A Retrospective Study of the Career Decision-Making of Young Adults Who Participated in the PSMIGP Program for Gifted Preschoolers

Gifted students possess broad developmental potential; however, these characteristics may also create challenges in career decision-making. Previous research suggests that gifted individuals’ career development is influenced by multiple interacting factors across personal, familial, educational, and sociocultural domains. This retrospective study investigated the career development of individuals who participated in the preschool gifted program (PSMIGP: Problem-Solving and Multiple Intelligences for Gifted Preschoolers) launched by National Taiwan Normal University in 2003. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 18 participants selected based on domain of strength, gender, cohort, and willingness to participate. Interview data were analyzed using NVivo 15 through qualitative coding procedures, with multiple data sources, collaborative review, and peer discussion employed to enhance trustworthiness and contextual understanding. Findings revealed that gifted individuals’ career decisions were shaped by interacting personal, family, learning, and sociocultural factors. Although participants across domains demonstrated strong self-awareness and agency, academic participants generally followed more stable career pathways, whereas artistic participants encountered greater complexity and practical constraints. Artistic participants also exhibited greater sensitivity to perceived sociocultural risks. Based on these findings, this study underscores the importance of parental support, strengthened career guidance, and diverse exploratory opportunities within educational settings and the promotion of diverse social values to support gifted students’ career development. Overall, gifted career development should be understood as a dynamic process shaped through continuous interaction between individuals and their broader developmental contexts.