Assessment of Vocational Interest and Career Choice of Senior Secondary School Students in Damaturu Metropolis , Yobe State , Nigeria

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Abdullahi, Umaru Abubakar Atsua, Terhemba Godwin
Copyright Year	2014
Abstract	This study assessed vocational interest and career choice of senior secondary school students in Damaturu, Yobe State. Three research questions were answered and one hypothesis was tested. The study adopted a survey research design. The population of the study consisted of all senior secondary schools in Damaturu metropolis, Yobe State. The sample for the study was drawn from 200 senior secondary school students in three public schools and one private secondary school (200 SSIII) students out of which 50 students male and female were selected using random sampling technique. A Vocational Interest Inventory (VII) by Bakare (1977) was used for this study. The results obtained revealed that, there was significant relationship between vocational interest and career choice of students in ten (10) vocational interest areas, there was significant relationship between students vocational interest and gender (in favour of male) students. Based on the findings of this study, recommendations were made. Over the years Nigerian adolescents have problem in making appropriate career choices. The vocational interest level of secondary school students is very crucial in their daily activities. There are evidences that majority of secondary school students lack necessary knowledge to make realistic choices. Kagu (1997) observed that many of the secondary school students express apparent ignorance about career choice. Still the greater majority of the students who are conversant with some professional career erroneously believe that one can find himself in any career as long as he attends a University. Vocational interest is a developmental process and spans almost through a person’s life which processes start from primary and secondary school levels. Career choice is a complex decision for students, since it determines the kind of profession that they intend to pursue in life. As students try to make career choice while in secondary school, they face problems of attaching their career choice with their abilities and school performance in the selected subjects they offer. Vocational choice preparation focuses especially on issues related to the world of work. Experience gained in a variety of work place situations will help an individual to prepare for transition to a work environment, or to post-primary school. It is based on this premise that Alutu (2011) observed that career development and choice should be initiated as early as the nursery school years through the primary, secondary and to the tertiary school level. It is against this background that Okon (2001) stated that vocational development or preference of youths and the preparation and guidance they receive for the world of work should be of interest to all. One is therefore, convinced that a better job of career guidance in our schools will help to solve some of the problems of alienation and relevance which face the school today. Empirical evidence on vocational interest and career choice of secondary school students did not show a favourable result. Echebe (2000) reported that, the hopes of many students have been frustrated by wrong combination of subjects; some students do not seek advice on what combination of subjects to sit for in examinations and concluded that such students are not doing well in other subjects, which they do not really have interest in, and in the process, going into another career in life. Mburza (1992) found in his study that, about half of the students he worked on, were unaware about Knowledge Review Volume 31 No. 2, December, 2014 2 occupations and world of work, as a result of this, they were unrealistic in their occupational choice. He further reported that, those who made choices of their careers only select from the occupation they knew because they were not given career counselling. A similar result was reported by Ofuani (1989) and Zulaikatu (1992) that students who made choices of their career only selected from the occupation they knew. Occupational preferences among boys and girls have been reported by different researchers over time. Studies conducted in Nigeria on occupational choice of male and female did not indicate different result. Okonkwo (1980) for example, conducted a research on determinant of vocational interest and gender differences among Nigeria secondary school students. He found sex as a factor that determines career choice, because boys preferred engineering while girls preferred nursing. Adamu (2013) in his study found a remarkable gender difference in occupational choice of students. Males were found to have preferred courses in social, science, persuasive and artistic while females favoured courses in social, clerical and science. Mburza (2002) investigated the relationship between gender and occupational choice of secondary school students in Borno State and found that there was significant difference between parents’ occupation and students based on gender. Momo and Ojugo (1999) carried out a study on gender difference in choice of courses on new entrants in Nigerian Universities; they found that there was a remarkable gender difference in choice of courses by new entrants into the Nigerian Universities. Males were found to have preferred courses in engineering, environmental studies, veterinary medicine and agriculture while female favoured courses in education, arts and administration. Concerted effort by the Federal Government as contained in the National Policy on Education (2004) led to the establishment of guidance and counselling services in secondary schools in Nigeria to assist students find adequate and satisfying vocational interest and career choices that would lead to a successful future life. Available information on vocational interest and occupational choice of students has also revealed students’ occupational preferences. What is not available are information on vocational interest and occupational choice of secondary school students in Yobe State. It is based on this observation that the study raised the following questions. 1. What are the vocational interests of senior secondary school students in Damaturu Metropolis, Yobe State? 2. What are the career choices of senior secondary school students in Damaturu Metropolis, Yobe State? 3. Do male and female students significantly differ on vocational interest and career choice in Damaturu Metropolis, Yobe State? The third question was amenable to hypothesis testing. Ho1: Male and female students in Damature Metropolis do not significantly differ on vocational interest and career choice. Methodology one thousand one hundred and thirty five The study was an exploratory study that adopted a descriptive survey design therefore; it was not rigorous with respect to sampling. The population of the study comprised of seventeen senior secondary schools in Damaturu Metropolis, Yobe State. A simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample of two hundred students in four senior secondary schools in Damaturu Metropolis (one government boys’ school with a population of 360 students, one government girls’ school with a population of 315 students, one government mixed school with a population of 280 students and one private school with the population of 180 students). Samples of fifty students were randomly selected from each of the sampled schools for the study. The instrument used for this study was Vocational Interest Inventory (VII) developed by Bakare (1977). The inventory classified individuals into ten clusters namely: Outdoor, Mechanical, Umaru Abdullahi and Terhemba Godwin Atsua
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