Relationship between Locus of Control, Parents’ Education and Factors Influencing Career Choice of Students in Federal College of Education (Technical) Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria
Relationship between Locus of Control, Parents’ Education and Factors Influencing Career Choice of Students in Federal College of Education (Technical) Gusau, Zamfara State, Nigeria.
ABSTRACT
The study was designed to investigate the extent of the relationship among Locus of Control, Parental Education and Career Choice of Students in F.C.E.T. Gusau, Zamfara State. The study used a descriptive correlation design with a sample size of 239.
Three sets of questionnaires were used for data collection; these include the adopted version of Rotter’s Locus of Control, the Adapted version of the Parental Educational Background Questionnaire and the Adapted version of the Students’ Career Choice Questionnaire.
Reliability coefficients of the instruments were obtained in the following order: 0.85,0.89 and 0.80. Spearman Correlation Coefficient and multiple regressions were used in testing the seven null hypotheses at a 0.05 level of significance.
The study found that Students’ Career choice is not significantly influenced by their Internal Locus of Control but rather influenced by external Locus of Control. Parent’s educational background is not a major predictor that influences Students’ career choice in F. C. E. (T.), Gusau.
Based on the findings of this study it was recommended that the Federal College of Education Technical Gusau should as a matter of urgency create a counselling unit for effective and functional career guidance and counselling for students. Finally, emphasis on vocational guidance should be laid down on students’ personalities, aptitude and interests.
INTRODUCTION
In Nigeria and all over the world every youth is a potential leader of tomorrow. Such men need to be men of integrity. Guidance and counselling will provide a fertile ground for the production of men with good potentials.
The secondary school is dumping ground of youths of varied social fertility, mental balance and capacity, different interests and values.
Equality of educational opportunities can only be achieved by encouraging, recognizing and accepting individual differences among students which will serve as the foundation for each to plan and progress towards realistic educational, vocational, moral and mental goals (Mkpa, 2006).
The overall purpose of the school is to develop the potentials of the students as individuals. The alarming rate at which students graduate and are unable to secure a job, placement could be partly due to a lack of adequate guidance on the choice of subject combination right from secondary school.
Throughout the world, human beings always have problems and have been seeking ways of solving their problems in terms of assistance from other people. Some people like to emulate others in the field of job, wealth, fame, and attitudes (Nwachuku, 2005).
For example in line with this assertion, many times, fathers, mothers and guardians give pieces of advice to their sons, daughters in many cases, such pieces of advice are in areas of education, dressing, vocational choice, respect for elders and other socialization processes.
Many people including youths do not know what they should do when they plan to make career decisions and some people do not put enough effort into making a career decision. Many people also seem to be doing uninteresting jobs. Some people change jobs because they have job dissatisfaction.
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