| dc.description.abstract | The study was carried out in the four (04) selected secondary schools in Katakwi district and this
focused on parental influence and career aspirations of children in secondary schools. The 124
respondents who participated in this study included, 4 head teachers, 20 teachers, 40 parents, and
60 students who were selected from 4 sample secondary schools using census and simple random
sampling techniques. Questionnaires were used to collect data from head teachers, some parents
and teachers, whereas interviews were administered to the parents and students. The findings
collected and presented in chapter four (table 5) indicated that the largest number of respondents
agreed with the view that parents perceived science courses as better paying than arts courses. In
addition, the largest number of respondents disagreed with the view that parents perceived arts
courses as better paying than science courses whereas majority of the respondents agreed that
parents perceived technical courses as having more reliable and secure job opportunities. On the
other hand, the largest percentage of respondents agreed that parents in Katakwi District
perceived farming and cattle rearing were better paying than any other. As regards the influence
of parents‟ own career experiences and aspirations on their guidance and support, the largest
percentage of respondents agreed that parents advised their children to take up their careers,
majority disagreed that parents gave freedom to their children to choose careers of their interest
while the largest percentage of respondents agreed that parents forced their children to take up
their jobs. The largest number of respondents agreed that parents sponsored their children to take
up their careers. In relation to parents‟ education levels and children‟s self-confidence towards
certain careers, the largest percentage of respondents agreed that children of the educated parents
took up elite jobs, majority of respondents agreed that children of uneducated peasant farmers
commonly took up peasant farming and the largest percentage of respondents agreed that
educated parents had the capacity of sponsoring their children for any course of their choice.
Finally, the researcher concluded that, parents perceived science courses and technical courses as
better for their children. In addition, parents own career experiences and aspirations greatly
influenced their guidance and support for their children‟s career choices and that parents‟
education levels greatly influenced the children‟s self-confidence towards certain careers.
Findings from correlation indicated that there was close relationship between parent‟s career
aspirations and their children‟s choice of career. | en_US |
