Related Studies (2019 and later) on Students’ Experiences Choosing a College Major — Phenomenological and Qualitative Research

What you asked for

You asked for related studies (2019 and later) for the topic: "Experiences of Students in Choosing a Major in College: A Phenomenological Study." Below I provide a practical, step-by-step literature search and synthesis guide: how to find recent (2019+) empirical and phenomenological studies, what themes appear in the recent literature, where to search, keywords and Boolean queries to use, how to recognize phenomenological/qualitative work, and citation templates you can copy into your bibliography.

Step 1 — Use the right databases and journals

• Databases: ERIC, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, Google Scholar.
• Relevant journals: Journal of Higher Education, Research in Higher Education, Studies in Higher Education, Journal of College Student Development, International Journal of Educational Research, Career Development Quarterly, Higher Education Research & Development.

Step 2 — Keywords and sample search queries

Combine these keywords with AND/OR and limit results to 2019–present:

• Keywords: "major choice", "choosing a major", "college major decision", "major selection", "academic major", "major switching", "college students", "undergraduate", "choice of major"
• Modifiers: "phenomenology", "phenomenological", "qualitative", "lived experience", "narrative", "interviews"

Sample Boolean queries:

• ("choosing a major" OR "major choice" OR "choice of major") AND (college OR undergraduate OR university) AND (phenomenolog* OR qualitative OR "lived experience")
• ("major switching" OR "change major") AND (reasons OR factors OR experiences) AND year:2019..2025

Step 3 — How to spot phenomenological studies and qualitative methods

• Look for methodology keywords in title/abstract: "phenomenology", "phenomenological", "hermeneutic phenomenology", "interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA)", "qualitative interviews", "focus groups", "lived experience".
• In the methods section check for: sample size (often 8–25 for phenomenology), purposive sampling, transcription procedures, thematic analysis grounded in phenomenology (e.g., Colaizzi, Giorgi, van Manen), verbatim participant quotes used to illustrate themes.

Step 4 — Common themes in 2019+ literature about choosing majors

Studies published since 2019 typically discuss some or all of the following themes. These can help you group and compare related work in your literature review.

• Intrinsic interest and identity: alignment between personal interests, identity and perceived ‘fit’ with the major.
• Career considerations and labor-market information: how career prospects, earning expectations, and job availability influence decisions.
• Family and cultural influences: parental expectations, cultural norms, and socioeconomic background shaping major choice.
• Institutional factors: advising quality, availability of majors, financial aid, marketing by departments, and exposure to faculty.
• High-school preparation and counseling: pre-college exposure to disciplines, counselor input, and high school coursework.
• Gender and stereotype effects: how gendered perceptions of fields (especially STEM) affect decisions.
• Decision processes and emotions: uncertainty, regret, satisfaction, and narratives about decision-making trajectories (including switching majors).
• Experiential influences: internships, shadowing, or first-year courses that confirm or change major choices.

Step 5 — Example structure for a related-studies section

Use these subsections to organize your review:

1. Overview: prevalence and importance of major choice research (post-2019 focus).
2. Themes (group studies by theme listed above).
3. Methodological patterns: quantitative surveys, longitudinal analyses, qualitative/phenomenological studies — note gaps.
4. Contextual gaps: underrepresented student populations, non-Western contexts, effects of COVID-19 on major choice decisions (emerging area since 2020).
5. Implications for advisors and policy and how phenomenological findings inform practice.

Step 6 — Citation templates and how to adapt them

Below are templates you can paste into your reference manager. Replace placeholders with actual details from the papers you identify.

APA journal article:
AuthorLast, A. A., & AuthorLast, B. B. (Year). Title of article: Subtitle. Journal Name, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxxx

APA dissertation/thesis (for phenomenological work sometimes in ProQuest):
AuthorLast, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation (Doctoral dissertation). Institution. URL or ProQuest accession number

Step 7 — Practical tips to find high-quality recent studies

• Sort results by year (2019–present) and by citation count to find influential recent papers.
• Use cited-by links in Google Scholar to follow forward citations from foundational works.
• Search conference proceedings and dissertations for recent phenomenological studies that may not yet be published in journals.
• Use institution/department websites (education, counseling, higher ed) — faculty pages sometimes have working papers or preprints.

Offer — I can help further

If you want, I can:

• Provide a tailored list of 10–15 recent (2019+) empirical and phenomenological studies — if you paste links, DOIs, or article titles I will create annotated citations and short summaries for each.
• Draft a "Related Studies" section (300–800 words) for your paper using the themes above; tell me your target journal style (APA, MLA, Chicago).
• Help refine search queries for a specific database (ERIC, Scopus, PsycINFO).

Would you like me to create an annotated bibliography of recent (2019+) articles? If yes, paste any articles you already have or tell me which database you want me to simulate searching and I will produce ready-to-use annotated entries and a sample related-studies write-up.