Post viva text

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CAREER GUIDANCE AND CAREER CHOICES OF ADVANCED LEVEL STUDENTS IN
SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MASAKA MUNICIPALITY
BY:
ORARO DELICIOUS
March, 2019

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CAREER GUIDANCE AND CAREER CHOICES OF ADVANCED LEVEL STUDENTS IN
SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MASAKA MUNICIPALITY
ORARO DELICIOUS
800116579
A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES AND
RESEARCH IN FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A
MASTEROF ARTS IN EDUCATION LEADERSHIP OF WALSH UNIVERSITY,
NORTH CANTON OHIO,USA
MARCH, 2019

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DECLARATION
I Oraro Delicious, hereby declare that this dissertation is my original work and it has never been
submitted for a Diploma, Degree or Master’s Degree in any Tertiary Institution or University. To the
best of my knowledge, it does not contain any material which has been previously published or written
by any person except when due reference is clearly exemplified in the text.
Signed by--------------------------------
ORARO DELICIOUS Date:--------------------------------------

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APPROVAL
I hereby approve that this dissertation on the topic: “Career Guidance and Career Choices of Advanced
Level Students in Selected Secondary Schools in Masaka Municipality” was compiled under my
supervision and it is ready for presentation for examination with my approval as University
Supervisor.
Signed by----------------------------------------------
DR KATUSIIME DENIS
UNIVERSITY SUPERVISOR
DATE:--------------------------------------------------

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DEDICATION
This dissertation is dedicated to my one and only beloved wife Violet Oraro (Mrs) and our
childrenKiraboJemima,TwesigyeVernessa, NgonzizeJesseJasi II and AtugonzaBelinda.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
In the presentation of my research findings on “Career Guidance and Career Choices of Advanced
Level Students in Selected Secondary Schools in Masaka Municipality”, I am specifically indebted
first and foremost to the Almighty God for the precious and priceless gifts of life, wisdom and strength
without which I would not have been able to accomplish this project successfully.
Secondly, I am greatly indebted to the following people without whose contribution, support and
sacrifice, I highly doubt if this work would have come to be what it is:Special appreciation goes to my
parents, wife, children, siblings and friends for their invaluable moral, spiritual and financial support
during the course of my studies.
I also acknowledge the great help accorded to me by the careers’ masters, senior teachers,
administrators and the advanced level students of the selected secondary schools in Masaka
Municipality without whose kindness and generosity, I would not have been able to access the data
that I desperately needed to make this research a success.
Last but not least, my sincere heartfelt appreciation goes to my supervisor Dr Katusiime Denis, to Dr
Gesa particularly for their generosity in guiding me technically and to the entire staff of University of
Kisubi for the support and guidance accorded to me while I was carrying out this academic
project.May the Almighty God reward each one of you abundantly according to His riches in glory.

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TABLE OF CONTENT
DECLARATION.......................................................................................................................................................................................i
APPROVAL...............................................................................................................................................................................................ii
DEDICATION.........................................................................................................................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT...................................................................................................................................................................iv
TABLE OF CONTENT.......................................................................................................................................................................iv
LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...Vii
LIST OF
FIGURES………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………viix
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS.…………………………………………………………………………...……………………………………….x
ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………...…vi
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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION.............................................................................................................................................1
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................................................1
Background..........................................................................................................................................................................................1
Rationale of the study…………………………………………………………………………………………………..…1
Historical Perspective…………..………...……………………………………………………………………………….1
Theoretical Perspective……………………………………………………………………………………………………3
Conceptual Perspective……………………………………………………………………………………………………3
Contextual Perspective…………………………………………………………………………………………………….4
Statement of the Problem………………...…………………………………………………………………….6
Purpose of the Study...........................................................................................................................................................................7
Specific Objectives of the Study ....................................................................................................................................................7
Research Questions.............................................................................................................................................................................7
Scope of the Study...............................................................................................................................................................................7
Significance of the Research/Study..........................................................................................................................................8
CHAPTER TWO.......................................................................................................................Error!Bookmarknotdefined.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE..............................................................................................................................................9
Introduction ...........................................................................................................................................................................................9
The Theoretical Review ....................................................................................................................................................................9
The Conceptual Framework……………………………………………………………………………………………………………11

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Career Information Provision and Career
Choices……………………………………………………………143
Career Assessment and Career Choices.................................................................................................................................205
Career Education and Career Choices....................................................................................................................................238
Conclusion…….……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….20
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY............................................................................................................................................27
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................27
Population and Sampling ...............................................................................................................................................................27
Data Quality Control.......................................................................................................................................................................31
Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................................................................................33
Research EthicalIssues…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..26
Limitations of the study..................................................................................................................................................................34
CHAPTER FOUR....................................................................................................................................................................................35
PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATIONOF DATA.....................................................................................35
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................35
What is the effect of career information provision on the career choices of advanced level students in the
selected schools in Masaka Municipality?...............................................................................................................................37
What is the contribution of career assessment on the career choices of advanced level students
in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality?........................................................................................36
What is the Role of Career Education on the Career Choices of Advanced Level Students in Selected
Secondary Schools in Masaka Municipality? .........................................................................................................................52
CHAPTER FIVE......................................................................................................................................................................................59
DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................................................59
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................................59
Discussion of the Findings ............................................................................................................................................................59
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................................................................................62
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................................................................63
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................................................................................65
APPENDICES..........................................................................................................................................................................................70
APPENDIX I: INTERVIEW GUIDE FOR ADVANCED LEVEL STUDENTS.................................................................70
APPENDIX II: TEACHERS/ADMINISTRATORS’ INTERVIEW GUIDE........................................................................71
APPENDIX III: ADVANCED LEVEL STUDENTS’ QUESTIONNAIRE...........................................................................72
APPENDIX IV: TEACHING STAFF QUESTIONNAIRE......................................................................................................76

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APPENDIX V: THE MORGAN AND KRECJIE RESEARCH ACTIVITY SAMPLE SIZE DETERMININGTABLE
FOR A GIVEN POPULATION SIZE.............................................................................................................................................80
A COPY OF AN INTRODUCTORY LETTERFROMTHE UNIVERSITY……...…………………………………………….76
COPIESOF CONSENTLETTERSFROM THE SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS………………………………….77
LIST OF TABLES
Sampling frame…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………21
Response rate……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………28
Gender of the respondents…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………29
Respondents’ age brackets…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………29
Schools provide sufficientcareer information……………………………………………………………………………………..30
Career information helps in self-discovery………………………………………………………………………………………….31
Career information on courses provided…………………………………………………………………………………………….32
Schools provide sufficientinformation on degree and diploma courses……………………………………………….32
Career Information is mainly from the school library………………………………………………………………………….33
Career information is mainly from invited persons……………………………………………………………………………..34
Career information is mainly from tours…………………………………………………………………………………………….35
Internet is the main source of career information………………………………………………………………………………..36
Attainment of self-awareness and career assessment…………………………………………………………………………..37
Awareness of labour market and career assessment……………………………………………………………………………37
Understanding of career assessment…………………………………………………………………………………………………..38
Career assessment helps in career choicemaking……………………………………………………………………………….39
Students underwent at least one career assessment……………………………………………………………………………39
Students have ever been excited by career choice making……………………………………………………………………40
Career assessment sessions as a source of excitement…………………………………………………………………………41
Students career choicesare influenced by career assessment………………………………………………………………42
Career assessment aids in self-awareness…………………………………………………………………………………………..43
Career assessment as a way of career choice making…………………………………………………………………………..44

