FACTORS AFFECTING THE CHOICE OF TEACHING AS A CAREER AMONG STUDENT
CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Many researchers have been investigating areas related to the factors influencing choice of teaching as a career. Therefore, this section shall be presented under the following heading:
1. Teaching as a career
2. Meaning of career
3. Factors influencing choice of career
4. Career choice and finance
CONCEPT OF TEACHING
Teaching is an attempt to bring about desired change in human learning abilities and behaviour (Olaitan & Agusiobo, 1981). According to them teaching make people to learn. They further explained that teaching is an art undertaken with the intention of bringing about learning in another person. Teaching in the words of Onwuka (1990) is the creation or provision of experiences and guidance in the activity designed to promote learning on the part of the learner. He stated that teaching therefore is a conscious and deliberate effort by the teacher to provide directions, guidance, activities and materials in order to promote learning. Hughes (1993) defined teaching as the creating or providing opportunity from which learners can gain experiences that will enable them acquire knowledge, skills, attitude and appreciation that will serve as tools in life. He maintained that teaching essentially consists of setting the stage so that someone can learn. Emeruwa (1998) described teaching in two broad ways; firstly, teaching is used to designate a particular work, occupation or profession, which can be engaged in by people for livelihood. Secondly, teaching refers to what one person does to pass on some knowledge, information, skills and attitude to another.. University of Academic Career (1998) described teaching as the activity of facilitating learning. Teaching is motivating students to learn in a manner that is relevant, meaningful and memorable (Lebalnc, 1998). He opined that good teaching is about substance and treating students as consumers of knowledge. He stated that it is the bridging of the gap between theory and practice. He further explained that teaching plays an important role in the implementation of curriculum content. Similarly, Foster (2001) described teaching as providing knowledge, coaching and it facilitates learning. He contented that teaching is communicating information in a clear, simple and interesting manner to the students for easy learning. Teaching in the present study is therefore as stated by Emeruwa, is what one person does to pass some knowledge, skills and attitude to another. Teaching is directed at achieving some aims. Umeh (2004) stated that the aim of teaching is to cause desirable change in the behaviour of learners for their better living. He further maintained that teaching aims at instructing the students to inculcate knowledge or skill to them as the learners. He stressed that this often occurs in schools where teachers are provided with the teaching needs and materials to cause learning to take place. The overall aim of teaching is directed at learning by the students.
Learning:
Learning is a quantitative increase in knowledge, acquiring knowledge or knowing a lot (Rogers, 2003). He explained that learning is interpreting and understanding reality in different ways. He revealed that learning could be thought of as a process by which behaviour changes as a result of experience. Similarly, Knowledge Management System (2004) defined learning as a process of filtering ideas and transforming them into valid knowledge. According to Ngwoke (2004) learning is a process which causes a change in behaviour of an individual. He further stated that the change results from experience or interaction between the individual (learner) and his environment. Watso (1930), and Gutheries (1935) who are classical or respondent conditioning theorists, stated that learning is the establishing of stimulus response bonds between initially connected stimuli or event. They explained that learning is repeating what you did in circumstance. Learning according to them is primarily a matter of forming habits. Thorndike, (1932) and Skinner (1948) as operant or instrumental conditioning theorist stated that learning is selecting and confirming responses. They maintained that responses that are followed by satisfaction are reinforced and may become more probable in future, response not reinforced are weaken and less to reoccur in future. According to them, learning is a matter of repeating that behaviour that was rewarded in the past. Learning therefore, is all the experiences the learner interacts with, for a change in behaviour. Learning will be made easier when the necessary materials needed to make teaching and learning feasible are provided and utilized.
Teaching and Learning Needs.
Teaching and learning needs are those ingredients that the teacher and the leaner should interact with for teaching and learning to take place such as teaching materials, conducive environment, teaching aids, library, textbooks availability of facilities (Gbamanja,1992). He explained that insufficient teaching and learning materials in secondary school is the problem of most secondary schools in Nigeria. Ukwungwu (1999) recommended some qualities required of teachers to make teaching effective for easy learning. According to him, the qualities include the enhancement of their commitment to the course or the subject, utilization of available materials to make the lesson interesting and functional and knowledgeable on the curriculum content. Teaching and learning needs are the facilities which the teacher and the learner cannot do without for successful teaching and learning to occur (Eze, 2000 & Olowu, 2002). They contented that when these needs are available and well utilized the teacher and the learner enjoys the curriculum implementation and the intended learning outcome is achieved. According to them, a well planned curriculum should consider the implementation feasibility and make provision for the teachers and learners as the classroom implementer and the end users.
The effect of College of Education is felt in all types of profession in existence today. Teaching as a career to an old career in Nigeria, back to the days of missionary adventure into Nigeria, various schools or Colleges of Education were establishment for the purpose of producing qualified teachers. The first teacher training college was established by the Church Missionary Society (C. M. S.) in Abeokuta in 1959, and was moved to Lagos in 1967, when the European Missionaries were expelled from Abeokuta.
