International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 10 (October 2025), Pages: 181-194

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 Original Research Paper

Factors influencing career path selection among gifted individuals: Their perspectives

 Author(s): 

 Waleed Khaled Albosaif 1, *, Abdullah Mohammed Aljughaiman 1, Abdulrahman Khalid Alsayed 2

 Affiliation(s):

  1Gifted and Talented Programs and Thinking Development, Department of Special Education, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
  2Department of Special Education, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia

 Full text

    Full Text - PDF

 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0009-0003-8811-9435

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.10.019

 Abstract

This study investigated the factors influencing career decisions among gifted individuals, with particular attention to the role of enrichment programs. It examined how personal environments and academic backgrounds contribute to career choices using a quantitative research design. The findings revealed that 82.4% of participants selected their careers based on personal interest, while 52.9% identified family support as a significant influence. Environmental elements such as teachers and societal expectations affected 41.2% of respondents, and 17.6% considered labor market conditions in their decision-making. Only 14.29% reported that academic performance, particularly grade point average (GPA), restricted their choice of specialization. These results underscore the value of enrichment programs in enhancing students’ awareness of career pathways and their ability to align aspirations with capabilities. The findings suggest that such programs should be developed in coordination with families and schools and include practical learning experiences. Future research should assess the long-term effects of enrichment programs and propose strategies to reduce the gap between students’ preferred careers and labor market demands.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Gifted students, Career decisions, Enrichment programs, Family support, Academic performance

 Article history

 Received 16 March 2025, Received in revised form 4 August 2025, Accepted 2 October 2025

 Funding

The authors declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and publication of this article. The authors acknowledge the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Faisal University for providing financial support for this research under grant number KFU252838. 

 Acknowledgment

This research was supported by King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia. The funding was used solely for academic purposes, specifically to facilitate data collection, conduct qualitative analysis, and support the dissemination of research findings. The funding body had no role in the study’s conceptualization, methodological decisions, data interpretation, or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

This study adhered to ethical research standards throughout all stages. Prior to data collection, informed consent was obtained from all participants, ensuring they understood the research objectives and their rights, including the right to withdraw at any time without consequence. Participant anonymity and confidentiality were strictly maintained, with all data securely stored and used solely for research purposes. The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee at King Faisal University, ensuring compliance with institutional and international ethical guidelines for research involving human participants. 

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Albosaif WK, Aljughaiman AM, and Alsayed AK (2025). Factors influencing career path selection among gifted individuals: Their perspectives. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(10): 181-194

  Permanent Link to this page

 Figures

  Fig. 1

 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4  Table 5  Table 6 

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