The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in the levels of interpersonal satisfaction, university service satisfaction, and career decision-making self-efficacy between Undeclared and Declared major Freshmen to help Undeclared major Fres...
The purpose of this study is to examine the differences in the levels of interpersonal satisfaction, university service satisfaction, and career decision-making self-efficacy between Undeclared and Declared major Freshmen to help Undeclared major Freshmen adjust to university life. To this end, an online survey was conducted targeting freshmen at P university, a four-year university located in Busan. The survey is including scales for interpersonal satisfaction, university service satisfaction, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 29 for frequency analysis, reliability analysis, descriptive stastics, correlation analysis, and t-test.
The results of the study are as follows. First, both Undeclared and Declared major Freshmen exhibited statistically significant correlations between interpersonal satisfaction, university service satisfaction, and career decision-making self-efficacy. Second, upon analyzing differences according to sociodemographic characteristics of Undeclared and Declared major Freshmen, no significant difference was found based on gender. However, the analysis of differences by admission type and academic discipline was observed significant differences. Third, looking at the difference between Undeclared and Declared major Freshmen, Undeclared major Freshmen showed lower scores in friend satisfaction(a sub-factor of interpersonal satisfaction) and job information gathering(a sub-factor of career decision-making self-efficacy) compared to Declared major Freshmen.
These findings suggest the necessity for universities to prioritize establishing programs that support building rapport among peer and seniors/juniors, and system that provide specific major and career-related information to help undeclared major freshmen adjust to university life. Furthermore, this study is significant in providing practical foundational data to help the stable settlement of the undeclared major system and freshmen’s adjustment to university life by suggesting the need for career support programs considering the characteristics of admission types and academic disciplines.
Finally , suggestions and implications for further research are discussed based on the findings of this study.
Key words: Undeclared Major Freshmen, Declared major Freshmen, Interpersonal satisfaction, University service satisfaction, Career decision-making self-efficiency.