Many of the education students were motivated by the fact that they will now have served as catechists and they were introduced by the missionaries to take up the career they prospect for advancement. Since the early missionaries the western form of education into Nigeria, it was found that many people constantly take up the teaching as a career. Moreover, the federal government has indicated in the new policy on education (1998) edited education will continue to be given a major emphasis in all our education planning because no educational system can rise above the quality of its teachers.
TEACHING AS A CAREER
The implication of this is that teaching as a career has already been recognized by government. The next pint is that teaching not only affords life career and permanent membership but also renders to the public, it has code of ethics. The code of ethics for teachers is contained in the handbook of Nigeria Union of Teachers. Also it commands a body of intellect training.
This is so since the job of the teachers is to educate. Teachers education programmes include basic intellectual training such ass curriculum studies, educational technology, measurement and evaluation, sociology of education, philosophy of education, educational research and statistics, educational administration, every trainee teachers is supposed to have required these bodies of knowledge before graduation. This view has been corroborated by Nweka (Nwokocha 1992) when he argued that teaching by implication has an epistemological foundation as a science of search for knowledge or truth. Therefore, teaching qualified to be choose as career.
CONCEPT OF CAREER
Career can be conceptualized more broadly in terms of individual development in learning and work throughout life and this includes voluntary work and other life experiences (Watt, 1996, as cited in Torrington, Hall & Taylor, 2008). Popoola (2004) refers to career as a job or profession for which one undergoes regulated education and training over a period of time and which one intends to follow for the whole of one’s life. It is thus a chosen pursuit, life work and success in one’s profession. A career is now broadly defined as the unfolding sequence of a person’s work experience over time (Arthur, khapover & Wilderom,2005) or in more detail as` the sequence of employment related positions, roles, activities and experiences encountered by a person (Amoid, 2001). According to Dawn (2013) define career is that it is an individual vocation or trade or how he/she makes a living Examples of careers or occupations are engineers, accountants, and veterinarian etc. The following definitions are also very important to an understanding of career as a concept and they might be used interchangeably in the course of this study. Terminologies associated with career choice include; vocation, profession, job, work, occupation, trade, career development, career planning, career guidance, career education, career decision etc. Gettings (2012) defines vocation as an occupation that someone feels strongly about doing, despite monetary gain or other influences, therefore everyone’s vacation should be what they feel compelled to do because it gives a deeper meaning to life as well as added meaning within us, for example, someone may currently have a career in finance while his or her vocations remains teaching and going on various adventure indicating that a person’s true vocation will characterize how he/she operate in general. Catalano (2000) defined a profession as a type of occupation that needs certain criteria that raise it to a level above that of an occupation. It is a vocation requiring intensive education in science or the liberal arts and often specialized training (Costella et al, 1995). Ifelunni (1997) as cited in Omeje (2007) defined a profession as an assembly of members engaged in the same work setting with a body of knowledge that have been acquired over rigorous long period of training and are governed by ethical standards of behaviour and whose interests surpass mere personal gain to personal commitment to assist humanity. Profession is therefore a body of persons or person engaged in an occupation or calling. This implies that profession is a specific work or discipline in which one is both theoretically and practically trained.
According to Achebe (1983) as cited in Omeje (2007) a job therefore means a related or similar position in a single educational institution, organization or business establishment. In summary, a job can be referred to as anything an individual does intrinsically and extrinsically to earn a reward. According to Estella (2004) work is to exert effort in order to make something to achieve something, to produce a desired effect. Fromm (1973) refers to work as an effective means to deal with the angst of death and void. Therefore, working is a meaningful way to improve one’s existence and hopefully, that it is worth to be lived. Canadian Association of Occupational Theory Therapists (2002) states that occupation is everything people do to occupy themselves including looking after themselves (Self-care), enjoying life (Leisure) and contributing to the social and economic fabric of their communities (Productivity). These include the need /opportunity to keep busy, have something to wake up for, explore new opportunities, envision future time engage in valued activities and contribute to others (Hammell, 1998a, 2004a). Carmel (2001) claimed that “it is the perceived meaning fullness of life that mainly affects people‘s will to live”. Hence engagement in personally meaningful occupations contributes not solely to perceptions of competence, capacity and value but to the quality of life itself (Conneeley, 2003). According to Seignobos (2006), trade is a business which a person has learned and which he engages in, for procuring subsistence or for profit, occupation, especially mechanical employment as distinguished from the liberal arts, the learned professions and agriculture, as we speak of the trade of a smith, of a carpenter or mason but not now of the trade of a farmer, or a lawyer or a physician.
