Career Counseling and Occupational Preferences Among Secondary School Students in Cross River State, Nigeria

Abstract

This research was carried out in three selected secondary schools in the northern senatorial district of Cross River State, Nigeria to investigate the implication of career counseling on the occupational preferences of senior secondary school students. We sampled a total of 450 students randomly drawn from 3 (three) secondary schools in Northern Cross River State. Two out of the three schools sampled form the experimental groups, while the third school was used as controlled group. The instrument used for the study was a well constructed questionnaire. To achieve the purpose of the study one hypothesis was formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance, using the (X²) chi-square. We found that career counseling, teaching and field trips by students significantly influenced their occupational choice in secondary schools. Based on this finding we recommended that schools should from time to time arrange vocational counseling for their students, where schools don’t have residents’ counselors, they should arrange with the department of Education foundation, Guidance and Counseling unit to give their students free counseling. It was also recommended that school should also cultivate the habit of also teaching their student out of classes like excursions, fieldtrips and tours of some professional operations to enable their students ask questions about different occupations and job prospects.