Parental Aspirations and Its Influence on Career Choice Among Public Secondary School Students in Meru County, Kenya

Abstract

Parents get involved in the education of their children through various ways; for example, in school activities, providing instructions on academic skills, engaging in and out of school learning activities, schooling process, providing learning resources and relevant learning experiences. Career choice by students is critical but a complicated task that involves a difficult process of decision making hence, parental involvement is necessary in creating awareness on possible career paths of their children. The study therefore, sought to assess the influence of parental aspirations on career choice among students in public secondary school in Meru County. Descriptive survey design was used. Through stratified, systemic and purposive sampling, 460 participants comprising 377 Form Four students, 36 principals, 36 career guidance teachers and 11 form four parents’ representatives were selected from 364 schools. Overall response rate was 92.1%. Data was collected using a questionnaire and an interview schedule. Analysis was done with the help of SPSS (Version 24) and Microsoft Excel. Mean and standard deviation were computed while linear regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between parental aspirations and career choice. The findings highlighted the critical role of parents in the selection process of careers of their children in public secondary. It was clear that the education level of parents is critical in informing career choices of children. The results show moderate influence of parental aspirations on careers selected by public secondary school students in Meru County where composite mean score is 3.35. Parents should strengthen their role in the provision of moral support, discussing and monitoring academic progress of children at school and at home; and rewarding them when they perform well in school, and should encourage their children to seek information on careers and exposing them to different career options