Bezanson (2003) has defined career development as the lifelong process of managing learning and work in order to live and work with purpose and create a quality life. Cambridge dictionary (2011) defined career development as the process of learning and improving your skills so that you can perform your job better. According to Manolescu (2003) Career planning is a continuous process of discovery in which an individual slow develops his own occupational concepts as a result of skills or abilities, needs, motivations and aspirations of his own value system. Neveanu, 2003) opined that career planning must link individual needs and aspirations with organizational needs and opportunities, evaluating, advising and informing its client/staff on career planning, in individual development efforts with training and development programmes. Zlate (2004) posits that individual career planning can be defined as all actions of self-assessment, exploration of opportunities, establishing goals etc, designed to help the individual to make informed choices and changes about career. It is a complex action that requires systematic and careful thinking in formulating short and long term objectives. Career planning is based therefore on the evaluation of individual skills, interest s and motivation, on the analysis of organizational opportunities, setting goals for their careers and develops a strategy to achieve those goals. According to Zlate (2004) individual career planning has five steps which includes
1. Self-assessment: This is the collection of information about yourself (values, interest and skills), continuous assessment and reporting to others.
2. Exploring opportunities: This involves gathering information about existing opportunities within but also outside the organizations (training and other development methods).
According to Oxford Advance Learners Dictionary, 6th edition (2000) career means the choice of occupation. Career can also be defined as a dignified occupation based on intellectual training of which is to render services for given salary. Her (1982) stressed that career is the totality of experience through experience which one learns about, and prepares to engage in work as a part of his way of living.
Pietretesa and Apeete (1986) observe, “career is an on going process that occurs over the life span and includes homes, schools and communities.
Career selection is one of many important choices students make in determining future plans. Alberts, Mbalo and Ackermann (2003) identified career choice as one of the major areas of concern for young people nearing the end of their schooling. It is important to both parents and their children because this decision will impact them throughout their lives. Every student, at one time or the other, is faced with the challenge of making a choice of career. This was buttressed by Cicero quoted by Hoppock (1957) saying “... we must decide what manner of men we wish to be and what calling in life we would follow and this is the most difficult problem in the world”. Akomolafe (2003) pointed out that the individual's vocation or career is one of the most important aspects of human endeavour because it determines a lot of things in human existence. It could either make or mar one's joy and happiness. He further contended that true joy, happiness and satisfaction are linked to proper choice of profession. He also posited that emotional and marital stability could be enhanced by the type of occupation one engages in. In Nigeria, many youths make wrong career choices due to ignorance, inexperience, peer pressure, wrong modelling, advice from friends, parents and teachers, or as a result of the prestige attached to certain jobs without adequate vocational guidance and career counselling (Salami, 1999). Consequently, many of them are unsuited for their careers, as they usually find themselves in jobs that do not satisfy their value needs. They are usually unable to contribute meaningfully to the society, and they ultimately become liabilities to the nation. Career guidance as defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and commission of the European communities (OECD) (2004) as services and activities intended to assist individuals of any age and at any point throughout their lives to make educational training and occupational choices and to manage their careers. Career guidance is often thought to incorporate career information, career education and career counselling. It should aim to help people not just to enter work but also to remain in employment and ultimately to move on to a better job. Therefore good career guidance has the potential to raise aspirations and broaden horizons and can help people to develop self awareness and resilience to source, and evaluate information and make sound decisions about learning and work. According to The Australian Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and youth affairs (MCEETYA) (1998) reviewed (2004) defined career education as the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes through a planned program of learning experiences that will assist students to make informed decisions about their study and/or r work options and enable effective participation in working life. Career education emphases;
a) Learning about the world of work, its changing nature, the general expectation of employers and the demand of the work place.
b) Developing self-awareness in relation to interest abilities, competencies and values.
c) Developing awareness and understanding of occupational information and career pathways
d) Acquiring skills necessary to implement the career decision made. Career education should be intentional, developmental, comprehensive and available to all students (MCEETYA, 1998). The comprehensive career education program consists of the following component which was adapted from McCowan and Mckenzie, 1997),
a) Self-awareness: which typically involves students in;
• Identifying their own personal attributes e.g physical, intellectual, emotional characteristics, skills, interests and values.
• Exploring the relationship between their attributes and skills required to be effective in different life/work situations.
• Evaluating strategies and conditions that affect their learning in different life and work situations.
b) Opportunity awareness activity involves students investigating, exploring and experiencing the world of work and the various pathways within it.
c) Decision learning is concerned with learning how to make decisions. Relevant activities involve students in;
Career decision is the act of a person in choosing or selecting one of the two or more alternatives of career available at a given time. Career decision is one of the major decisions which are inevitable in life. Everybody makes decisions, for instance, students take decisions on which to study, where to study, what type of work or job to do in life etc. Decisions are generally made to achieve set goals. If one makes decision, one should be ready for its outcome and vice versa. It is therefore important to be aware of the context in which decision making occur. Career decision making is not simply matching a person to an occupation, rather there are many influences that impact on a person’s career decisions.
