Brief Bibliography of Literature on Undecided/Exploratory Students:

Interestingly enough "the research on undecided students, while voluminous, has yielded little in characterizing this heterogeneous group in specific terms." - Gordon (1995. P.29)

It is hard to narrow down to a short list, but, that being said, here are a few relevant pieces of literature that may be helpful: 

THE UNDECIDED STUDENT:

• Gordon, V.N. (1981). The undecided student: A developmental perspective. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 59, 433-439.
  

This article provides an in-depth examination of the undecided student from the cognitive and vocational perspectives of Super, Tiedeman and Perry. It reveals that the undecided student is similar to the decided student in that they experience the same developmental stages but at different times. In addition, the article reviews practical implications of incorporating developmental perspectives in the daily work of administrators, faculty, and staff.

• Gordon, V.N. (1995). The undecided college student: An academic and career advising challenge (2nd ed.). Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas.

This is one of the better pieces of literature with which to begin reading about undecided students and undecided student advising. It provides a comprehensive review of the research regarding undecided students up to the point of its publication in 1995. In addition, it includes information regarding topics such as: origins and correlates of indecision, characteristics of undecided students, vocational identity, typologies of undecided students, and programmatic interventions.

• Gordon, V.N., & Steele, G.E. (2003). Undecided first-year students: A 25 year longitudinal study. Journal of the First-Year Experience, 15(1), 19-38.

This study reviewed the responses of students, over the course of 25 years, on an intake survey at the time of their orientation to The Ohio State University.

• Steele, G.E., & McDonald, M.L. (2000). Advising students in transition. In Gordon, V.N., Habley, W.R., & Associates. (2000). Academic advising: A comprehensive handbook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

ACTIVITIES/STUDENT WORKBOOKS:

• Gordon, V.N., & Sears, S.J. (2004). Selecting a college major: Exploration and decision-making (5 th ed.) . Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.

  This book contains exercises and activities to assist a student with collecting, analyzing, and utilizing information throughout the exploration process. It provides a good explanation of the four knowledge areas described in Gordon's model for exploration.

• Machado, J. (2002). Fishing for a Major. Natavi Guides: New York, NY.

This short activity filled book comes from the perspective of a student who went through the process of exploring and choosing a major.

ADVANCED UNDECIDED STUDENTS:

• Hagstrom, S.J., Skovholt, T.M., & Rivers, D.A. (1997). The advanced undecided college student: A qualitative study. NACADA Journal, 17(2), 23-30.

CAREER ADVISING:

• Carroll McCollum, V.J. (1998). Career advising: A developmental approach. NACADA Journal, 18(1), 15-19.

  Career advising has increasingly become a more important part in the relationship between academic advisor and undecided advisee. This article presents a model for career advising based upon Super's (1990) (see citation in this section below) stages of development.

• Gordon, V.N. (2005). Career advising: An academic advisor's guide. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Super, D. (1990). A life-span, life-space approach to career development. In Brown, D., Brooks, L., and Associates. (1990). Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice. (2 nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

COMPARING DECIDED AND UNDECIDED STUDENTS:

• Anderson, B.C., Creamer, D.G., & Cross, L.H. (1989). Undecided, multiple change, and decided students: How different are they? NACADA Journal, 9(1), 46-50.

• Baird, L.L. (1969). The undecided student - How different is he? Personnel and Guidance Journal, 47, 429-434.
• Foote, B. (1980). Determined- and undetermined-major students: How different are they? Journal of College Student Personnel, 21, 29-34.
• Lewallen, W.C. (1995). Students decided and undecided about career choice: A comparison of college achievement and student involvement. NACADA Journal, 15(1), 22-30.
• Titley, R.W., & Titley, B.S. (1980). Initial choice of college major: Are only the "undecided" undecided? Journal of College Student Personnel, 21, 293-298.

  This article is one of the most often cited articles regarding undecided students, in the context of being compared to decided students. It points out that 3 out of every 4 students at the institutional site had some level of uncertainty about their major.

DECISION-MAKING:

• Bertram, R.M. (1996). The irrational nature of choice: A new model for advising undecided students? NACADA Journal, 16(2), 19-24.

• Phillips, S.D & Strohmer, D.C. (1982). Decision-making style and vocational maturity. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 20, 215-222.

