Career Anxiety in Post-COVID Generation Z College Students
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Authors
Eaton, Lydia
Date
2025
Type
Dissertation
Language
en_US
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic caused unprecedented interruption during the early adolescent years, limiting the career exploration phase and interrupting career identity development. This descriptive qualitative phenomenological study was guided by the Career Constructivist Theory and grounded by the Ethic of Care, and explored the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on college students’ career-related anxiety. Disruptions to structured time and face-to-face communication led to prolonged alone time, increased social media use, and decreased social skill development. These conditions contributed to widespread mental health concerns, including increased social anxiety, leading to decreased motivation, increased procrastination, and greater indecision at the college level. Five years after the onset of the pandemic, social anxiety attributes that plague these emerging adults continue to interrupt the exploration of work experience opportunities, collecting career-relevant information, and gaining work skills in college. The findings underscore the urgent need for higher education institutions to acknowledge and address the ongoing social anxiety impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.