ABSTRACT
The study examined the factors responsible for career choice
among students of public senior high schools in Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District.
The descriptive design was employed for the study. The study used the purposive
sampling technique to include 357 senior high students for the study.
Closed-ended questionnaire with reliability co-efficient of 0.71 was used to
collect data. Frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations were used
for5 the data analysis. Findings from this study showed that environmental
factors influenced career choice among senior high school students. Students
reported that opportunities and self-knowledge influenced their career choice.
It was found that environmental factors influenced choice of careers.
Respondents mentioned that money had been an issue in choosing a career, their
parents had great influence in their career choice and moving with students in
tertiary institutions did affect their choice of career. It was concluded that
counsellors at various senior high schools should sensitize students regarding
solutions to challenges they faced when making career choices. It is
recommended that school guidance counsellors need to develop effective and
comprehensive guidance and counselling programme for schools. This would help
students to know about the various career options available in order to and
utilize them.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Choosing a career path is a huge part of a young man or
woman’s life. The career path students choose affects how they will live the
rest of their life. A lot of students go through and in some instances after
tertiary education without knowing what career path they want. When a student
decides on a career path, this decision is mostly influenced by some factors.
Some of these factors that affect this decision include family, academic
ability and aptitude passion, peer influence, salary, childhood fantasies, and
past experiences (Hewitt, 2009). This study attempts to identify what factors
play a role in career choice. Identifying these factors would give parents,
educators and industries ideas as to where students place most of their trust
in the career selection process. It would also allow students to examine
processes they use for career selection. Today, jobs are more diverse and many
jobs have shifted from one area to another. Over time, the culture and the
economy have changed. This development has made it imperative for students to
have the orientation to make the right career decisions.
Background to the Study
Education is universally recognized as the answer to socio-
economic problems of the world. Nations and individuals look up to education to
provide a cure for poverty, ignorance, drought, excessive rainfall, mental
deficiency, joblessness, bad government, poor communication system, hunger and
inadequate shelter among other things. Every nation of the world aspires toward quality of life and social status. Career selection is one of
many important choices students will make in determining future plans. This
decision will impart them throughout their lives. The essence of who the
student is will revolve around what the student wants to do with their life-
long work (Basavage, 1996). Choosing an appropriate career is therefore of
great importance to the individual (National Career Development Association,
2003). Career selection is one of many important choice students will make that
determines future plans (National Career Development Association, 2003). The
decision is so significant because it has the capacity of affecting the entire
life of the individual. If the choice is properly made, it will guarantee some
level of career success or satisfaction (National Career Development
Association, 2003). Career selection is one of many important choices students
will make in determining future plans. This decision will impact them
throughout their lives.
However, if the opposite becomes the case, there will be no
career satisfaction, and this will ultimately affect the entire life of the
individual in a negative way (Basavage, 1996). Such situations abound today
among adults and young adults who do not find fulfilment in what they are doing
at the moment. The implication is that a student, who understands himself or
herself in relation to what he/she will want to do in life, will make a career
choice that revolves around his/her personality (Basavage, 1996).
Career choice has become a complex science with the advent of
information technology, the emergence of post industrial revolution and job
competition (Wattles, 2009). It was a common practice in the old days to find
feudalism converting it into a family affair where the son of a blacksmith was
destined to become a blacksmith and a feudal was born a leader.
Industrialization and post industrialization has made it
possible for a common person to be richer as long as she or he has due skills
and knowledge (Wattles, 2009). Today, one does not only make due career
planning but also exhaustive career research before making a career choice so
as to adjust with the evolving socio-economic conditions. Most senior high
students do not have accurate information about occupational opportunities to
help them make appropriate career choice (Wattles, 2009).
According to Kerka (2000), career choice is influenced by
multiple factors including personality, interests, self-concept, cultural
identity, globalization, socialization, role model, social support and
available resources such as information and financial. Bandura, Babaranelli,and
Caprara (2001) state that each individual undertaking the process is influenced
by several factors including the context in which they live in, their personal
aptitudes, social contacts and educational attainment. A study conducted by
Perrone, Zanardelli, Worthington and Chartrand (2001) found that role model
supportiveness, and quality of relationship contributed to the career choice of
students.
A study on career choice in Ethiopia by Stebleton (2007)
indicated that the students had an external locus of control and believes that
there are numerous extrinsic factors which influence their career choices.
