College Students’ Exploration of Major Selection Process and Awareness of New Disciplines

Objective This study aims to determine whether the motivation for choosing a major affects the satisfaction with major decisions after entering university. Additionally, it seeks to understand perceptions of new academic systems designed to increase satisfaction. Contents This study analyzed whether the motivation for selecting a major before enrollment influences the desired major decision. In addition, it is intended to analyze the factors affecting the satisfaction of major decision after admission, and to suggest the direction of education policy after understanding the recognition of the introduction of a new academic system to operate it effectively. Conclusions The conclusion of this study is as follows. First, the intrinsic factors (aptitude and interest, dream realization) of major selection before entering college were higher than the extrinsic factors (employment outlook, grades). Second, it was confirmed that the satisfaction with major decision after entering college affects the satisfaction with major decision in the order of the connection between college major and employment, the relationship between college major and career, high school career education, and university field. Finally, it was said that ‘support for opportunities to experience various studies’ is the most necessary for matters to be considered at the university level in relation to the operation of the new school system, and as a problem, there are concerns about ‘the phenomenon of concentration on popular departments’ and ‘difficulty in managing students related to major decision’. Based on these results, implications and suggestions for follow-up research were presented in relation to college student’s major decision and career education.