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Understanding of the term “Career Education”……………………………………………………………………………………45
Schools conductformal career education sessions………………………………………………………………………………45
Career education is a source of plenty of valuable information……………………………………………………………46
Key role played by career education in career choicemaking………………………………………………………………47
Schools have fixed time tables forcareer education……………………………………………………………………………48
Schools follow a specific curriculum for career education…………………………………………………………………..49
Career education is scheduled outside schooltime…………………………………………………………………………….50

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LIST OF FIGURES
A bar graph on career choices as influenced by career assessment…………………………………………………….42
A pie chart on career education as a source of plenty of valuable information……………………………………46

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ABCD Australia Blue Print for Career Development
APASO Assessment Programme for Affective and Social Outcomes
DOTS Decision learning, Opportunity awareness, Transition learning and Self-awareness
EDB Education Bureau
Et al And others
HKACMGM Hong Kong Association of Careers’ Masters and Guidance Masters
LMI Labour Market Information
NCHE National Council for Higher Education
UNO United Nations Organisation

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ABSTRACT
This study focused on Career Guidance and Career Choices of Advanced Level students in selected
secondary schools in Masaka Municipality. The purpose was to establish how career guidance impacts
career choices of advanced level students in the selected schools. The specific objectives were to
establish the effect of career information provision, the contribution of career assessment and the role
of career education on the career choices of the advanced level students in the selected schools. It was
conducted using a cross sectional survey design and data was collected from 206 students and 20
educationists by use of questionnaires and structured interview guides. It was found out that the Career
information provided enhances students’ self-awareness (61.1% of the respondents agreed).Students’
career choices are influenced by information in form of government policy and from internet sources.
Career assessment is valued as a key element of career guidance (68.7% of the respondents agreed),
however, it is not conducted systematically. Career education is provided but without any particular
curriculum and time table and consequently, students fail to apply it in their career choices’. The study
recommended that comprehensive career information be provided, schools should invest in internet
facilities, career masters’ unions should be formed for experience sharing and for provision and
dissemination of career information. Also, career assessment should be re-emphasised, special
training for career guidance personnel in specialized institutions should be conducted and a well
thought out and realistic career education curriculum should be designed. The study concluded that
reviewing and reforming of the career guidance being provided in our secondary schools today in
order to make it more compliant to the global changes in the world of work and to our society’s
changing situations and needs is the only way to go.

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CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This chapter provides background information to the topic: “Career guidance and career choices of
advanced level students in selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality.” It gives an overview
on the evolution of career guidance as a concept. It specifically highlights the background that
comprises of the rationale for the study, as well as the historical, theoretical, conceptual and contextual
perspectives of this study. It deals with the problem statement, the purpose, the objectives, the research
questions, the scope, the significance as well as the conceptual frame work of the study.
1.1 Background
The background is presented in form of a brief rationale for the study and in four perspectives and
these are: the historical, these theoretical, the conceptual and the contextual as elucidated below:
1.1.0 Rationale for the study
The rationale for this study is to help provide an investigative basis upon which the education
authorities in Masaka Municipality and in the concerned secondary schools as well as those at the
district and national level in general can understand the gaps in our career guidance for purposes of
reforming it to function better in line with our world’s changing needs and situations. This study is
based on the desire to explore ways how all the students who go through school can come to a full
realization of their God- given dream careers. William Ssetuba, a careers’master at Mengo Secondary
Secondary School observed that students will only fit in the scope of their dreams when they have
received guidance. Studies are a journey but students must know that a career is the destination; this is
where career guidance comes in handy because it helps the students reach their destination (The
Observer, the 11thto the 18th of May,2017).
1.1.1 Historical Perspective
Guidance has been there since the existence of man on earth and will be needed as long as man is
faced with problems (Rutondoki,2000).The origins of career thought could be traced to the 15th
century and earlier although organized career theoretical work appeared much later(Slideshare,2015).
The history of Career Guidance as a movement has its roots in the late 1800s and the dawning of the
20th century. Before the late 19th century, little was available in the form of career guidance for those

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looking to find a job. Most work prospects developed from close community contacts such as family,
friends and perhaps church. The turn of the 20th century saw a rise in immigration, resulting in an
increased need for more organized effort to help people to find jobs. In 1907, Frank Parsons, created
the first Methodology of Career Guidance. He began the Vocational Bureau of Boston, to aid people to
discover what careers were available in 1908. His theories focused on making people more in tune
with their skills and interests, thus leading to the right fit for a career. After World War II, more
Women and Veterans were in the work force with higher education levels. Increased technological
development opened new types of jobs and demand for certain skills (Forneries, 2017).
The 20th century laid the base for scientific knowledge of career behaviour and documented the
effectiveness of career interventions that modify or facilitate career behaviour. In our 21stcentury
world, the career guidance curricula is planned to facilitate career knowledge, skills, and
behavioursthat lead to personal flexibility and competence. The career guidance specialistsare routine
technologists who plan and apply the use of computer-assisted career guidance systems, the internet,
CD-ROMS, and virtual reality approaches to experiencing possible work environments, games, self-
assessment, international databases about educational and occupational opportunities, and other forms
of technology to complement individual or group approaches to career development(Edwin,2001).
In the Ugandan context, during the era of British Colonial rule, not much care was given to guidance
and counseling in learning institutions. It was only in 1963,one year after independence, in the Castle
Educational Commission report that serious attention was paid to guidance and counseling. The need
and importance of vocational guidance was stressed. In 1964, the first education officer in charge of
career guidance in secondary schools was appointed. In 1965, effort was made to shift from vocational
to career guidance focusing on the secondary school and not any other level of education. Amin’s
government made some effort to review Education generally in the 1970s and hence the 1978
SentezaKajubi report which was not implemented since the government was toppled in April
1979.The current Uganda government led by his excellencyYoweriMuseveni recognizes the need and
importance of guidance and counseling. In 1989, it appointed an education review commission chaired
by professor Kajubi. Among other things, it recommended that each secondary school should have at
least one teacher responsible for career guidance, who should liase regularly with higher education
institutions regarding admission quotas in different fields of learning at the tertiary level for the benefit
of prospective candidates. As per the government in its, Education White Paper produced in 1992,

