Parental influence, socio-economic factors, school environment and career choice amongst secondary school students

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between parental influence, socio-economic factors, school environment and career choice amongst form three and form five students in Kabale district. The study also sought to find out the best predictor of career choice amongst parental influence, socio-economic factors and school environment. The population of the study was all the 1305 form three and five students in 10 selected schools in Kabale district for the year 2017. A total of 300 students were sampled for the study of which all responded giving a response rate of 100%.The survey used simple random sampling to sample ten (10) schools basing on their distribution within the district. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample the students. Questionnaires were used as the instruments for data collection. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to analyse the data. Descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages were used to analyse the data. The results were presented in the form of tables and graphs. Results from the study showed that parental influence, socio-economic factors and school environment all affect the career choice of students in Kabale district. Amongst all the factors, school environment was found to be the best predictor variable for career choice amongst secondary school students in Kabale district with the predictive power of 8.4%. The three variables have significant values that are; socio-economic factors (t=3.294, p<.05), parental influence (t=.865, p<.05), school environment (t=3.294, p<.05). The closer t-value is to zero (0), the more likely there isn’t a significant effect. All the coefficients for socio-economic factors, parental influence and school environment are positive (.167, .069, .240) meaning that if the rate of these factors is increased, career choice will not become problematic amongst students. The study recommended that teachers, parents, and career guidance counsellors should take into cognizance the influence of parental factors, socio-economic factors and school environment as they guide students through the process of career selection. The Education Ministry should appoint school psychologists and establish counseling cells in every secondary school to deal with all career problems. This will enable the students to make right career choices depending on their educational achievement and career aspirations.