1Universidad Técnica Estatal de Quevedo (UTEQ), Quevedo-Ecuador. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1031-3647. Email: mcabezasv4@uteq.edu.ec
2Universidad Técnica de Cotopaxi (UTC), La Maná-Ecuador. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0009-9516-2590. Email: jhensy.ramirez1799@utc.edu.ec
3Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí (ULEAM), Manta - Ecuador. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5446-5193. Email: e12502141807@live.uleam.edu.ec
4Universidad Laica Eloy Alfaro de Manabí (ULEAM), Manta – Ecuador. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-4452-6257. Email: e1313932608@live.uleam.edu.ec
5Guayaquil-Ecuador. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2381-0475. Email: curimilma611@gmail.com
Introduction: Early career guidance is recognized as a key factor in improving the quality of career choices and preventing unstable academic trajectories in higher education. A lack of structured support in the stages prior to university entry is associated with career mismatches, career changes, and early dropout.
Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted following the PRISMA approach, analyzing 25 articles published between 2015 and 2025, retrieved from Scopus, Web of Science, SciELO, ERIC, and Google Scholar. Studies with different methodologies that evaluated early career guidance interventions and their effects on career choice and retention were included.
Results: The findings show consistent effects of early guidance on proximal variables, such as career clarity, decisional maturity, and decisional self-efficacy, while direct evidence on retention is more limited and heterogeneous.
Discussion: The results suggest that early career guidance acts as a preventive mechanism, the impact of which on retention depends on the continuity of support during the transition to higher education.
Conclusions: Early career guidance improves the quality of career choices and can contribute to retention when integrated into sustained institutional strategies.
Keywords: early career guidance; career choice; university retention; secondary education; systematic review.
How to cite this article: María Elena CV, Jhensy Alexander RC, Jamileth Jeniffer RC, Katrina Daleska SL, Jara MAC. Impact of Early Career Guidance Programs on Career Choice and Persistence in Higher Education. Int J Drug Deliv Technol. 2026;16(15s): 711-723. DOI: 10.25258/ijddt.16.15s.81
Source of support: Nil.
Conflict of interest: None