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both career guidance and counselling are to be carried out in secondary schools. However, it was
premature for such services to be established in primary schools (Rutondoki,2000).
Ssenyonyi and Ochieng (2012), observe that counselling in Uganda can trace its root and foundation in
three areas, the non -formal guidance and counselling offered in the traditional culture, clan and
family, guidance and counselling offered in schools for choosing subjects and careers and counselling
offered to curb the 30 year epidemic of HIV/AIDS. They point out that the traditional cultures upheld
their legacies and passed on what was important through the nuclear family, extended families, and the
community.
1.1.2 Theoretical Perspective
The researcher based this study on one of the developmental career theories. This was specifically the
one attributed to Super (1996). It states that career choice and development includes a lifelong and
developmental process that begins in childhoodand proceeds continuously over the life time. Each life
period presents particular problems to solve, and these problems may surface and resurface in
predictable and unpredictable ways at various times of life.Super stresses the developmental nature of
careers and suggests that career guidance counsellors must help their clients to understand and deal
with developmental tasks, promote effective career planning, career exploration and career decision
making at all life periods so as to be able to design their careers and navigate successfully through
anticipated transitions. In Super’s view career guidance counselors must assist students to arrange
their work and other life roles into a livable and satisfying pattern. According to Super’s
developmental career theory, the major roles in life constitute the typical life structure in a
chronological order of child, student, leisurite, citizen, worker, spouse, homemaker, parent and
annuitant. This theory emphasises that among the roles identified above, the worker role typically
represents a core role, given the cultural, social and personal imperative to work (Super et al,1996).
Super approaches career choices comprehensively in five stages: the Growth Stage (which spans from
four to fourteen years or from childhood to adolescence), the Exploratory Stage (from adolescence to
early adulthood where the individual examines himself and occupations critically), the Establishment
Stage which marks the beginning of specialization and consolidation of expertise in a chosen career,
the Maintenance Stage where the individual consolidates the gains of his career and lastly the Decline
Stage after retirement which involves slowing down and disengaging from work (Rutondoki,2000).

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From the five stages above, this particular study relates to the exploratory stage where the advanced
level students of ages fifteen to twenty years need to be helped to choose a career that is related to the
three principal subjects that they have personally preferred out of the nine or ten they were studying at
the Ordinary level or the growth stage of career development as Super calls it. This study would like to
investigate whether the advanced level students in the selected secondary schools in Masaka
Municipality have really grown in career decision making and have gone beyond the ordinary level
fantasizing as stipulated in Super’s career development theory.The researcher would like to use this
study to test Super’s career development theory in the selected secondary schools in Masaka
Municipality as far as it asserts that at the advanced level age, the individual hasmatured to the extent
that he or she pays more attention to certain subjects and critically examines the career choices that
they lead one to.
The researcher being interested in investigating how career guidance influences Advanced level
students’ career choices in selected Secondary Schools in Masaka Municipality, finds this theory
relevant to his study simply because just like all the other development career theories generally, it
predicts the tasks and challenges that accompany career development such as learning about oneself,
exploring the world of work, developing a vocational identity, narrowing down career options from a
broad range of career alternatives and establishing and maintaining one’s career. The researcher
found this theory handy in as far as constructing of his interview guides and questionnaires was
concerned. The researcher constructed questions that sought to establish how the career guidance
provided in the selected secondary schoolshad aided students to narrow down their career options from
a broad range of career alternatives and how they had been helped to enhance on their own self-
awareness as well as in exploring the current world of work.
1.1.3 Conceptual Perspective
Career is work that an individual chooses to do after a certain period of study. It is part and partial of
an individual’s total life style and includes some factors which are not directly related to the
individual’s work(Rutondoki,2000). “Career” means job, occupation or vocation a person has. It is a
series of jobs that a person has in a particular area of work (Okwonko, 2011). It is a person’s “ course
or progress through life(or a distinct portion of life)”. It relates to a range of aspects of an individual’s
life, learning and work. It describes an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training
or formal education and is considered to be a person’s lifework (The Oxford English Dictionary).

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Guidance is a procedure of assisting persons to know themselves by discovering their desires, interests
and capabilities in a bid to prepare their own goals and create Strategies for realizing those goals.
Many texts interchangeably use the term guidance for counseling and vice versa. The general
consensus among specialists is that guidance is a family name for all the helping services within the
general educational and community systems. Guidance encompassesCounselling (Tina Nweze et
al,2014).Guidance refers to a general label, an umbrella term that covers all the means where an
institution identifies and responds to individual needs for pupils, help the pupil to develop his or her
maximum potential (Ipayee,1983).
Career guidance consists of a clear understanding of self, aptitude, abilities, interests, resources and
limitations. Secondly, it is made up of knowledge of requirements and conditions of success,
advantages and disadvantages, compensation opportunities and prospects in professions. It comprises
time reasoning on the relationship between clear knowledge of one’s potential and requirements as
well as Guidance is a procedure of assisting persons to know themselves by discovering their desires,
interests conditions of success in a given profession (Rutondoki, 2000). Career Guidance is an
inclusive term which usually describes a range of interventions including career education and
counselling that help students to develop and use knowledge, skills and attitudes in decisions on their
study and work options and life roles (ABCD,2008).Career guidance encompasses all components of
services and activities in educational institutions, agencies and other organizations that offer
counselling and career related education programmes (Zunker, 2002). It is a process where a career
guide helps one on his or her path to career development and success (Mindler,2015).
Career choices involve decisions regarding subjects preferred and offered by an individual in
educational institutions, the courses of specialization and the subsequent jobs or occupations (Issa and
Nwalo, 2008). Career choices refer to the broad opportunities that exist for lifelong vocations. These
vacations are set out in a framework of strategies moving towards personal goals. Fields of vocational,
academic, and sociological endeavours are explored for the purpose of satisfying personal, economic
and intellectual goals (Micheal,2002).
1.1.4 Contextual Perspective
In the Ugandan context and therefore in Masaka Municipality, every Secondary school is supposed to
have a teacher designated as a “Careers’ Master”, whose main duty is to liaise regularly with the
National Council for Higher Education (NCHE), Universities, other tertiary institutions and the