Concept of Career choice
When experts talk about career choice, they are usually referring to someone deciding what he/she wants to do to make a living (Dawn, 2013). A career choice is the process of determining a field of learning that requires certain knowledge and skills, acquired through a specific educational program which results in a certificate or degree attesting to your accomplishment (Powers, 2013). Since the average person works 45 to 50 years in his or her lifetime, finding a satisfying career and not just a job is important. Career choice has therefore become a complex task today as one has not only to make the career planning but also to do an exhaustive career research before making career choice so as to adjust with the evolving socialeconomic conditions (wattles, 2009). However most students who are in secondary schools do not have accurate information about occupational opportunities to help them make appropriate career choices. According to Kerka (2000) career choice is influenced by multiple factors including personality, interest, self-concept, cultural identity, globalization, socialization, role model, social support and available resources such as information and financial. Bandura, Barbaranelli, Capara, & Pastorelli, (2001) states that each individual undertaking the process is influenced by several factors including the context in which they live in, their personal aptitudes, social contacts and educational attainment. The factors determining career choice have been examined several times in the career management literature. Ozblign et al (2005) suggest that two conditions are required to meet career choice such as availability of alternative career options and an individual preference between the career options. According to Agarwala (2008), numbers of career option available to a certain individual depend upon individual and external factors. Individual factors consist of education, family background, attitudes etc while external factors include labour market, state of the economy etc. Greenhaus et al, (2000) suggest that individuals who are involving with effective career management practice should first undertake self exploration followed by environmental exploration. In self exploration, individuals are seeking for information about a variety of personal qualities and attitudes pertaining to career decision making .Basically, these attributes include values, interests, personality, talents and abilities, lifestyle, preferences, weaknesses or shortcomings. Greenhaus et al (2000) contend that occupations, job organization and families are key elements that should be considered in environmental exploration. Agarwala (2008) argued that the role of relationships in making career choice has been overlooked and further suggests that it is vital to explore the type of relationships that matter and why those relationships are significant in the career decision making process. According to him, the key individuals that could influence in career decision making are father, mother, sisters, brothers, friends and relatives. The empirical study on Indian management graduates conducted by Agarwala (2008) found that exerted the greatest influence of making career choice of both male and female students. Further, mother has played significant role in making female students career choice decisions. Eddy, Ronald, and Lisa (2008) surveying US MBA students, classified the factors that determines the students’ career choice in to four categories as own education, career benefits, chance and free choice. In conclusion, Awujo (2007) maintained that the family surpasses every other factor because the traditional base for selection of an occupation is the family. According to Hewitt (2010), factors influencing career choice can either be intrinsic or extrinsic or both. Hewitt further states that most people are influenced by careers that their parents favour. Others follow the careers that their educational choices have opened for them, some choose to follow their passion regardless of how much or little it will make them while others choose the careers that give high income. Students’ perception of being suitable for particular jobs also has been found to be influenced by a member of factors including ethnic background, year in school, level of achievement, choice of science subjects, altitudes and differences in job characteristics (McQuaid & Bond, 2003). A study on career choice in Ethiopia by Stebleton (2007) indicated that the students had an external locus of control and believes that there are numerous external factors which influence their career choices. These external factors include political and economic considerations, previous work experience and the influence of key individuals in a person’s life, Pummel, Harwood and Lavallee (2008) reports that external influences that help to shape an individual’s career choice are also influenced by significant others through social support from peers. In a study by Natalie (2006) young adults through interaction with the context of family, school and community learn about and explore careers which ultimately lead to their career choice. Children may choose what their parents desire simply to please their parents (Taylor et al, (2004). In Nigeria, every year, senior secondary school students in the first year (SS1) make their career choices before setting for the final Senior Secondary Certificate Examination (SSCE), The result of this final examination determines who joins university since admissions into various careers are determined by the grades obtained from the SSCE. When these students are then admitted to the universities, based on the career choices that they had made some of these students drop out of school without graduating while some of them enter into occupations that are totally different from the ones they had chosen or trained for. This is an indication that the students may have been pressured by their parents to choose what their parents desired simply to please them (Taylor, 2004). This, in the researcher’s opinion is what brings about career choice conflict. The purpose of this study is therefore to examine the social-demographic factors of parents which generate conflicts among senior school students in Abuja (FCT).
