Sources of career information

There is presently a large gap between the real and the ideal situation regarding the quality and quantity of career information services. South Africa requires career information and counselling service that is more systems oriented and community based. This is supported by research which showed that a large majority of black students prioritized the need for a career resource centre. There is a great mismatch between the careers most high school graduates choose, and the ones borne out of their natural interest. This is the reason behind great dissatisfaction in their later careers.

 The main reason for this is uninformed choice of vocation immediately after school. In Kenya, interviews conducted by the  Ministry of Education officials and career guidance teachers confirmed that students are simply given careers booklet containing university courses, their prerequisite subjects and cut-off points, instead of career guidance and counselling. This, interestingly, is due to limited skilled human resources as well as time.

The need for career counseling development is to consider holistic issues. With the improved technology and ease of information access, sources of career information have increased. Learners encounter peers and other people with career information from diverse backgrounds as well as cultures. As they enter the formal education, the experiences acquired from the informal sector dominate the learning environment.

The report prepared by the former Ministry of Gender and Women Affairs revealed that there existed high career aspirations. However, there lacked sufficient information about the qualifications or school subjects that students needed to enter their preferred profession. Their main sources of information about career choices tended to be friends as well as others particularly parents. The research advances that based on the information gathered by the students, their decisions are made in a reactive rather than a proactive manner, such as information seeking would involve.

It is important that a teacher builds on information and experiences by harmonizing the appropriate career choice with the student’s experience, ability and goals. This is on the assumption that the diverse experiences learners bring to the educational environment are not contradictory either to the teacher’s objectives or to individual student’s personal expectations.

Peer as a source of information

Peer refers to a group of people with shared traits especially culture and ways of doing things. Peer influence is the influence resulting from such a group encouraging one to either change or strengthen his or her attitudes, values, behaviour and general way of thinking in a bid to conform to the group’s norms.

Peer pressure is one of the single most determining factors as far a career choice among people with a shared culture is concerned. Every generation of students in a given school, and probably even several generations adopt certain courses as the ideal choice. As a result, many of them, including those with no aptitude for some careers, aspire to it often at the expense of equally substantive options that they would better suit and be happier at.

The presence of peers in one’s life highly influences his/her choice on what course to pursue. The social support that peers give to each other either directly or indirectly plays a great role in influencing what course one enrols for training. This influence is especially stronger among youths and young children.

Overworked teachers resulting from overloaded curriculum leaves them with little time to offer career guidance to the students. This is further worsened by the parents who have either little time with their children to offer career guidance or are illiterate as far as career matters are concerned. Students are therefore left in the hands of their fellow peers to offer the necessary career guidance. It remains to be established whether it is the same case with the ECE.

Adolescents often choose a career just because everyone else is doing it. Friends may decide they want to go to the same college and pursue a similar career. They can also decide that in line with their future expectation, they pursue careers that will complement each other in future. This may push a student to pursue a course he/she is either intellectually incapable of handling or a course which one doesn’t have interest on.

Family as a source of information

Family is an important socialisation agent. During socialisation, children learn from both their parents and off springs. Family members especially parents, are the most important role models in the child’s life. This means that every decision that a child makes in his/her life, career included, is guided by these models. Career development is a lifelong process that begins in early childhood years, a period when a family’s influence in one’s life is highly pronounced. Career related decisions that children make during their early school years are very important. With the family being regarded as the most influential part of the child’s life, it is expected that most of the choices a child makes have their bases on the family’s guidance with the parent playing a crucial role on this.

Siblings serve as a primary source of support for career decisions by providing career information, role modelling, and emotional support for career decision making.

Students, through their interaction within the context of family, learn about and explore careers which ultimately lead to their career choice. Parents and other family members provide valuable learning experiences by being role models as well as being supportive in students’ exploration of their career interests. In this respect, children from literate and work-bound parents have been found to enjoy some advantage over their counterparts as far as career support is concerned.

Parental pressure has direct influence too. If a parent exerts enough pressure on his/her child to pursue a particular course a time when the child didn’t have plans on the same, then there is a high likelihood that the child will follow the parent’s suggestion. This sometimes is beneficial to students especially those who don’t take time as well as have an ability to conduct career research. Although career choice planning is the primary the responsibility of a student, education level of parents might lead students in a particular career path.

Career experts

Various career development strategies can be put in place to help students set up a career path.  These strategies include career guidance, career counselling, career information, career education, career development programme and career coaching. The interventions strategies help students to develop self-awareness, occupational awareness, learn career decision making skills, job search skills, cope with job stress, adjust and implement after having made a choice, problem solving skills and others.

It is essential that there is a need for school guidance programme that would positively impact student career development. Career counsellors play a key role in developing and implementing career activities among students to facilitate their career development. Making career development a priority and activities to facilitate career development an integral part of any school guidance program should be the goal.

The role of career counsellors in schools in general, include facilitation of career decision-making process through provision of careers’ information, enhancing clarity of personal values, interests, skills and abilities as well as facilitating confidence in decision making. This will consequently boost self-confidence and ability to make appropriate career decisions. There has been a concern where most students and other young adults find it hard to acquire adequate career information. This is because rather than schools having professional counsellors, teachers have been turned into career counsellors. The implication is that many students graduate from high school with little information concerning the careers they intended to pursue. Counsellors are known to help students examine their interests, styles and their abilities so as to determine which profession best suit them. They are also known to be helpful to students who were yet to decide on a career as well as those who might be unhappy with their choices. In addition, career experts also assist people in learning new skills and abilities related to managing and directing their careers and work life. Experts invest a valuable amount of time, energy and expertise in aiding students in career decision making as well as assisting people in career discovery. They help students in identifying potential role models, with whom they might develop supportive, value adding relationships.