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Directorate of Guidance and Counselling at the Ministry of Education, Technology and Sports in the
provision of appropriate Career guidance services to the students.However, currently in Masaka
Municipality, some of the selected secondary schools have a designatedcareers’ master and others do
not have. It is also true that in most of these schools, career guidance isonly provided in form of
“seasonal talks” by some invited professionals or resources persons. It is veryevident that the selected
secondary schools in Masaka Municipality place more emphasis on students being able to pass xamina
examinations highly and therefore particularly the senior five and six students are
mostly encouraged to select subject combinations that are perceived to contain subjects that
are relatively easier for students to pass. Little or no attention is paid to the fact that students have
personal interests and need to be guided to carefully and systematically select subjects that lead
themto their dream careers. It is also noticeable that some of the selected secondary schools in
MasakaMunicipality have large numbers of student population and therefore the students to career
Guidancecounsellor ratio is definitely unrealistically too high (Field data,2018).
It can be said that, in most of the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality, career guidance
seems to be organized according to the tastes or preferences of individual school heads without any
uniform and organized planning and follow up procedure. It is also evident that the financial support
offered to the career guidance departments in each of the selected secondary school is quite negligible
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Career Guidance in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality and in Uganda in general
has not been attended to as it should be. As a result of this, the students get into the process of making
career choices without any knowledge of what to do,its implication and value in their lives. This is
partly evidenced by a report fromMwesigwa and Nangonzi in The Observer newspaper of 11th to the
18th of May,2017. They observe that once upon a time, when a student joined secondary school, he/she
would be oriented in what they should expect to get from studying, what career options were available
and how they could decisively make decisions based on their interests. The office responsible for this
was the career guidance office. It occasionallyorganized career week fairs for students where different
professionals such as doctors, and lawyers among others, would be invited to talk to students about
their career dreams and how they could be achieved. But those far-flung times are now gone.These
two reporters emphasise that in a mini survey, carried out by The Observer among different schools, it
was discovered that many schools had allotted the career guidance time to classes instead, while others
had one teacher expected to reach hundreds of students in the school. One senior six student

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(HellenTwongyeirwe of Kinoni Girls’ School in Mbarara district), was quoted to have confessed that
she had been talked to about career choices only twice in her six-year stay at the school. She revealed
that the first time was when they were about to sit for senior four examinations and the second time
was when they were about to fill forms for university course choices. The same student in her own
words stated “Even when I got the form, I didn’t know what to fill in.” There is therefore a need to
find out the reasons as to why in spite of the careerguidance offered in the selectedSecondary schools
in Masaka Municipality, majority of the studentsgo through the Advanced Leveland find it difficult to
select appropriate courses that will lead them togainful employment and totheir dream careers
thereafter.
1.3 Purpose of the Study
The purpose of the study was to establish how career guidance impacts the career choices of Advanced
Level students in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality.
1.4 Specific Objectives of the Study
1.4.1 To establish the effect of career information provision on the career choices of Advanced level
students in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality.
1.4.2 To examine the contribution of career assessment on the career choices of the Advanced Level
students in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality.
1.4.3 To determine the role of career education on the career choices of Advanced Level students in
selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality.
1.5 ResearchQuestions
1.5.1 What is the effect of career information provision on the career choices made by Advanced
Level students’ in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality?
1.5.2 What is the contribution of career assessment on the career choices made by Advanced
Levelstudents in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality?
1.5.3 What is the role of career education on the career choices of Advanced Level students in the
selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality?
1.6 Scope of the Study
This spells out the geographical, content and time scope of this study.

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1.6.1 The Geographical Scope of the Study.
The research was confined to five selected private and government aided secondary schools in Masaka
Municipality (Masaka district) respectively.
1.6.2 The Content Scope of the Study
The study examined career guidance for students at the senior five and six classes in the selected
secondary schools in Masaka Municipality. The study focused on career guidance and not any other
form of educational guidance. The study specifically examined how the three components of the
independent variable that is, career guidance in this respect (career information provision, career
assessment and career education) affect the dependent Variable, in this case the Advanced Level
students’ Career choices (academic, vocational and professional).
1.6.3 The Time of the Study
The study covered the period 2013- 2017 because it was the time when the career guidance problem
reached uncontrollable or crisis pitch levels, not only in Masaka Municipality but in Uganda generally.
1.7 Significanceofthe Study.
The study might help the district education planners to understand the factors affecting career
guidance in secondary schools and the interventions to address the problem. It may also give
Secondary school administrator’s insight on how to improve career guidance as an aspect in their own
schools. From the data generated from this study, the government policy planners may have a factual
basis on which to address rampant unemployment among the youth. The study might help secondary
school teachers to understand the importance of systematic and well planned career guidance activities
on the school programme.The study may also help students to improve their attitude towards work and
career guidance and counselling as they pursue various careers at different levels in future. Lastly, the
study might enrich the researcher as a progressive teacher and equip him with a better understanding
of career guidance in the life of the students and youth that he might meet along his career path.

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CHAPTER TWO
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
2.0 Introduction
This chapter discussed the literature that was related to the topic; “Career Guidance and Career
Choices advanced level students in the Selected Secondary Schools in Masaka Municipality.” Its
focus was the literature on the main theory on which this study is based and the Conceptual
Framework. The researcher reviewed literature related to Super’s Career Development theory which
was the main basis of this research as well as the independent variable in this case Career Guidance
which constitutes career information provision, career assessment and career education.
2.1 The Theoretical Review
Super’s career Development Theory’s is the main theory on which this study was based. According to
Super et al (1996), Career choice and Development includes a lifelong and developmental process that
begins in childhood and proceeds continuously over the life time. The researcher finds this assertion
realistic simply because, it is evident that as the children go through the different classes, they acquire
new / fresh knowledge on different topics from the subjects that they study in school. Consequently,
they begin to behold new possibilities in different aspects of life and their perspectives of life do
change as well. Their dream careers begin to change and they begin to develop new ambitions and
aspirations in life.
According to Super’s Career Development Theory, each life period presents particular problems to
solve which may surface and resurface in predictable ways at various times in life. The researcher
strongly feels that this view does hold water with regard to secondary school students’ lives. As the
students prepare to join senior three, they are confronted with the challenge of choosing at least two
optional subjects which they have to offer alongside the eight compulsory ones as per the Uganda
government’s education policy. At this level, they begin to lay a foundation for the subject
combination they will finally offer at the advanced level. This challenge resurfaces again after their
completion of the ordinary level and the students have to choose a subject combination of only three
principal subjects. This continues even up to the tertiary institution level where they have to choose a
specific course that they have to study. At the end of it all, the students must make a choice of career
that they will pursue for the biggest part of their life.

