Reuben, Shanya.Mdladla, Sbusisiwe Felicity.2026-01-262026-01-2620252025https://hdl.handle.net/10413/24263Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal Durban.The aim of this study was to explore factors that influence the career choice of psychology students in the University of KwaZulu Natal. This study explored the personal, social and environmental factors that influence career choice. Literature reveals that career decision making is not a straight-forward process, rather, it is a process that is affected by a number of factors (Kulcsar et al, 2019 ). Literature also revealed that in a context such as the South African context career choice is also directly affected by its socio-political context (Chinyamurindi, 2016). The theoretical framework that was used in this research study is the theory of reciprocal determinism coined by Albert Bandura, which suggests that a person’s behaviour is influenced by their personal factors, their environment, and the behaviour itself (Bandura, 1978). This theoretical framework was used for this study because it allows for an exploration of how a person’s behaviour is influenced or affected by different factors such as their personal factors and environmental factors. The study adopted a qualitative approach in exploring these factors. This current study used purposive sampling to gather a sample. The sample consisted of a total of eight participants of which were completing their Honours Degree at the time they participated in the study. All of the participants of this study were studying general psychology. A thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected by the researcher in order to show the perceptions of psychology students in the University of KwaZulu Natal. Different themes were formed from this data to present the different interpretations of the participants. The central themes that were discovered from the findings include social influences and personal determinants of career choice; university factors shaping career paths and perceived career outcomes and expectations. These findings indicated the interconnection between various factors that influence a participants' career choice. They showed the importance of career counselling at the university as it helped students make informed decisions about their study paths and future careers. Receiving such professional career counselling at the university thus has a great impact on one’s career choice. Social and industry influence were also expressed as a push factor in furthering participants education to a master’s degree level which would make it easier for them to be registered psychologists. Furthermore, the findings implied that career choices were also a result of personal interests which motivated one to pursue opportunities in a particular field.enCC0 1.0 Universalhttp://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/Professional career counselling.Registered psychologist.Psychology students.Thesis