The essence of who the student is will revolve around what the student wants to do with his or her life-long work. Rosenstock & Steinberg, cited in O’Brien (1996) in support of this claim opine that work is one of our greatest blessings and that everyone should have an honest occupation. They also posited that every student carries the unique history of their past and this determines how they view the world. That history created in part by the student’s environment, personality, and opportunity, will determine how students make career choices. It then follows that how the students perceive their environment, personality, and opportunity will also determine the career choices they make. All these constitute what is referred to as student support system. The components of the student support system include parents, relatives, siblings, peers, teachers and counsellors. Regarding the environment of a student, the home, peer group and the school are very significant. The home environment has the influence of the parents, the media and other siblings on the student. A child can be influenced by his parents’ profession or interest when making a choice of his career. A child’s career choice can also be influenced by the other siblings or what he/ she sees or hears over the media. The school environment has the influence of peers, school counsellor and school teachers. Many other factors within and outside the family have also been linked with career choices. These include factors such as gender stereotyping (Creed & Patton, 2003, Spitze & Logan, 1990, Wilgosh, 2002, Miller, Lietz & Kotte, 2002; Heckert, Droste, Adams, Friffin, Roberts & WaIlis, 2002; Small & McClean 2002, 1997; and Bailyn, 2003), opportunities (Borchert, 2002) and teacher factor (Goh & Atputhasamy, 2001; Park, 2006) among others. Generally, profession according to Oluwatimilehin, Odeleye & Okereke (2009), falls on a continuum. At one end of the continuum are professions like law, medicine, accountancy or accounting, architecture and engineering, which are accorded high status in the society. At the other end of the continuum are low rated professions such as teaching and farming. Though lowly-rated, teaching remains a unique and dynamic profession because education is a veritable tool for the building and sustenance of any nation (Oluwatimilehin et al, 2009). Musgrave (1982) stated that in many African nations, it is assured that many persons enter teachings because teaching is viewed only as a ladder through which they can climb unto other profession. One could decide for a profession based on one’s interest, one’s aptitude or the values attached to the profession or people on the profession. From the researchers’ experience, when most students are asked why they would like to become a lawyer or a medical doctor, their responses most of the time were based on the fact that they were attracted by the Doctors’ or Lawyers’ physical personalities such as their mode of dressing, neatness, comportment and so on. Most often, students are attracted to the way doctors are smartly dressed especially while on their white coat with their stethoscope hung on their neck. They are attracted by the good look of a lawyer in his or her white on black dress with the wig on the head. Many studies have investigated factors that influence choice of teaching as a profession among teachers and students alike. Extrinsic (matters such as remuneration and other benefits), intrinsic (the enjoyment of teaching and the school environment) and altruistic (making a difference to young lives) motives have been investigated (Goh & Atputhasamy, 2001). But no study has been found to examine whether or not students are attracted to the teaching profession by the physical characteristics of their teachers. Any strategic plan to address the shortage of qualified and well trained teachers will have to include the promotion among learners of a positive perception of the teaching profession. The promotion of teaching, however, will depend largely on how successfully such a campaign analyses and responds to the existing opinions among learners and whether it adequately addresses both positive and negative perceptions of teacher characteristics and teaching as a career among them.
Parental Factors and Career Choice
This section of the research is interested in the contributions of past research effect and the different authors on related topic to the study in view. Many studies have stressed the importance of parental influences on a young person’s career development. Although much work has studied parental support such as the impact of parents on a person’s career behaviour, this has usually been from a positive perspective but there is also the need to shed light through the findings of this study those negative parental influences which engender conflict. Based on this, the researcher reviews studies related to the one under investigation. Ferreira, Santos, Fonsera, and Haase, (2006) established that parental influence is one of the multiple developmental contexts that have a bearing on the vocational behaviour of adolescents. Whiston and Keller (2004) also confirm that many studies have documented that young people perceive parents as influencing their career choice. Biggart, Deacon, Dobbie, Furlong, Given and Hinds (2004) in an analysis of the Scotish School Leavers Survey(SSLS) data report that parents are the most commonly reported `catalyst’ for initiating the career choice process. According to him, about 21% of the students claim that their choice is made collaboratively with their parents and perhaps surprisingly about 2% of responses stated that their parents are the main drivers behind their actual decisions. Otto (2000) claimed that indeed parents serve as major influences in the lives of their children. He observed that of the factors that influence career choice processes, the family members particularly the parents are the most influential determinants career plans, occupational aspirations and occupational expectations. Even if schools had the resources with which to meet young people’s career guidance needs, neither teachers nor counselors can replace the influences parents have on their sons and daughters’ career plans (Otto, 2000) . As distal contextual career influencing factor, the parents’ socio economic status (SES) sets a stage for experience that influences many dimensions of their children’s lives ( Liu ,2002; Liu et al ,2004; Maber & Kroka , 2002), including the educational and occupational opportunities available to that individual and the attainments that he or she achieves (Brown ,2002; Fouad and Brown ,2000; Gilbert and Kahl, 1993; Turner and Lepan, 2000). Parents’ socio economic status variables usually interact with their proximal variables (parental support and barriers) to influence the development of their children’s career interests, the selection of their career goals and their career behaviours Ali, Mcwhirter, and Chronister, (2005) . Also Eccles (1993) suggests that parental education variables have an impact on the beliefs and behaviours of the parents indirectly leading to positive career outcomes for the young people concerned. Therefore, Ali et al (2005) in their research confirm that the absence of parental support can be viewed as a hindering factor from parents, forming parental barriers to particular career choices. Conversely, an increase of support from parents might decrease students’ perceptions or barriers. In appraising this review, it is vividly clear that whatever affects and influences a person’s career choice or decision is most likely to generate conflict. It is for this reason that attempt is made in this study to identify the determinants of conflict and conflict areas of occupational aspirations in the career choice of senior school students and their parents.
