Career Decidedness

Difficulties with career decision ranks among the most common reasons people seek career counseling. A complex concept, decidedness relates closely to broader processes of career choice and decision making and serves as the focus of a sizeable amount of published literature (e.g., see Gati, 2013; Osipow, 1999; Phillips & Jome, 2005; Tinsley, 1992; Whiston & Rose, 2013). Historically, career indecision has denoted an inability to express an educational or occupational choice when asked to do so, and a delay in bringing closure to the career choice process (Slaney, 1988). Contemporary definitions further characterize indecision as a wavering, pause, or hesitation in vocational development (Savickas, 2011), an openness to alternative career pathways (Krumboltz, 2009), and a state of adaptive uncertainty (Krieshok et al., 2009; Phillips, 1997).