These extrinsic factors include; political and economic considerations,
previous work experience and the influence of key individuals in a person’s
life. Pummel, Harwood and Lavallee (2008) report that external influences that
help to shape an individual’s career choice are also influenced by others
through social support from peers. In a study by Natalie (2006), young adults
through interaction with the context of family, school and community
learn about and explore careers which ultimately lead to their career choice.
Parental support and encouragement are important factors that have been found
to influence career choice. Children may choose what their parents desire
simply to please them (Taylor, Harris & Taylor, 2004).
According to Myburgh (2005), parental education and family
income are important predictors of learning experiences and by implication
career choice of children. Oyamo (2008) opined that there is an association
between parents education, career choices of students and the home environment.
The influence of parents in career choices of children could be an important
determinant of career choice, more so when the educational levels of the
parents come into play, studies have shown that educated parent’s expectation
and perceptions of vocations that are fit for their children play a key role in
shaping children’s occupational choices (Natalie, 2006). Savickas (2005) found
this influence to be a strong factor that overrides the influence of teachers,
faculty and counsellors. Hewitt (2010) found that the higher the degree the
parents have obtained the greater the support children will have from parents
in pursuing their career choices. Davis, (2005) asserted that even though
adolescents actively begin demonstrating their independence from parents in
their high school years, they are still very much dependent on their parents
for their occupational or career choices and growth. Moreover, this finding is
further supported by Natalie (2006) who found that the level of parental formal
education is one of the factors that determined students’ career path.
Bloomfield, Libby and Nelson, (2002) found that children whose parents and
grandparents, uncles and siblings were physicians and lawyers will invariably have different
career interest from children raised in a family noted over the year as peasant
farmers in rural areas.
Fred (1995) states that factors influencing career choice
could be intrinsic, extrinsic or both. Financial motivation, desire and other
personal interest do influence career choice (Abdullahi & Bukar, 2000). On
the other hand, parents, peer group, relatives, environment and government
policies have impact on individual career choices (Myburgh, 2005). From the
research conducted by Abdullahi &Bukar (2000) and Myburgh (2005), factors
that influence career choice are the extrinsic and intrinsic which relate to
what Fred (1995) stated.
Denga (2004) opined that career choice of students at school
rests on teachers and counsellors while Balogun (2006) believes that accurate
vocational information, seminar, career talks and workshops may promote
students’ career choices. Studies have shown that in the process of choosing a
career, individuals do consider their physical and psychological self, as they
see them and how others view them, and that it is the occupation or career that
agrees with what they think of themselves that they eventually take to, and
that this is the way of attaining job satisfaction (Khami, Murtomaa &
Jafarian, 2008; Alika 2011).
Alika (2016) also reveals that students’ self-concept
determines their career choice. This finding is in line with the assertion of
Alutu (2007) who observed that the individual’s self-concept, which is the
mental picture of the student in relation to his environment do influence his
choice of career. The finding is also in agreement with that of Ekennia (2011)
who stated that an individual chooses a career that is consistent with his
self-concept. It is pertinent to note that, this finding is at variance with
the observation of Denga (2004) who found that career choice of students at school depends on
the influence of teachers and counselors. According to Oyamo and Amoth (2008),
studies in Kenya show that rural students tend to seek help from parents more
than urban students and that parents more than teachers play a major role in
the career choice of students. Generally, the choice of a career is influenced
by parents, friends, and counselors however variations occur from one
population to the other.
According to the study carried out by Perrone (2011) on the
opportunity of college students having a role model influence on the career
influences the career choices one take, it was clearly discovered that role
model supportiveness, and quality of relationship have an influence on the
career choice a student pursues. In same study it was found that a great
percentage of students selected same gender role models. There is also research
on the role of spirituality and religion in growth of career, even though
inadequate in possibility has suggested that such factors relate positively to
desirable career development outcomes such as career decisions (Stebleton,
2007). For a majority of people with spiritual or religious commitment faith
plays a critical role in the career decision making process (Duffy & Dick,
2009).
The issue of career choice has implication for National
Development, in that for every society, the quality of workers as well as their
level of job satisfaction contributes directly or indirectly to economic
stability and advancement of the nation. When workers experience little or no
job satisfaction as a result of wrong career choice, frustration may set in,
which may lead to a decline in productivity. Making a right career choice, no
doubt may ensure job satisfaction and productivity. Career choice is one of the
critical and vital decisions most students in secondary schools make (Oyamo
& Amoth, 2008). Career decisions taken at this stage often determines the
future of the student (Denga, 2004). Parent educational level no doubt could be
of immense benefit in helping parent provide the necessary assistant in making
relevant career choices. The lack of education maybe a hindrance, in that
without adequate educational information parent maybe limited in the amount of
educational or career guidance given to the children which may hinder their
chances of making realistic career choices (Oyamo & Amoth, 2008).
