Curriculum and Instruction in Career Decision-Making Anxiety: A Qualitative Study of Saudi University Students

Abstract

Career decision-making anxiety among university students is often treated as an individual psychological concern, although it is experienced within educational settings where students interpret possible futures. This study examined the role of curriculum structures and instructional practices in Saudi university students’ interpretations of and responses to career-related uncertainty. Interviews with 24 male students at the Al-Qunfudhah branch of Umm Al-Qura University constituted the primary data source and were complemented by eight non-participant observations across classrooms, advising contexts, and academic events. The data were analyzed using a hybrid deductive–inductive thematic analysis informed by Braun and Clarke’s six-phase framework. Four framework-informed overarching themes organized the findings, while 13 sub-themes were developed inductively. Participants described greater clarity, confidence, and engagement when learning was coherent, applied, and connected to occupational contexts. By contrast, abstract curriculum content and limited links to professional practice were associated with heightened uncertainty, hesitation, and delayed decision-making. Responses nevertheless varied: some students actively sought information and explored available pathways, whereas others withdrew or relied on social reassurance without sustained action. Overall, the findings position career decision-making anxiety not simply as an internal state but as an educationally and contextually mediated experience shaped through interactions among curriculum, instruction, relational expectations, and perceived opportunity. They underscore the value of embedding applied learning, sustained guidance, and explicit connections between academic knowledge and future pathways within curriculum and instructional practice.