| dc.description.abstract | The main objective of this study was to investigate factors
which influence educational and occupational aspirations of
secondary school students in Nyandarua District, Kenya.
The hypotheses guiding the study were that students'
social background, personal and school related factors influence
their educational and occupational aspirations. These factors
were considered to be important since they have not been
investigated in Nyandarua District. The subjects for this study
were 279 form two students who were the first secondary
school students under the 8-4-4 education system. They came
from five secondary schools selected .from Nyandarua District. The data for the study were collected from September to
November, 1987. A twenty item questionnaire was used to
collect the data. The questionnaire was administered to the
subjects in their respective schools.
The results for the study indicated that majority of the
students (77.1 %) hoped to continue their education after
completing secondary school education (12 years of formal
education) . They had high educational aspirations. About a
quarter (22.9%) of them did not hope to continue their
education after form four level of education. Regarding
occupational aspirations, about half (52.3%) of the respondents
had low occupational aspirations. They indicated that they
would like to join· occupations which do not require University education as entry requirement. One hundred and thirty three
(47.7%) of the respondents had high occupational aspirations.
They indicated that they hoped to join occupations which
require University education. The results of testing the hypotheses indicated that there
was no significant relationship between students' social
background factors ( student s' residence, marriage type of
students' fathers, family size, fathers' education and occupation,
mother-s' education and occupation) and their educational and
occupational as pi rations. However, a significant relationship
was found between students! perceived academic ability, the
type of school attended (single sex/mixed), age and their
educational aspirations. No significant relationship was found
between the three variables (school type, age, students'
perceived academic ability) and the students' occupational
aspirations. Further analysis of the data revealed that there
was no significant relationship between students' sex and their
educational aspirations. But there was a significant relationship
between students I sex and their occupational aspirations. All
hypotheses were tested for significance at 0.05 level of
confidence. On the basis of the findings the following conclusions and
recommendations were made: Proper guidance and counseling
services should be offered to students in secondary schools
from as early as when they join form one. Such a service
will help students in adjusting their aspirations to their realities so that
they do not get frustrated when their aspirations are not achieved. Female students in secondary schools should be informed of the kind
of jobs and occupations that exist in the labour market and
those that they are illegible to join. They should be encouraged
to join careers such as engineering, medicine, law, which are
traditionally considered as a "man's job". They should be made
to understand that if they qualify to join institutions that offer
courses leading to occupations in these areas they will not be
discriminated by our educational system on the basis of their
sex. Teachers and career masters should keep progressive
records of the academic achievement of students under their
care. Such information will assist them in guiding and advising
the students on the career choices available to them. It will
also help the students make rational decisions on the level of
education that they can attain and careers that they can join
after formal education. In conclusion it was recommended that:
(1) Studies be undertaken at inter-district, provincial or
national level on the factors influencing educational and
occupational aspirations of secondary school students.
These will ensure a large sample and a broader scope.
Such studies will also shed light on the problems
experience by secondary school students when their
aspirations are being formed.
(2) Studies be conducted to examine other factors such as
peer influence, parental income, parents' interest in
students schooling which may influence educational and
occupational aspirations of secondary school students. (3) A follow-up study should be conducted when the present
form two students complete form four. This should be
done in order to find out whether their aspirations will
change or whether they wiII be more rational as they
become older in age.
(4) A follow-up study. should be conducted to establish the
career which students who participated in the study will
join in relation to their secondary school occupational
aspirations. (5) More research should be done to investigate how aspirations
are formed and how students can be helped in the formation
of their aspirations. Parents, students and teachers should
also be interviewed. | en |