In choosing a career, it is important to know how students
develop their preferences for one occupation or the other, and how these
preferences are implemented. Parents, teachers, and counselors ought to be
familiar with major factors which influence vocational or career development of
individuals. This is necessary because career theorists believe that
individuals have certain abilities, interests, personality traits and other
characteristics that inform one’s career choice (Bratcher, Barbarnelli, Caprara
& Pastorelli, 2001). It is thus believed by professionals that, if these
characteristics are known together with their potential values, and where on
the job market these values can be put into appropriate uses, the individual is
more likely to become a happier person, a more effective worker and a more
useful citizen. In other words, knowing oneself and knowing the career
opportunities existing in one’s environment can help an individual make a good
vocational adjustment. This then attests to the fact that self-knowledge and occupational
knowledge are very important means of ensuring a relatively accurate and
adequate occupational decision toward career choice (Makinde & Kayode,
1987). Career choice has become a complex science with the advent of
information technology, the emergence of post industrial revolution and job competition. Lack of necessary
information about technical fields or the world of work affect career decision
making. Knowledge in career would help the student to be focused and clear
about his or her career choice (Mohammed, Salleh, & Mustapha, 2010).
Statement of the Problem
Today, many youth go into unsuitable careers due to
ignorance, inexperience, peer pressure, advice from friends, parents and
teachers or as a result of the prestige attached to certain jobs without
adequate vocational guidance and career counselling (Lawer, 2007). Lawer (2007)
researched on assessing the effectiveness of career guidance in senior
secondary schools in Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly. He concluded that majority
of students were not aware of major occupation groups in Ghana. This clearly
shows that majority of them were not concerned about their future career. This
situation compels one to ask whether they are given the needed guidance on
available careers relating to the programmes they are pursuing. Are they aware
of what goes into career choice? And what specific factors influence their
choice and how do those factors influence them?
Career choice is important but a very difficult process which
one must undergo at some time in life. O‘Brien (1996) asserted that everyone
should have an honest occupation since work is one of our greatest blessings.
It involves an inter play of many determinants which are intricately intertwined.
It is not a straightforward task and involves a difficult process of decision
making. Nonetheless, most undergraduates are likely to make wrong career
decisions due to lack of information, ignorance, peer pressure, wrong modeling
or as a result of prestige attached to certain careers without adequate career
guidance and career counselling (Salami, 1999; Ndambuki & Mutie,
1999). This issue is not confined to Ghana only but is universal in nature. According
to Bandura, Barbaranelli, Caprara & Pastorelli (2001) an individual’s
environment, talents, skills, and academic achievement exert an influence on
career choice. In case of a wrong choice, it may lead to resultant failure and
disappointment. Research shows homes, schools and the social setup influence an
individual’s career choice. Being interested in a particular profession is very
important in decision making. If a student is forced into a career, he may
exhibit low self-esteem and poor performance. Suutari (2003) reports that
several studies have indicated a positive relationship between interests and
career choice. It has also been investigated that individuals with better
academic performance are able to make better judgments about themselves (Arthur
& Rousseau, 1996). Omotosho and Nyarko-Sampson (2012) demonstrated in their
study that the career aspirations of students were poorly matched with the
trends in the labour market. Omotosho (2014) asserts that, in choosing our
careers in a hit or miss fashion, individuals miss more than hit. While a few
students find career decision-making less cumbersome, many others struggle with
career decision-making. Research reports indicate that career choice is greatly
influenced by students’ surroundings, society and family (Gim, 1992; Leong
1995)
Educational level of parents, their profession and income are
also identified as very important determinant (Hearn 1984, 1988). Every student
at a certain juncture in their life has to make a choice regarding their
career. It is incumbent that students make the correct choice asserts Oladele
(as cited in Nyarko-Sampson 2013).
The above studies from some parts of Ghana have confirmed
that career choice or decision-making difficulty is a reality in Ghana.
However, there appears to be dearth of studies related to Career choice in
Asikuma Odoben Brakwa district which is in the Central Region of Ghana.
Therefore, it was the researcher’s desire to assess the determinants of senior
high school student’s career choice in Asikuma-Odoben-Brakwa District
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