Identifying and Validating Career Indecision Types Among Undergraduate Students in Türkiye: A Person-Centered Investigation

Identifying distinct career indecision profiles allows for the tailoring of counseling interventions to address each client’s specific needs. While Levin, Lipshits-Braziler, and Gati (2024) established a general seven-profile typology across 16 countries, cultural and socioeconomic variations necessitate replicating this model while exploring potential context-specific profiles within a specific country. Accordingly, this study explored career indecision types among Turkish undergraduate students ( N = 1,377) and examined profile differences in relation to background characteristics and career-related outcomes. Latent profile analysis replicated six profiles from the general typology with some nuances: Unrealistic–Indecisive, Generally Uninformed, Uninformed–Conflicted, Internally Conflicted, Externally Conflicted, and Unmotivated. Additionally, a context-specific seventh profile—Generally Conflicted—emerged. Results indicated that gender and socioeconomic status were significant predictors of profile membership, whereas age had a minimal impact. Furthermore, profiles differed significantly in career decidedness, self-efficacy, locus of control, and ambiguity intolerance. These findings are discussed within the Turkish socioeconomic and cultural framework, as well as the broader international literature. The findings provide a basis for implementing targeted counseling strategies and outline key directions for future research.