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In Super’s Career Development Theory, it is emphasized that ‘careers’ are largely ‘developmental’ in
nature. To him it is imperative for career guidance counsellors to make effort to help their clients in
this case, the senior five and six students in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality to
plan and explore careers at the various stages of transition in life. In the researcher’s view, planning
and exploring of careers is a very crucial aspect in career guidance. It helps the individual students to
find all the possible means to ensure that they acquire the specific skills, knowledge and ethics that
would help them be comfortable in the preferred dream careers. This is mainly because as they
navigate through the various career options, they are able to discover what their real unique abilities
and interests are and what is it that they can and cannot do.
Super goes ahead to strongly propose that the major roles in life constitute the typical life structure in a
student, leisurite, citizen, worker, spouse, parent and annuitant. He goes ahead to stress that the
worker’s role typically represents a core role given the cultural, social and personal imperative to
work. The researcher also concurs with Super that human life is sustained by work. It is impossible to
imagine a society that achieves continuity and happiness in life without emphasizing the importance of
work. It is in this particular respect that career guidance as a field of human knowledge becomes
paramount as a key instrument through which individuals are prepared for what will occupy them for
the longest part of their lives. Right from the old days of the traditional African life, the older women
endeavoured to teach the young ones how to look after the young ones and attend to their husbands
and others in society, while the older men taught the young boys how to hunt, look after cows or
ensure that there was something for the family to feed on. Work in any human society is inevitable
because it is the only God-ordained way in which individuals and groups can have food on table
without which life and good health can never be sustained.
Admin, 2013 observes that Supers Career Development Theory takes into account how the client,
develops, changes and how he or she learns new knowledge and skills over time. The researcher does
give credit to Super for articulating the fact that individuals’ mental and social progress is gradual and
depends on a range of experiences that each person is exposed to. This assertion confirms the fact that
the way the children are taught and behave is very different from the way adolescents are taught and
behave. This continues on to the higher post- secondary school level. The way in which college and
university students are taught and behave cannot be the same as that of the students at the secondary
school level. While students at the tertiary level can be comfortable with lengthy lectures and course

11
works, these cannot be appropriate for the ordinary level students and the pupils at the primary school
level.
The researcher put Super’s Career Development Theory to test in the selected secondary schools with
regard to establishing how the Advance level students acquired knowledge, values and skills in
relation to work. The researcher strongly believes that the concept of ‘work’ is central to the
development and progress of individuals and groups in all societies world- wide. This is clearly
reflected in St. Paul’s second letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 10, when he boldly states “If
anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.” (New Testament Bible – Gideon’s International version).
It is the researcher’s belief that if appropriate career guidance is being offered to the advanced level
students in secondary schools, then they should be able to exhibit the right attitude with regard to
work, its value in life and to choosing a career. They should exhibit knowledge and confidence to
practically settle for life choices that fit them most as per their best abilities and interests when it
comes to work.
In reviewing the literature on Supers’ Career Development Theory, the researcher’s interest was drawn
to ideas of other theories that were propounded in an attempt to improve of Super’s theory. One such
theory is Donald super’s theory of vocational development. It sums up the career development process
in a series of life – stages most particularly; growth, exploration, establishment, maintenance and
decline stages. This particular study is focused on the career choices of advanced level students who
fall in the age bracket 15 – 23, which in this case is referred to as the growth stage. It is assumed that
at this stage, the individual begins to develop an awareness of occupations as well as accept and
recognize somehow the need to make career decisions and obtain relevant information. It is also
believed that the individual becomes aware of his or her abilities and interests and how they are related
to work opportunities. The individual at this stage is also believed to possess the ability to identify
possible fields and levels of work that are consistent with his / her abilities and interests as well as to
secure training to develop skills and advance occupational entry that would fulfill his / her interests
and abilities (Lawer, 2015).
The researcher found the above propositions handy in constructing his questionnaires for this study.
He tried to investigate whether the advanced level students in the selected secondary schools in
Masaka Municipality who fall in the ages 15 – 23, had accessed the career guidance that helped them
to depict “growth” in such a way that they could easily identify their personal abilities and interests

12
and how they relate to the available work opportunities. The researcher discovered that not all the
respondents could confidently map out their abilities and interests and be able to explain how they
relate to the available work opportunities. In the researcher’s view, guidance in Masaka Municipality
and in Uganda Secondary schools at large needs to be reformed to ensure that it gives the learners the
maturity to identify their unique abilities and interests and how they need to be fine -tuned in line with
the demands of the available jobs that resonate their dream careers.
In addition to the above, the researcher also found Super’s Development career theory pertinent to this
study when he reviewed other suggestions that were advanced to improve it. Fatima et al (21015),
affirms that suggestions were made to improve Super’s theoretical concepts by redefining his
prescribed stages such as the developmental, career maturity and decision making stages. According to
stead and Watson, (1998), this development started in the 1990s. In this respect, Rousseau and Venter
(2009), develop a more appropriate model, related to career, choice, which included three components
influencing goal setting, goal projects and eventual career choice, namely individual, environmental
and situational variables. Individual variables refer to talents, interests and personality. Environmental
variables relate to the demand of job skills and knowledge, job opportunities, business opportunities,
part – time experiences and availability of tertiary education institutions. Situational variables refer to
the present conditions that may influence the career choices such as peer pressure, advice from family
members’, the mother’s and father’s educational level and socio – economic status, and willingness to
relocate in cases of global assignments (Fatumal el al, 2015).
The researcher finds these improvements on Super’s Career Development Theory very relevant to his
study and quite revealing with regard to the factors that influence career choices. Rousseau and
Venter’s suggestions that are herein captured serve to confirm to the researcher and I believe to other
scholars, the importance of self awareness if the students are to be guided and empowered to arrive at
a fitting career choice. It is important to note that the three variables (individual, environment and
situation) that Rousseau and Venter single out help us to arrive at a better understanding of the core
objectives and elements of career guidance in schools and the factors that affect students career
choices. The researcher would like to note that in the course of this study, he found out that there is
need to improve the career guidance in Masaka Municipality secondary schools to a level where it can
realistically address the individual , environmental and situational factors that influence students’
career choices.

13
2.2The Conceptual Framework of the Study
Independent Variable Dependent Variables
Career Guidance Career Choices
Extraneous Variables
Source: Constructed by the researcher
Figure 2.1: (Conceptual Framework of Career Guidance and Career Choices of advanced level
students)
The researcher considered how career guidance in terms of career information provision, career
assessment and career education influence the Advance Level students’ career choices whether at the
academic, vocational or even professional levels. Career guidance was the independent variable and
career choices the dependent variable in this study.
 Career information provision
(provision of printed,
electronic, personal contact
etc)
 Career assessment
(tests on individuals’
interests,personality,values and
skills)
 Career education
 Academic choices
( Subject combinations etc)
 Vocational choices
( carpentry, metal works, cookery etc)
 Professional choices( law, medicine etc)
 Home background (Parents’ education
background)
 Attitude (Students’ opinions and beliefs)
 Environment (physical, social, rural or urban etc)

