Understanding and Addressing Career Anxiety Among Students: An Integrative Review of Psychological, Cultural, and External Factors

Abstract

Recently, career anxiety has become a popular topic among college students due to the rapid transformations in the labor market and the impact of global disasters such as the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In the present literature review, more than 50 articles will be reviewed to understand the issue better and identify the aspects related to career anxiety, including psychological and external factors that lead to it. For example, personality features such as neuroticism, as well as dysfunctional career thoughts, are important causes of increased levels of anxiety among people. Other factors that are external are the pressure on academics, social expectations, and uncertainty created by the pandemic. Resilience and social support have been recognized to be significant protective factors for students suffering from employment anxiety and, as such, should be taken into account in intervention design. Spiritual, humanistic, and cognitive behavioral techniques have proven to be efficient counseling methods. Culture plays an essential role in career-related stress management. Among the directions for future research, the use of technology, the effectiveness of long-term interventions, and socioeconomic inequalities can be highlighted. To sum up, coping with career-related stress requires using several approaches, including resilience development, getting social support, and participating in culturally specific counseling.