Peers and parental influence as correlates of carrer choice in social science: Implications for counselling

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the relationship between parental pressure and peer group influence on career choice in social sciences among secondary school adolescents. The survey method was adopted for the study. Two hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Three research instruments were used. The instruments are Students’ Occupational Cluster Preference Scale (SOCPS), Peer Pressure
Assessment Scale (PPAS) and the Parental Influence Assessment Inventory (PIAI). The population of the study comprised students in Senior Secondary School II (SS 2). Data were analyzed using the Pearson product moment correlation and regression analysis. The result showed that there was no significant relationship between Parental and Peer group influence on career choice in social sciences. The following correlation coefficients were obtained for Peer group and career choice in social science r = .121 and Parental influence and career choice in social science r = .34. It
is recommended that counsellors should collect, analyze and interpret relevant data about the adolescents, and their capabilities with a view to helping them improve on their career decision making process.