Influence of sociological factors on career aspiration for high school girls in Mosocho Division, Kenya

Abstract

Many important career decisions are made during adolescence. These early decisions affect the rest of a penons' life. This is in the sense that the type of career an individual goes into determines the way of life and how life is spent. An individual's entry into a career is an outcome of a complex process of interaction between the individual's characteristics and those of the society in which one lives. The development of career preferences and choice is a process which at every stage, social experiences not only influences one's own characteristics but also influence the perception of the career implications of one's own characteristics. Thus social factors are a 'summarizing' variable upon which all other variables are based or understood.

This qualitative study examined the influence of family, Gender/sex role stereotypes and social class on high school girl' s career aspirations in Mosocho Division. The objectives that aided the study were; to determine family influence on career aspirations, to establish how gender/sex-role stereotyping influences career aspirations of girls in Mosocho Division. In order to realize the objectives of this study, the study adopted the Ex Post Facto research design. The target population was 300 high school girls from which a sample of 100 was selected through simple random sampling. Data was analyzed descriptively through frequency distribution. Tables and percentages were used to present data.

The findings revealed that the family gender/sex stereotypes and social class had a significant effect on-girls' career development process and choice. Among the recommendations made is more counseling program could be established to provide career information with special emphasis on career options and possible for females as well as he establishment of gendea- equity campaigns in schools to raise awareness that all genders can aspire for aI) occupations.