Journal of Educational, Health and Community Psychology
VOL 15 NO 2 JUNE 2026

Vocational Identity and Career Decision-Making Difficulties among Students in Bonded Scholarship Programs

Aurelia Hayfa Rayna (Faculty of Education and Psychology, Universitas Negeri Semarang)
Talitha Lintang Pertiwi (Faculty of Education and Psychology, Universitas Negeri Semarang)



Article Info

Publish Date
31 May 2026

Abstract

This study examines the influence of vocational identity on career decision-making difficulties among bonded scholarship recipients in Indonesia. Bonded scholarship students face a unique psychological condition in which institutional career commitments are established prior to autonomous exploration, potentially placing them at risk of foreclosed vocational identity. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 112 students selected through convenience sampling. Simple linear regression analysis revealed that vocational identity significantly and negatively predicted career decision-making difficulties (β = −0.519; p < 0.001), accounting for 26.9% of the variance. Additionally, male students demonstrated significantly higher vocational identity scores, while female students reported greater career decision-making difficulties. These findings highlight the critical role of vocational identity as a psychological factor in reducing career indecision, even within institutionally structured career pathways.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

Psychology

Publisher

Subject

Education Public Health

Description

Journal of Educational, Health, and Community Psychology (JEHCP) published an article, and empirical study that have originality, novelty and fill the gap of knowledge, that focused on educational psychology, health psychology and community psychology. JEHCP is an open access peer reviewed, ...