14
Career Information in this context as shown in the figure above is a broad term referring to
information (including printed, electronic, personal contact and other resources) that assist the process
of life planning (ABCD,2008).
As illustrated in the figure above, career assessment as an aspect of career guidance in this study
involves administration and interpretation of a variety of formal or informal techniques or instruments
(whether qualitative or quantitative) to help individuals gain an understanding of their skills, abilities,
interests, achievements, knowledge, experiences, personal style, learning style, work values, and life
style needs (ABCD,2008). Career assessments as captured in the figure above are tests that come in a
variety of forms and rely on qualitative as well as quantitative methodologiesand can help individuals
to identify and better articulate their unique interests, personality, values, skills, and self-management
skills. They can also help individuals to discover the tasks, experience, education and training that is
needed for a career they would want to pursue as well as focus on careers that closely match their
unique personal profile (UNO,2002).Career education as an element of career guidance as illustrated
in the figure above is the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes through a planned
programme of learning experiences in education and training settings which will assist students in
making informeddecisions about their study and or work options and enable effective participation in
working life(ABCD,2008). It is a process by which individuals come to learn about themselves, their
careers and the world of work. DOTS which stands for decision learning(D), opportunity
awareness(O), transition learning(T), and self-awareness(S) are the commonly used framework for
careerseducation(UNO,2002).
The researcher was also deeply aware that the variables that affect the students’ career choices are
quite numerous depending on their social orientation and upbringing. It is in light of this that the
extraneous variables in this study have been identified as namely the students’ home background,
attitude as well as the environment. The researcher mainly focused on career information provision,
career assessment and career education simply because these are the core elements of career guidance
in any school setting that meaningfully and tremendously help to empower learners to transit
successfully through various study and work related decision-making stages. It is crucial to note that
career information provision, career assessments and career education are integrated elements in career
guidance. The students arrive at appropriate career choices by gaining knowledge on work as a key
imperative that leads one to being happy and fulfilled in life. They also gain knowledge on how to
systematically assess themselves through accessing information related to the various careers that tend

15
to match with their unique abilities and interests so as to develop a passion for a specific career that
relates to their personal dreams.The ability, skills and knowledge that a given student develops or
acquires to be able to assess himself or herself in relation to careers or the world of work depends to a
large extent on the kind of career information that he or she can access. When a student lives in a
family and environment where vocational courses related information is abundant, he or she is most
likely to develop a positive attitude or mentality towards such courses. If the students’ environment is
dominated by role model professionals, this is also is likely to draw the students towards professional
career choices.
2.2.1 Career Information Provision and Career Choices
Career information is information that supports career and learning choices and includes labour
market information (LMI), such as salaries, employment rate, available training programmes and
current job openings in various professions (UNO,2002). The researcher strongly believes that one of
the key functions of career guidance in secondary schools is availing of relevant information to the
students. This is because as students negotiate through the process of making career choices, they are
faced with various options which they have to narrow down to the best one that suits their personality,
ability and interests. They can only execute this with efficiency only and only if they are well
informed about the various career options in terms of their demands and conditions. The question that
the researcher had in this regard was; does the career guidance that is given to the advanced level
students in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality help them to access the necessary
labour market information on salaries, employment rates, available training programmes and current
job openings in various professions? It is worth noting that in the course of this study, it was
established that the information given to students in respect is very limited and most of what they are
informed about is received informally from informal sources such as their peers and relatives. It is the
researcher’s conviction that this is one of the areas that needs to be improved in the provision of career
guidance in our secondary schools country-wide. The students should be given the opportunity to
access the most current and relevant labour market information nationally and globally so as to
empower them to make career choices realistically.
To expound more on the value of career information provision in career guidance,Lawer (2015),
observes that guidance in every educational setting helps to meet students’ educational, personal-
social, and vocational needs and within guidance there is appraisal, information, counselling,

16
placement, orientation, consultation, referral and follow-up. In a research that Lawer conducted in
Ghana involving 420 students, 6 guidance coordinators and 6 institutional heads, he found out that
students’ source of career information was limited and though they had some information about the
self, they did not know much about the world of work. To him therefore, career guidance must be
improved to such a level where the students are well informed so as to be able to choose their future
careers in a more realistic manner. In Lawer’s view, career choice making by students is a process of
exploring different alternatives and thus career information should not be just limited to how best to
study, pass examinations, and enter the appropriate institutions, but it should cover areas such as job
requirement, benefits, prospects, and even job hazards and everything that ought to be known about
career and the world of work. He emphasizes that this kind of awareness will go a long way to
appropriately inform students’ career choices since limited career information negatively affects
individuals’ career decisions and their entire life. The same scholar points out that, students tend to
highly rely on external factors rather than knowing who they are and what they are capable of doing in
respect to choice of study and career. He observes that if students’ exposure to knowledge about the
world of work is inadequate, they cannot relate their capabilities to their occupational choices and
therefore career guidance masters should avail them with a wider source of career information so as to
help them explore different alternatives.
With regard to the above, the researcher discovered that the situation in the selected secondary schools
in Masaka Municipality was not different from that one which was obtaining in Ghana as per Lawer’s
research herein quoted. This study revealed that the secondary school students in the selected
secondary schools in Masaka municipality had few sources of career information and these were
majorly invited resource persons, the internet and field tours once in a while. It was also clear that
most of the institutions focused mainly on giving students information on how best to study, pass
examinations and gain entry into the appropriate institutions. It was evident that these students had
little or no labour market information. These students also displayed indicators of depending more on
external factors such as the government policy on sciences rather than on knowing who they are and
can or cannot do with regard to the career choices that they make. This also needs to be addressed if
the career guidance in this country is to be improved.
In addition to the above, it has been observed that children whose parents are unemployed or have
limited formal education experience tend to have low exposure to career information as it is not within
their experience and there is therefore a challenge of breaking this intergenerational trend

17
(Makoni,2010).On this matter, as revealed in the conceptual framework figure used in this study,the
researcher recognizes that one of the factors affecting the students’ career choices is their social
background or the kind of family or local society in which they were raised. In the course of this study,
many students confessed that they received and relied on a lot of information from their parents which
ultimately influenced the choice of subject combinations that they ended up offering at the advanced
level. It is the researcher’sview that effort has to be made to actively and broadly sensitise the parents
on the various and current career options, so that they can influence the student’ career choices
positively. It has been noted that when parents receive information about job opportunities abroad,
they naturally transfer such information to their children and even go an extra mile to support them
financially and otherwise in reaching out for such opportunities.
In contrast to the above, it has also been observed that there was already much information about
pathways that young people take when they leave school and the careers that they follow. What is
lacking, by contrast, is an understanding of the reasons for the choices made and of the influences and
attitudes that underpin them. This understanding is fundamental to the development of policy in areas
such as career counselling, support for young people while at school and transition, boys’ education,
measures to deal with shortages in key areas such as the trades and teaching and vocational education
in schools (Nola et al,2004). The researcher believesMasaka Municipality education authorities need
to investigate the reasons or attitudes that underpin students’ career choices and pathways after school
so as to come up with appropriate policies that will improve the career guidance being provided in the
secondary schools.
Another scholar who confirms the value of career information in career guidance is Super (1957). He
stresses that at the exploration stage (ages 15-24), which happens to be the adolescence or teenage
stage, the individual begins to develop an awareness of occupations as well as recognize and accept
somehow the need to make decisions and obtain relevant information. It is important to note , that
majority of the respondents in this study did confirm the truth of what Super observes about the
students who happen to fall in the ages herein referred to. In the researcher’s personal experience in
this study, a number of students approached the researcher individually after his official sessions of
collecting research data from them and they were seeking clarification on certain career related issues
that they were not conversant with. Many of them displayed the desire to obtain relevant career
information as stated by Super.It is crucial therefore for such students to be aided to access sufficient
and relevant information if they are to make realistic career choices.