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF EDUCATION
1. Interest: Eduwen (1994) opined “interest is one of the essential factors that help an individual to choose a career. The individual may be interested in a career that involves frequent interaction with people and demonstrate his love of dealing with people by being humorous, friendly, helpful and understanding.
2. Attitude: Alport (1987) posit that attitude is a mental state of readiness organized through experience exacting a directive and dynamic influence upon an individual responses to all objects and situation with which it relates different people has different attitude and its necessary for the individual to identify those abilities and nature them Eduwen (1994).
3. Environmental influence: Herbart (1985) opined that environment are necessary for developing abilities to levels chosen to capacity levels and if children are raised in healthy home where parents live in harmony and kind and supportive to their children a child is bound this situation to take directive from is bound this situation to take directive from the present.
4. Parental influence: parents play vital roles in the choice of career amongst their Olaumlea (1983) stresses that parents sometimes consciously set up standards worthy of emulation for their children and thus motivated them to be achievement oriented. Roe (1991) states that the choice of their parents towards the particular child and the condition of the home environment. A child who is used to taking directives from his parents would not only be originally but creative. As a result he is a curid for intellectual work (Olaty-Borsyn 1984).
5. Value: according to Eduwen (1994) the value attached to given career by an individual is a product of many variables such as his early life experiences, education and environment. William (1984) opined that “ one job must furnish an outlet suitable to ones particular personal emotional need. The greatest part of ones emotional life is live as is commonly supposed. Different emotional outlets. Even specialties with a profession offer different outlet. One way value and with special ability for a given profession but if that profession does not offer the emotional value peculiar to one’s own need unhappiness and discontent follows.
6. Influence of peer group: Eduwen (1994) stress peer group refers to individual of the same limit or range. Hence the references of an individual in a group for a given occupation can influence his peer having the same attitude and ability to choose the same occupation in order to foster the group relationship and their personal survival.
7. Romanism with reward to work: Oladele (2000) many choose an occupation because it has as a high sounding name of high social prestige a in Medicine (doctor) Law (lawyer) Accounting (accountant).
8. Gender differences: Eduwen (1994) stresses that the sex of an individual is very essential in the choice of an occupation. He stated that the society relates the differences in relative muscularity and feminist of occupational interests and choice of profession.
9. Influence of the school: according to Eduwen (1994) the nature of the school attended by the individual influences the choice of career in the future. The influence of schooling is manifested in curriculum offering and subsequent choice of an occupation. Oladele (1984) stresses that guidance is necessary in schools as more students are enrolling into post primary institutions were a substantial number of primary school leavers will have access to secondary schools. The problem arises in the transition between junior and senior secondary schools with the choice of subject which lead to choice of career.
10. Level of educational attainment: the level of educational attainment to a great extent influences an individuals’ choice of career. People have different opportunity of climbing to different levels of education some individuals may possess the school certificate while others a first degree.
Sadler (1983) states that the more one read the more he comes across publication giving information about the work people do. Time is arranged for students for acquiring sorting, assimilation and dispensing such information space is needed to accommodate career literature and those who use this enable the students choose subjects directing them to careers they wish to do in future.
FACTORS INFLUENCING CHOICE OF TEACHING AS A CAREER
There are factors influencing the choice of teaching as a career, they are:
1. Poor salary: Awake (2002) therefore summarized the situation by saying that the teacher’s job is thankless job as far as income is concerned. His pay has always been below the standard minimum. The salary is so poor that it is hardly sufficient for the teacher to pay his monthly bills. This includes his accommodation, feeding, medical and clothing and transportation. This situation has reinforced the position of 110 (1986) when it remarked that inadequate pay level affect recruitment and stability within the teaching as a career and create frustration, which may give rise to militancy and even a decline in professional standards. At times teachers’ salaries are often unpaid for several months. This makes his moderate to be low. He can hardly be motivated to do this job.
2. Inadequate relevant textbooks: Nigerian schools are beset with the problems of inadequate indigenous textbooks, where there is no choice and students have no necessity to adopt foreign books, they may not be readily available textbooks, unique contribution to classroom situations. They help to individualize instruction and in providing skills of teaching.
3. Inadequate teaching aids: teaching aids such as audio-visual diagrams, graphs, and wall charts, portable board projectors, laboratory kits are not readily available in most schools and where fund, they may not be fully put into use. Where these aids are lacking, teaching and learning of the topic at hand become clumsy.
