CAREER DECISION MAKING AND ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Career decision-making is a crucial thought process where individuals choose their education and career options based on their interests and abilities to get into particular career. The study attempted to find out relationship between career decision making and achievement motivation in undergraduate level students from liberal and professional courses, considering gender and social category. For data collection, The adapted career decision making inventory developed by Keerandeep Singh (2014) and the achievement motivation scale developed by Deo- Mohan (2008) were administered to 60 undergraduate students from liberal courses and 60 undergraduate students from professional course. students in SR&BGNR Government college, Khammam. The collected data were analyzed using z-test and ANOVA. The study found that gender, social category and academic stream do not significantly influence undergraduate students' career decision making or achievement motivation. However, there is a significant difference in the levels of achievement motivation among these students. This highlights the importance and need for implementation of career counseling programs at institutional and communal levels to prevent misconceptions about subject choice and awareness programs should be conducted for parents and students.