GENERAL ADVISING RESOURCES:

• Gordon, V.N. (1992). Handbook of academic advising. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
• Gordon, V.N., Habley, W.R., & Associates. (2000). Academic advising: A comprehensive handbook. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

INDECISION VERSUS INDECISIVENESS:

• Hartman, B.W., & Fuqua, D.R. (1983). Career indecision from a multidimensional perspective: A reply to Grites. The School Counselor, 30, 340-346.

In response to Grites (1981) (see pressures to decide section), Hartman and Fuqua argue that many students who are uncertain about their career choices are in fact dealing with the chronic problems associated with an indecisiveness trait. They feel that Grites' "healthy choice" perspective over simplifies the issue.

• Osipow, S.H. (1999). Assessing career indecision. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 55, 147-154.

This article discusses the differences between students undecided about major/career who are facing a state of indecision, and those students who are dealing with a more chronic problem of indecisiveness. It does well to point out that not every undecided student is an indecisive student.

MAJOR CHANGERS/MAJOR CHANGING:

• Gordon, V.N. & Steele, G.E. (1992). Advising major-changers: Students in transition. NACADA Journal, 12(1), 22-27.
• Kramer, G.L., Higley, H.B., & Olsen, D. (1994). Changes in academic major among undergraduate students. College and University, 69(2), 88-98.

  This article is one of a limited number of more recent research studies that looked into major changing behaviors over a longitudinal period. Numerous research questions were posed, one of which resulted in data showing that students who start as "open majors" change majors less frequently than decided students once they make an initial choice of major.

• Steele, G.E., Kennedy, G.J., & Gordon, V.N. (1993). The retention of major changers: A longitudinal study. Journal of College Student Development, 34(1), 58-62.

• Titley, R.W, Titley, B.S., & Wolff, W.M. (1976). The major changers: Continuity or discontinuity in the career decision process? Journal of Vocational Behavior, 8(1), 105-111.

PERSISTENCE AND ATTRITION:

• Lewallen, W.C. (1993). The impact of being "undecided" on college-student persistence. Journal of College Student Development, 34(2), 103-112.

  This article, based upon work from his dissertation, provides a well argued position that undecided/exploratory students are not necessarily at greater risk of dropping out of college than their decided peers. It also points out some of the potential flaws in the earlier research regarding undecided student attrition.

• Lewallen, W.C. (1995). Students decided and undecided about career choice: A comparison of college achievement and student involvement. NACADA Journal, 15(1), 22-30.

PRESSURES TO DECIDE EARLY:

• Berger, E.M. (1967). Vocational choices in college. Personnel and Guidance Journal, 45, 888-894.

This article is describes the various internal and external pressures that many incoming college students have to decide upon a major/career quickly. Although written back in the late 1960's, this article still seems very applicable to today's college students.

• Grites, T.J. (1981). Being "undecided" might be the best decision they could make. The School Counselor, 29, 41-46.

Another great article that breaks down the pressures to decide early that college student must often face. In addition, this article advocates that being undecided is a healthy decision for an incoming first-year student to make.

• Grites, T.J. (1983). "Undecided" or undecided: A reexamination. The School Counselor, 30, 347-349.

This is Grites' response and rebuttal to Hartman & Fuqua (1983) (see indecision versus indecisiveness section), providing some clarity to his original 1981 article published in The School Counselor.

• Gordon, V.N. (1998). Career decidedness types: A literature review. The Career Development Quarterly, 46, 386-403.

Although there have been a number of articles published that present possible subtypes of undecided students, this article synthesizes these previous studies of possible typologies into seven possible categories of undecided and decided students.

THEORIES - CAREER DEVELOPMENT:

• Brown, D., Brooks, L., and Associates. (1990). Career choice and development: Applying contemporary theories to practice. (2 nd ed.) . San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

THEORIES - STUDENT DEVELOPMENT:

• Evans, N.J., Forney, D.S., & Guido-DiBrito, F.G. (1998). Student Development in College: Theory, Research, and Practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

This is a great resource for learning about many of the student development theories that have been proposed up to the point of publication. This book provides a summary of student development theories in a practitioner friendly way.

• Sanford, N. (1967). Where colleges fail: A study of the student as a person. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

  Discusses the concepts of challenge and support. Sanford argues that students should experience levels of both while progressing through college. Too much or too little of either, and the student does not grow or develop, and is more likely to leave college as a result.