Navigating Educational Pathways: How Collectivistic Cultural Norms Shape Educational Choices in College Students

Career planning and educational pathway selection according to personal interest is good and taking a good decision about major selection cause sense of satisfaction in person, however; there are many cultural factors influencing the personal interest of youth and cause hurdles in navigating the educational pathway. This systematic review aimed to review the existed literature on the collectivistic factors influencing the educational pathway selection of youth in South Asian countries. A systematic review was performed using the PRISMA strategy. Google Scholar, ERIC, Taylor and Francis, Web of Science and Science Direct databases were searched for articles published during the timeline of January 2005 to May 2024. Total number of 36 articles were added to this review. The key findings of this systematic review revealed that three main collectivistic factors including Familial factors (Family Preferences, Ancestors profession continuation, Elder siblings Educational paths), Social factors (Social responsibilities and expectations, Professional development opportunities, Gender Specific Professions, Friends Group cohesion, cultural ideology ), Interpersonal (Role Model Influence, vocational aspirations) influence the educational pathway selection of students. Personal interest of a student matters the same as the other factors. In individualistic cultures, student is more focused on his goals rather than the choices of other family members.