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Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the negative thinking patterns of incoming community college freshmen who were undecided about choosing a major and to suggest an approach for addressing these issues on a community college campus. Sixty community college freshmen attending their freshman orientation (FO) were surveyed using the Career Thoughts Inventory (CTI). Results indicated that the students who participated in the study scored higher on all CTI scales than high school or college students in the normative sample. There were no differences in scores in terms of ages, gender, or ethnicity. These results suggest that community colleges should design programming that can help new students, particularly freshmen; to identify and to address their unconstructive thoughts with the aim of helping these students learn how to manage their anxiety upon entering college. Counselors and advisors should work more collaboratively by shifting from an individual model of delivering services to a more holistic learning approach in order to help students to become more decisive about an educational career path.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Ms. Freda McClean and staff, Dr. Juliet Emanuel, and Dr. Lori Colwell for all their help in getting this study completed.
Notes
Note. DMC = Decision Making Confusion; CA = Commitment Anxiety; EC = External Conflict.
*denotes significant p value (p < .05).
Note. CTI = Career Thoughts Inventory; DMC = Decision Making Confusion; CA = Commitment Anxiety; EC = External Conflict.
*p < .05; **p < .01; ***p < .001.