also important aspects of career decision-making, as they are linked to the individual's success in their career path.
The aim of the Master's thesis was to investigate the career decision-making of students with special needs in relation to the difficulties they face, their career decision-making self-efficacy and their career maturity. We also wanted to explore the difficulties they face during their studies and identify aspects of career decision-making and the study process where they need support by formulating suggestions on how they should be supported in this regard.
The study used a descriptive and causal non-experimental method combining quantitative and qualitative research approaches. The sample comprised 94 students without special needs and 63 students with special needs at higher education institutions in Slovenia. The data was collected using an online questionnaire and then semi-structured interviews were conducted with six selected students with special needs.
The results of the study show that, on average, students with special needs had no significant difficulties in choosing their field of study, but the wide variety of responses makes it difficult to draw consistent conclusions. The most common problems experienced by students with special needs were dysfunctional beliefs and a general fear of failure. In most cases, they did not differ significantly from students without special needs in terms of difficulties in choosing a course of study, even when the type of disability was taken into account. On average, they do not think about dropping out of school and do not see a significant discrepancy between their expectations of school and their actual experiences. In this respect, they do not differ significantly from students without special needs in terms of type of disability, even among themselves.
The results also show that, on average, students with special needs have no disability-related difficulties in taking exams, completing practicals, exercises or fieldwork, although around a third said that this was at least partly true for them. Some students were desperate and considered dropping out because teaching staff were not understanding of their disability. Furthermore, the results show that students with special needs have a moderate to good level of career decision-making self-efficacy, which does not differ according to the type of disability or that of students without special needs. With regard to career maturity, we find that comparable proportions of students with special needs agree or disagree with the statements in the area of career maturity. However, a comparison with students without special needs shows that, on average, students with special needs know less about how to start looking for a job, think less often about the career they would like to pursue and perceive slightly more difficulties on the way to their dream career.
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