Religiosity, Family Back Ground and Occupational Prestige as Predictors of Career Preference Among Secondary School Adolescents in Osun State
Secondary school adolescents are often confronted with challenges of deciding on which career path to follow, this occurs most often in the earlier part of their secondary school life. These young adolescents choose career without relating them to their interests, satisfaction and capacity. This have then led the majority of these innocent adolescents to make a wrong career decision, this have affected them in actualizing their full potentials and has led to unemployment in the country. It is in this wise that the study investigated the predictive influence ofReligiosity, Family Background and Occupational Prestigeon Career Preferenceamong secondary school adolescents in Osun state. The study adopted a survey descriptive research design. The study population comprised of secondary school adolescents in Osun state. Using a simple random sampling technique, fifty (50) students were selected from five (5) randomly selected schools in each of the three senatorial districts. In all a total of seven hundred and fifty (750) adolescents were used for the study. Reliable instruments were used to collect data, (Religiosity Inventory α =.82, Occupational Prestige Scale α=.76 and Career Preference Scale α=.79). Data collected were analyzed using PPMC and multiple regression analysis. The result showed that there exists significant and positive correlations exist between the variables, career preferencesignificantly correlated with religiosity (r =.248*; p<.01), family background (r =.223*, p<0.05) and occupational prestige (r =.259**, p<0.05). Also, there was a significant combined effect of independent variables (religiosity, family background and occupational prestige) to the prediction of andcareer preference among secondary school adolescents. The value of R (adjusted) =.481 and R2 (adjusted) = .221, suggesting that the independent variables accounted for 22.1% variation in the prediction of career preference of adolescents. Each of the independent variables made a significant contribution to the prediction of career preference among secondary school adolescents. In term of magnitude of contribution, Family Background made the most significant contribution (β =.330; t= 4.068; p<0.05), followed by Religiosity (β =.169; t= 2.074; p<0.05) and Occupational prestige (β =.098; t= 1.271; p<0.05). Therefore, it is key to be conscious of the identified factors so as to find a lasting solution to the challenge of wrong career selection, particularly at this period in our national life where unemployment serve as the biggest trial.
Religiosity, Family Background, Occupational Prestige, Career Preference and Adolescents
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