Determinants of Career Aspirations Among Selected Junior Secondary School Students in Oyo State

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the determinants of career aspiration among selected junior secondary school students in Oyo State, Nigeria. Two hundred and ten (210) participants constituted the study sample. Both the independent and dependent variables were measured with validated instruments with the validity reliability of 0.87. The data obtained was analyzed using simple percentage and Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) Statistical method. Three (3) research questions were raised and answered. The result showed that there was a significant relationship between parenting styles and career aspirations of junior secondary school students (r= .751; p=0.00; p<0.05), between socio-economic status and career aspiration of junior secondary school students (r= .436; p = 0.00; p<0.05) and between teachers’ influence and career aspiration of junior secondary school students (r= .511; p = 0.00; p<0.05). The implication of this was that teachers had considerable influence on career aspiration of junior secondary school students. In view of these findings, it was recommended that school counselors should intensify their effort to organize conferences on the implications of the predictors (that is, parenting styles, socio-economic status, and teachers’ influence among others) on students’ career aspiration.