Title: Understanding the factors influencing career choices in India: from the students' perspectives

Authors: Arghya Ray; Pradip Kumar Bala; Shilpee A. Dasgupta; Abhishek Srivastava

Addresses: Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, Suchana Bhawan, Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand, India ' Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, Suchana Bhawan, Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand, India ' Indian Institute of Management Ranchi, Suchana Bhawan, Ranchi-834008, Jharkhand, India ' IT Systems and Analytics, IIM Jammu, India

Abstract: For shaping up a good career, it is necessary to go through a good career choice process. To attract students and for formulating better strategies, marketers of educational institutes need to understand the factors influencing career choices. The study aims to qualitatively capture the perspectives of Indian students on the factors influencing their career choices. Utilising the constructionist-interpretivist paradigm, 33 Indian students between the age range 19 and 30 were interviewed. The thematic-based analysis of the interviews revealed that the career choices made by most of the students had been under the influence of peers, parents or society. Findings suggest that convenience, family background, societal status, family income and parental pressure are the factors that are responsible for career choices in India. The results provide valuable insights for researchers and practitioners in the educational sector as well as implications to stimulate future research.

Keywords: career choices; constructionist-interpretivist paradigm; parental pressure; qualitative study; societal influence; students perspectives.

DOI: 10.1504/IJICBM.2020.105641

International Journal of Indian Culture and Business Management, 2020 Vol.20 No.2, pp.175 - 193

Received: 29 Nov 2018
Accepted: 02 May 2019
Published online: 06 Mar 2020 *

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