18
Asma and Abeeda (2017),point out that one of the instruments of career information is a career
convention or career conference and this majorly entails creating awareness regarding areas of interest
and prospective career fields, help in short listing preferable jobs and providing opportunities in which
parents, employees and career counsellorscan exchange views. The researcher recognizes the need to
organize gatherings where various stakeholders (students, parents and the school authorities) meet
regularly to compare notes with regard to career information provision. These were largely absent in
Masaka Municipality.
Media in today’s world plays a very strong influence in decision making at various levels. Different
commercials and posters provide information about different occupations. These messages leave an
impact on the people and they adopt the careers which are not traditionally associated with their
gender. Students have misconceptions about professions due to lack of information, which prevents
them from choosing them. They also make crucial decisions at a stage when may not be fully informed
of their choices(Asma and Abeeda,2017).Children tend to be more informed about situations they see
on television and movies, rather than the reality, which serves as a strong influence on their career
decisions(Wroblewski and Huston,1987). The media, particularly television teaches us to value those
professions which are portrayed to be more socially valued in a society(Trujillo and Ekdom,1987).The
various means through which we are bombarded with information are television, radio, newspapers,
magazines, internet, billboards and marketing materials (Semali, 2003). At the time of personal
development, these types of advertisements leave a lasting impression on the youth. Lack of awareness
regarding professions influences career choices (Jones and Larke,2005). In relation to these strong
outbursts about the strong impact of the media on students’ career choices, the researcher’s conviction
is that effort must be made by the various education authorities to exploit the media to influence the
students’ career choices positively since its power on the students cannot be under estimated. In this
particular study, many school administrators and students recognized that the media has a strong
influence on career choices.
Closely related to the above, one scholar, Caplow, as cited by Bright et al(2005),observes that one
unfortunate fact of life is that career choices are made with little awareness of the real world. Many of
the respondents in this study did confirm the truth of this unfortunate phenomenon. Majority who were
interviewed readily confessed that their awareness of the real world was largely wanting. On the
contrary, most of what they knew about careers and the world of work was what was portrayed in the
popular soaps or films and television programmes that they watched regularly. It is the researcher’s

19
view that strategies must be drawn on how students in secondary schools can acquire first-hand
information on what really obtains in the really world of work. Such strategies, could include the
placement of students in work institutions of their preference that are close to their dream careers for a
specific period of time.
This study also reviewed career information observations in a research by Nola et al. One of the key
findings in this report is the fact that the information provided to students to enable them to make
subject choices and the processes through which the information was made available varied between
schools as did students’ perceptions of the processes. These researchers also note that while some
students reported confidence in their understanding of the process, others expressed low levels of
confidence. This students’ confidence was linked to the specific type of processes operating within
particular school sites ( Nola et al,2004). With regard to this, the researcher discovered that the
situation in the selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality was not different from that which
Nola et al were confronted with.The respondents displayed a variety of perceptions and varying levels
of confidence and understanding of the process of career information provision depending on how it
was conducted in their schools. The researcher also strongly feels that there is need to harmonise the
way career information is provided in the various secondary schools, since this affects students’
perceptions with regard to the entire career choice making exercise.
Last but not least, the researcher looked at the literature on what, the Hong Kong government
undertook with regard to the provision of career information.It put in place a dedicated career
guidance service website at the EDB (Education Bureau) Website (www.edb.gov.hk/cgs) in order to
provide a platform for dissemination of updated information on further studies, vocational training and
career opportunities as well as resources on life planning education and career guidance for use by
teachers. More to that, a career exploration tool in form of a website and mobile application “e-
Navigator: Multiple Pathways under the New Academic Structure” was developed jointly by the EDB
and HKACMGM (Hong Kong Association of Careers Masters and Guidance Masters). This is a career
exploration tool that helps students search for programme information across different local
institutions and levels (e.g degrees, higher diplomas and associated degrees). Besides, students can get
access to other programmes from the Qualifications Register (EDB,2014). The researcher strongly
feels that in this highly technologically charged world, we have no option but to emulate Hong kong to
reform our career guidance through making it more technologically compliant with regard to the
dissemination of career information. This study revealed that the internet was a major source of career

20
information in Masaka Municipality, although, many secondary schools were yet to fully invest in and
exploit this facility.
2.2.2 Career Assessment and Career Choices
According to Matthew (2018), Career assessments refer to instruments that are used to help educate
people about themselves and their career opportunities and they are one of the most fundamental
tools to career guidance. During career exploration, career assessments can play a critical role
in moving people from a state of unawareness to their next opportunity. Matthew emphasizes that a
good career assessment helps people increase their self- awareness and their understanding of the job
market; and that most career assessments follow the methodology that a person needs to understand
their interests, aptitudes, values, skills to determine where they fit within the job market.
In Matthew’s view, career assessments are a good method to increase self-awareness, increase
awareness about the labour market, get students excited about careers, prompt self-reflection, act as a
jumping off point for counsellors and provide guidance. This researcher stresses that the true purpose
of a career assessment is to ignite passion in the person and this can only be accomplished when the
correct assessment is paired with the correct environment. Career assessments are most commonly
used to assess interests, aptitudes, personality, values, strengths and skills. For one to carry out career
assessment successfully, it is critical that one considers the audience, the objectives, the environment
and the debrief (Matthew,2018).
Judith (2004), observes that Career assessments are a vital component of any career counsellor’s tool
bag and that career assessments’ selecting is often a balancing act between cost, certification
requirements, reliability, and validity , and the needs of clients and employing organisations. In
Judith’s view, this balance can only be realized after answering the following basic questions about
ones’ organization, clients and the circumstances for testing: how big is ones budget?, who are the
potential respondents?, what will the results be used for?, how much time does one want the testing to
take?, how will the assessment results be communicated to the respondents?, and lastly who will
interpret the results? Judith emphasizes that in order to narrow down the selection from hundreds of
available career assessments, one must establish answers to the following: Who publishes career
assessments?, How does one know if a publisher is reputable?, What do other users say and what do
the experts say?