4. Lacking of guidance and counselling; Makinde (1984) defined guidance as the provision of experience, which assist students to understand himself or herself. It also refers to organization procedure and processes to achieve a helping relationship. Counselling may also be defined as a series of direct contact with the individual, which aims to offer assistance in changing attitudes and behaviour. It is designed to help a student to be her unstand decision or problems some students do not seek assistance of counsellors before choosing their field of study when wrong choice is made this retards the students’ performance resulting in low outcomes.
5. Student’s attitude towards teaching as a career: To determine the attitudes of students towards teaching as a career Abir (1979) says some people see teaching as a career as positive career while others see it as a negative career. In determining the attitude of students towards teaching as a career, Abiri also conducted a study on Nigeria students. He administered questionnaire to 148 student teachers. 52 in first year of the degree programme in education at the University of Jos (former U. I. Campus). In 1970, 41 first year undergraduates in the same tertiary in 1976, and 55 second year students of the government teachers College of Jos in 1974, his finding revealed that students see teacher’s salary as satisfactory but unsatisfactory in 1974. This reason was due to the fact 1970 Udoji salary award which considered improved teachers salaries as from 1975, we can therefore say that students’ attitude than was a kind of positive attitude towards teaching as a career, students’ attitude that was a kind of positive attitude toward teaching as a career.
2.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Donald Super’s Theory of Career Choice (1954)
Donald Super is a developmental theorist. Donald Super is one of the best known theorists who wrote extensively on vocational development. In developing this theory in 1954, he was influenced by self concept theory and Chacorlotte Buchelers’s writings on developmental psychology. The basic principle of this theory is that career choice and development is essentially a process of developing and implementing a person’s self-concept. In other words, this theory emphasized the role self concept plays. According to him, self concept is a product of complex interactions among a number of factors including physical and mental growth, personal experiences and environmental characteristics and stimulation. Super recognized that the self-concept changes and develops throughout people’s lives as a result of experience. According to Super, self. Concept formation depends on the ability of the individual to recognize himself as a distinctive individual and at the same time to be aware of the similarities between himself and others. Hence he identified knowledge of oneself as crucial in making adequate and wise decision. Consequently, as the individual matures, he tests himself in many ways most of which have implications for educational and vocational decisions. As the individual goes through the entire process of vocational choice making he successfully refines his self- concept over time and application to the world of work crates adaptation in his career choice. Supper proposed a life stage developmental framework with the following stages, growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance or management and disengagement. In each stage, one has to successfully manage the vocational developmental tasks that are socially expected of persons in the given chronological age range for example, in the stage of exploration, (ages 15-24), an adolescent has to cope with the vocational development tasks of crystallization (a cognitive process involving an understanding of one’s interest, skills, values and to pursue career goals consistent with understanding, specification (making tentative and specific career and choice career choice), implementation (taking steps to actualize career choice through engaging in training and job positions). Finally, Supper’s theory clearly emphasized that life at any moment is an aggregate roles that one is assuming such as child, student, leisurite, citizen, worker, parent or home maker and the roles changes as one progresses through life stages. Hence role conflicts role, interference and role confusions would likely happen when individuals are constrained in their ability to cope with the demands associated with their multiple roles.
In relating this theory to the study, it is without doubt that Donald super’s career development theory provided a foundation for professional work force, however it is important to stress that the developmental stages an individual goes through in making a vocational choice according to this theory cannot be said to be conflict free. For instance, if there is an opposing action in the choice of a career especially from the parents at any of the stages, it might become more difficult for the young person affected in the conflict to develop self-knowledge or concept and differentiate his or her own career goals from his or her parent’s goals. This might result to making unsatisfactory choices and ending up with the wrong career choices. This shows that the period marking the stage of changes in a person’s self concept which takes place during adolescence and young adulthood may not be without conflict.
