FACTORS AFFECTING CHOICE OF CAREER AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF STUDY

Career selection is one of the main important choice in students plans. This choice of decision will have impact on them throughout their lives. The essence of who the students are, will revolve around what the students wants to do with his or her greatest blessings. Everyone is always eager to have honest occupation. The way the students perceive their environment for example, students who have hired on an island may choose a career dealing with water or they may choose to leave the island behind and never to have any thing to do with water again.

Parents’ educational and occupational background may affect students choice of career because some students may contemplate on whether to continue with their parents occupation or not. What the students see in the television also may affect their career choice some careers demand that you have the personality to match the qualities of the occupation. For these reasons the necessity of a guidance counsellor on schools cannot be over emphasized. A career guidance counsellor is needed to unreliable and dangerous source in search of career information such as culture peer groups which can lead to their graduating into armed robbery and other criminal business unintentionally. This study will be carried out in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State will be useful to the guidance counsellors in assisting senior students in their career also help the ministry of education in curriculum planning to widen the students career choice opportunities through curriculum content of educational system.

Tuche (2002) is right in suggesting that the students should think of their career in senior secondary schools in so doing they need career guidance. Ipaye (1983) refers to the need for one to discuss with one peers, school counsellors, parents and teachers on the need to choose a life span work as “career convention or career conferences”. However, career convention according to him is an instrument of career information. This occur for a number of reasons, which include the following:

a.            To stimulate career thinking and widen occupational horizon.

b.            To focus attention on particular jobs in other to help an individual crystallize his preference and

c.            To create a situation in which parents can on one hand meet the employers and discuss the opportunities they offer and on other hand meet the career teachers or career officers with whom they can exchange views.

The factors that may influence choice of career includes:

i.             Socio economic factors

ii.            Personal or family factors

iii.           Cultural factors which include schools, peer group and age groups.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

1.            What are the possible causes or factors affecting the choice of career among secondary school students in Esan North East local government area of Edo State?

2.            How significant has this contribution been over the years?

3.            To what extent has private sectors investment actually affected the choice of career among secondary school students.

4.            What is actually the contribution of both private and public secondary schools on the choice of career of secondary school students?

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1.            Is there any need for learning career choice in senior secondary school?

2.            If there is reasons for reading career choice in schools, is it of benefit to the students?

3.            How does career choice affect the academic performance of students?

4.            Does student’s choice of career influence by their peer group?

5.            What are the factors responsible for a student’s wrong choice of career?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The main purpose of the study is an attempt to examine the factors affecting the choice of career among secondary school students in Esan North East local government area of Edo State. It will also examine what extent the factors affecting the choice of career will aid the students positive or at times negatively.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The importance of this research work is to find to what extent the factors affecting choice will influence the students choice of career and the attendance performance of students on the subject’s that would lead them successfully towards this occupation as a life time endeavour.

a.                It will enable the researcher give recommendations to the students on their choice of career.

b.                It will enable the researcher make necessary recommendations to the parents about their children mildness to advice given to them on their choice of career.

c.                It will enable the researcher make recommendations to school administrations.

d.                It will enable the researcher make concrete recommendations to the government about the choice of career among secondary schools students especially now that the rate of unemployment is high.

e.                The findings will enable the researcher to make recommendations to further researchers on the issue of career prospects.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The research work limit itself to factors affecting the choice of career among secondary schools students in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State.

This research will cover five randomly selected secondary schools in Esan North East Local Government Area of Edo State. Four of which are public and one is private. The schools randomly selected include the followings.

1.            Igba Grammar school

2.            Egbele secondary school

3.            Efandion grammar school

4.            Ubiagia secondary school

5.            Ukong mixed secondary school

6.            Aladies of lus

7.            Ewaito secondary school

8.            Okpugie grammar school

DEFINITION OF TERMS

CAREER – A chosen pursuit or course of business activity or enterprise, especially one’s professional life or employment that offers advancement and honour.

EFFECT – To produce a change in somebody or something.

INFLUENCE– The power that somebody or something has a mark somebody or something behind a particular way of the influence a parents on choice of career of their children.

PROSPECT: The chances of being successful good job/employment/career prospect.

SCHOOL: The school is a place where children need to be educated. The process of learning in a school; the time during your life when you go to school.

EXAMINATION – A formal written spoken or practical test, especially at school or colleges to see how much you know about a subject or what you can do to take an exam (forma) to sit for an exam to pass so fat an exam.

SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS: These students general are in the average age range of 15-18 years and they are in SSS 1-SSS 3 classes.

GOVERNMENT: The group of people who govern a country or a state.

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