Future career anxiety among female medical students at Imam Abdul Rahman Bin Faisal University in collectivist cultural setting

Abstract EN

The purpose of the study is to examine: (a) the relationship between factors influencing major selection (personal interest, parental influence, job security, peer influence) and Future Career Anxiety as well as Communal Orientation (individualism versus collectivism); (b) the relationship between prospective track of study (medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, applied medical sciences) and Adolescent-Parent Career Congruence; (c) the predictors of Future Career Anxiety; and (d) the correlations among the variables of the interest.

An electronic survey was conducted on (156) female medical students of the preparatory year at Imam Abdul Rahman bin Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.

The results indicated that there was a significant negative correlation between self-selection of major and Future Career Anxiety, and there was a significant positive correlation between self-selection of major and Adolescent-Parent Career Congruence.

Moreover, there was a significant positive correlation between parental influence and personal interest in major selection.

Students who chose their major based on personal interest and with the purpose of securing a job had significantly higher mean scores on Communal Orientation than students who chose their major based on parental