Title: Relationship Between Parental Influence And Career Choice Among Secondary School Students In Delta State
Authors: Emmanuel, Igho ONOME, Dr A.E OGHOUNU & Prof. (Mrs) G. AKPOCHAFO,
Volume: 9
Issue: 6
Pages: 301-308
Publication Date: 2025/06/28
Abstract:
: The study investigated parental influence on the career choice of secondary school students in Delta State. To guide this investigation, two research questions were raised and two hypotheses were formulated. The study employed a correlational survey design, and a multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 1,350 SS II students from a total population of 13,448 students in 498 government-owned secondary schools across Delta State, registered for the 2022/2023 academic session. The research instrument, titled Parental Influence and Career Choice Scale (PICCS), was used for data collection. The content and construct validity of the instrument were established using factor analysis and principal component analysis. The reliability coefficients for the parental influence scales were .540 for direct parental influence and .552 for indirect parental influence. Data analysis was conducted using the Pearson Product-Moment Correlation and the Coefficient of Determination to answer the research questions. Linear regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. Findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between both direct and indirect parental influence and the career choices of secondary school students in Delta State. This suggests that the roles parents play-whether through active guidance or passive example-significantly impact the career decisions made by their children. Based on these findings, it was recommended that parents actively engage in their children's career decision-making processes through consistent communication, career-related guidance, and emotional support. Parental influence, both direct and indirect, should be positively harnessed to help students make well-informed and suitable career choices. School career counsellors and professional counselling associations should collaborate with parents by organising seminars and workshops to raise awareness about the impact of parental roles in career selection.