2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW
Pilot and Regis (2012) carried out a study titled Socio-demographic Factors Influencing Career Decision-making among Undergraduate Psychology Students in South Africa. Ex post facto research design was used to conduct the study. Ex post facto research design was used for the study. Two-hundred participants (male = 100, female = 100, mean age = 21.35 years) took part in the study. They were randomly selected from students majoring in psychology at the University of Venda in South Africa. The sample comprised students drawn from first, second and third yearclasses. A questionnaire was used to collect data. The study modified Myburgh’s (2005) demo- graphic section of the career motives questionnaire. Pilot testing of the questionnaire resulted in an alpha co-efficient of 0.89. Data were analysed using the chi-square and t-test. The chi-square was used to test the difference between gender and type and location of high school attended. The t-test was used to test the difference between male and female participants in type of educational funding, parents’ level of education, factors that influenced them to choose psychology as a career and the time of career decision making. Response frequencies and corresponding percentages were calculated and the corresponding percentages were worked out. The results of the study showed that demographic factors like type and location of school attended and parents’ level of education influenced career decisions among students. The majority of the participants were influenced to choose psychology by the teacher, friend, mother and media. Gender of the student also influenced career decision among the students. More males were influenced to choose psychology as a career field by friend, teacher and media while females were mainly influenced by the mother, father and member of community. Most of the participants made their career choice decisions at secondary level and during registration at university. More female students made early career decisions while more males made late career decisions. Another related empirical study is a study by Kochung and Migunde (2011) titled Factors Influencing Students’ Career Choices among Secondary School students in Kisumu Municipality, Kenya. The purpose of the study was to examine factors influencing career choice among form four secondary school students in Kisumu municipality, Kenya. The study was conducted using descriptive survey research design. The study was done in Kisumu City that is located on the eastern shores of Lake Victoria. The city has a population of a half a million people. There were 2,464 form four secondary school students preparing to do their final examination during the time this study was being done. Stratified random sampling technique was used to select 332 form four students who took part in the study. Data for this study was collected using both structured and open ended questionnaire and interview schedules which were presented to students. Quantitative data was analyzed using One Way ANOVA at 0.05 level of significance and descriptive statistics such as graphs, charts, frequency counts and percentages. Qualitative data was transcribed and organized into emergent themes. The findings of this study indicate that availability of advancement opportunities and learning experiences are the most influential factors affecting career choices among students. While males reported learning experiences and career flexibility as the most influential factors, females however reported availability of advancement opportunity and opportunity to apply skills as the most influential factors. However, no variance was reported for persons influencing career choice by gender. Another empirical study chosen for this study is the study of Xuhua Qin (2010). The study was carried out by Xuhua Qin as his PhD dissertation for the University of Illionois at Urbana Champaign USA. In the study, Xuhua Qin looked at family Impact on Asian American career choice. In the study, Xuhua Qin noted that Asian Americans were unevenly represented in certain professions in the United States. He noted that while, Asian Americans were commonly found in professions such as Medicines, engineering, computer technology, information technology, business, biochemistry etc. However, they were hardly found in professions such as social worker, musicians, entertainment, sports, theatre arts etc. The researcher wondered if perhaps the uneven distribution was as a result of Asian American interest in such careers. Perhaps it was possible that Asian Americans just preferred those other careers to the arts and performing arts. He cited Holland’s personality theory of vocation and stated that people chose career based on their interest and personality. However Xuhua Qin noted in the study that Asian Americans did not choose their career based on their interest and personality. Rather they chose their career base on family pressure and control. Xuhua Qin noted that the culture of Asians played a significant role in the selection of career by Asian Americans. The culture of Asians is such that family comes first, the Asians are brought up to value their family above all other needs even at the detriment of their comfort and convenience. He noted in the study, that most of the Asian Americans who were in their present career did not have interest for that career; they were only forced to choose the career so that they will please their parents. During the study, he also noted that, while it may be easily assumed that Asian Americans had little interest for performing arts, sport and entertainment etc on the contrary over sixty five percent of the participants who participated in the focus group discussion actually had interest for the performing arts, sports and entertainment. The study is a clear representation of the impact family can have on children’s career choices. He also noted that, though there may not be extreme conflict as would be expected (because Asians generally respect and esteem their parents), yet the minute the child is forced to choose another career other than the career he or she truly wants, conflict is already in place. The researcher chose six hypotheses to guide the study; the sample size for the study was two hundred and forty nine Asian Americans drawn from a university in the west coast of America and from a website design specifically for Asian Americans. Two instruments were used to collect data; the Interest Profiler Short Form (IPSF) which was designed using the RIASEC (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising and Conventional) type of Holland and the Choice Goals Questionnaire (CGQ). Data was analyzed using ANOVA and T-test. Findings from the study showed that family obligations are the strongest motivating factor influencing Asian Americans in making their career choice. Other factors were parental occupations, acculturation, and interest.
The study is very unique to the present study in that it clearly highlighted the impact family factors (parents) have on children’s career choice. It also shows that the issue of career choice conflict goes beyond ethnic group; nation or tribe. Career choice conflict is not primitive. It still occurs even in this present time. One would think that given that America is a highly developed nation, career choice conflict between parents and children would have become a forgotten issue. Yet, the study showed that even in a developed country, career choice conflict is still an issue. Though the study is closely related to this present study, yet the following gaps were noted. The first gap is that the researcher chose to limit the study to a particular ethnic group; by so doing relevant findings that may have been found if other ethnic groups were included were thereby omitted. Secondly, the study did not look at how the parent’s socio-demographic factors influenced the parents-children career choice conflict. Parents’ socio-demographic factors such as socio-economic status, marital status, educational status etc may each play a role in influencing career choice conflict of parents and children. The present study will fill these gaps in that the study will not segregate by ethnic group, the study will also use more samples than the sample used by Xuhua Qin. The study will also look at how parents’ sociodemographic factors determine parents–child career choice conflict. Though the study is closely related to this study, yet some gaps were noted. The present study will fill these gaps.