INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL FACTORS ON VOCATIONAL CAREER CHOICES IN TECHNICAL INSTITUTIONS IN KENYA - A SURVEY OF CATHOLIC PRIVATE INSTITUTIONS IN NAKURU DIOCESE
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate influence of social factors on vocational career choices of students in Catholic-sponsored technical institutions located in the Catholic Diocese of Nakuru, Kenya. The study was guided by the research question: What is the influence of social factors on vocational career choices in the aforementioned institutions? The study was grounded on Krumboltz theory of social learning. The empirical literature covered various societal factors. A Convergent parallel mixed method design was used whereby 292 respondents participated in the study. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling techniques were applied in sampling of institutions, administrators, teachers and students respectively. For data collection, interview guides were used for teachers and principals while questionnaires were employed to facilitate data collection from students. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences programme was used to aid analysis of quantitative data from the students while qualitative data from teachers and principals were organized into themes. Analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data were done independently then mixed at the end during interpretation. The study revealed that 91.6% of students are influenced by immediate people they interact with. It was also found that 55.6% never had prior working experience. The study revealed that as family and friends influence students in technical and vocational training institutions there is still a large number (49.3%) who make choices according to their own personal interest. Majority of the students (61.8%) perceived the courses they were pursuing as being very difficult but also marketable. Electrical installation was found to have the highest number of enrollment for national examinations followed by mechanics. The study recommended to Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to introduce subjects at high school level that could expose students to vocational careers. It was further recommended that technical institutions should come up with guiding policies on how to help and streamline student’s choices on vocational careers.
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DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.46827/ejes.v0i0.1183
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