what are the variables in the study?

Implications

Theoretically, the present study adds value to the literature by identifying the career$-$

deciding factors of UG and PG students of urban universities$/$colleges in the Indian context.

Most of the respondents in the study were urban students. The exposure and opportunity

urban students are getting may be the reason for the difference in findings from other studies,

adding value to the literature. The study also highlights the perceptual difference of students

in different cultural contexts. That means the prominent career decision factors may vary

based on various cultural scenarios.

Students who are getting training will have more clarity about their careers. Therefore, the

study explains the need to give proper training on career opportunities and career guidance

which in turn can provide more career clarity to students. This information is helpful for

counselors to understand career decision factors so that they can plan their career counselling

interventions. Even academic institutions, career consultancies and professional bodies can

effectively focus on supporting aspiring students based on their professional requirements.

Limitations and scope for future research

Previous studies identified the importance of peers, family and teachers in influencing the

career choices of students $($Auyeung and Sands, $1997$; Bright et al$.,2005$; Houser and Garvey,

$1983),$ but these factors were not prominent in this study, even though the questionnaire had

related questions. By looking at Indian culture, there was more possibility for students to get

influenced by family and friends in their career decision$-$making, but the study group is more

of urban students which may be the reason why there is a difference in this study. It opens the

further scope of studying different sets of samples, especially career decision factors of

students at school levels. There is more possibility for these rural students to get influenced

by families and friends compared to urban college students. One more feature we noticed in

Indian colleges was the proportion of female and male students. Most colleges, the number of

female students is higher than male students, except in engineering colleges. Mau $(2000)$

found that career decision$-$making styles and decision$-$making self$-$efficacy can differ based

on gender. Researchers can further explore these factors.

Though the adopted theoretical frameworks supported various social, economic, and

cultural factors to a great extent, an adequate depiction of these factors could not be obtained

through the findings. This also gives great potential for future research. We cannot ignore the

importance of intrinsic factors, which gives scope for further research. The study findings are

context$-$specific because the data collected from private universities and colleges in urban

areas may not be applied to other cultural settings. In the future, researchers can focus on

identifying the career decision factors of students from public universities or colleges, in

which the career decision factors may be significantly different.