INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL BACKGROUND VARIABLES AFFECTING SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS’ CHOICE OF VOCATION IN WUKARI EDUCATION ZONE TARABA STATE, NIGERIA.

¹Obiji, Donatus; ²Israel Philip Gani; ³Kefas Vivian Azumi & ⁴Fai Magdalene Nshie

ABSTRACT

The main objective of the study was to investigate the influence of parental background variables affecting secondary school students’ choice of vocation in Wukari Education Zone, Taraba State, Nigeria. Two research objectives alongside two corresponding research questions and research hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study included 3,184 secondary school students in Wukari Education Zone. Simple random sampling technique was used to select a sample size of eight hundred and sixty-nine (869) SS1 students drawn from twelve (12) public secondary schools in both Ibi and Wukari Local Government Areas of Wukari Education Zone. Self developed instrument titled “Influence of Parental Background on Vocational Choice Questionnaires” (IPBVCQ) was constructed by the researcher for data collection.  The instrument was validated through content validity. The instrument was pilot tested among fifty (50) SS1 students in Jalingo and a reliability index of 0.72 was obtained which justified that the instrument is reliable. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics such as; frequency distribution tables, simple percentages, means and standard deviations. All the null hypotheses were tested using pearson’s chi square at 0.05 level of significance. The study found that the parental level of education, and parental occupation, have significant influence on the vocational choice of secondary school students in Wukari Educational Zone. The study concluded that the parent’s background influenced the vocational choice of secondary school students in Wukari Educational Zone. Based on the findings, it was recommended that the choice of students vocation should be made voluntary. Parents should not force students to pursue careers similar to their own against their will as this will result in students choosing vocations that fall out their potentials.

Keywords: Parental Background, Choice of Vocation, Parental Occupation, Parental Level of Education.