21
The Education Bureau of Hong Kong (2014) in their 1st edition (Guide on Life Planning Education
and Career Guidance for Secondary Schools), stipulates that in order to make intended learning
outcomes happen, schools would need to make professional judgments on their use of different
career intervention strategies with the support of assessment and evaluation outcomes. Evaluation can
be made through different assessment tools/methods, some of which are listed below for
consideration of schools:
 Assessment Programme for Affective and Social Outcomes (APASO) for secondary schools
and career development self-efficacy inventory (Yuan et al, 2004), which help teachers to
identify student needs as well as to measure their progress/changes in different aspects and
stage of development,
 Quantitative and qualitative feedback from students on the life planning and guidance
programmes and activities, with questions so designed as to measure whether the success
criteria as stated in the annual programme plan can be met, and
 Individual Student Planning Programme which helps students to reflect on learning
experiences and connect to self-understanding, learning goals, preparation for transition and
development of personal plans and career goal(EDB,2008&2009).
 Secondary 6 students’ pathway Survey which provides teachers with valuable information on
the multiple pathways of school leavers for reference in the planning and evaluation of career
guidance service to meet the career aspirations of students(EDB,2014).
Nevertheless, due to variations in student intake, student background and abilities, schools should set
their expectations of students’ performance at reasonable levels according to the school context and
have a good grasp of student performance and progress through regular assessment so as to review the
effectiveness of their work (EDB,2008). It is worth noting that in all the selected secondary schools
that were visited by the researcher in Masaka Municipality, the idea of a career assessment tool was a
new thing that was not in existence. This is an area that has to be followed up by the government or
the educational officials at both the district and national levels. In spite of the fact that the Government
White Paper on Education recommends that students should undergo aptitude tests, these were not
being implemented in all the schools visited by the researcher. A good number of Advanced Level
students as well as Careers’ masters that were interviewed by the researcher expressed ignorance
about the expression “Career Assessment”. There is great need to train and equip all the

22
careers’ masters in this particular aspect. The administrators that the researcher interacted with on
this matter felt that time was a great constraint given that they are always under pressure to ensure that
the students complete the academic syllabus in time.
In JoAnn’s(2016) view, a career assessment is a tool used by counsellors or by the clients themselves
to gather self-information to be used in the career planning process and its results assist individuals at
a given point in time to identify their interests, skills and or work values in order to identify the next
educational or vocational choice in the sequence that makes up career development. JoAnn stresses
interests,skills and values are the most often proposed self-characteristics for assessment because
knowledge of these characteristics helps students, clients and consellors in putting together a self-
image that can be matched to a particular environment or occupation in Holland’s and Super’s
terminologies respectively. This scholar further asserts that, of the several self-characteristics that are
relevant to career choice, the single most important one is interest. In his view, as indicated by
research, individuals persist in school courses, majors, occupations and jobs at a higher rate if their
measured interests guide their selection of these.
When the researcher put JoAnn’s views to a test in his study, majority of the advanced level students
in the selected schools that were interviewed seemed to put ones’ ability in a particular field above his
or her interest in the same when it comes to career choice making. Most careers’ Masters also seemed
to concur with the students because to them the students were practically permitted to offer specific
subject combinations in which they displayed ability by the high scores attained and not just the high
interest exhibited in the same.
Mindler(2015), observes that career assessments formerly known as aptitude and interest tests have
been prevalent for quite some time and are a guide to introspection, analysis and planning for ones’
career. This source (Mindler) also points out the following about career assessments: their key
elements are interest, aptitude and personality: they are tests designed to understand ones’ unique set
of strengths, aptitudes and skills so as to recommend the right career ; they lay down all the possible
elements essential for a career decision in front of students who are to select a response that resonates
with them; they help students understand how multiple traits on choices, likes, dislikes, personality
and others determine possible success and satisfaction with different career options and varied work
environments; they help students discover their innate traits, skills and talents; they help students

23
better understand their career needs and possibilities based on who they are , and discover all the
alternatives that could work for them; they help students acquire flexibility of moving from one career
domain to another as well as develop a roadmap for their entire career.
2.2.3 Career Education and Career Choices
According to SHS Web of Conferences 48,01017 (2018), Career guidance contains the career
-orienting activities which are generally provided by school counsellors and teachers in order to help
students to become aware of possible career alternatives with a variety of services such as guidance,
advising, education, placement, coaching, and mentoring in educational settings.
In a research by Nola et al (2004), some of the Career Advisers interviewed had the following to
say about career education:“Formally, we have career education in Grade 9 and 10 as part of our life
schools’ programs. They start (career education) in year 9. A small school keeps seeing each other in
various grades and sends out kids on work placement. We have a career review. I guess informally all
kids are aware of information but formal classes in career education start in year 9. They have a work
experience and not formal career education in year 11”. In the schools that the researcher visited in
Masaka Municipality, the students and teachers revealed that although the expression “career
education” was not commonly used, career education in itself was being conducted. It was also
revealed that the government had provided books with a general curriculum that addresses career
guidance as an aspect under general guidance and counselling. The teachers felt that the topics
specified for each class were too many and yet the time given for guidance and counselling in most of
the schools was very limited. They were also concerned that as implementers they had not been
involved in the formulation of the career education curriculum. When the career advisers quoted above
were interviewed about what the career education curriculum entailed in their country, they had this to
say;
They did not think there was a particular curriculum. In their view, each Career Adviser chose what he
or she thought to be important to teach and fitted well into a particular school. To them, the career
education programme comprised 20 lessons of 50 minutes each, but one ended up with about 14 or 15
lessons. So it was crucial to put into the 14 or 15 lessons what one considered to be important. The
common topics included; work experience, the value of work experience, how work experience works,
safety of work experience, how to choose a career (a group session), looking at yourselves(your
interests and your abilities), looking at the job guide or which job fits. One subject selection lesson

24
was given annually. The “bolts and nuts” in this career guidance education programme were things
like doing resumes, interview skills, letters and application forms. In this research report, it was
emphasized that the issue of frustrations with regard to the timetabling of career education, the
pressure to decide what to leave in a program and what to consider a priority, was echoed through
several sites( Nola et al,2004).
Looking at the schools visited in reference to what Nola et al discuss above, it was evident that the
situation is not different in any way. The careers’ masters revealed that from the numerous topics that
are generally specified under general guidance and counselling, they only select those that they find
pertinent to their students at a given time since they can only afford to meet them in single lesson of 40
minutes once in a week.
Life planning education and career guidance is not new to schools and it helps students greatly to
develop the knowledge and skills needed for making wise choice, managing transition in learning and
moving into the work place.The Hong Kong Education Bureau (2007) specified career development,
Guidance Programmes/Activities, Counselling skills/ techniques, Career Information, Curriculum
planning, Attitude and Values related to Career guidance and Counselling, and Professional codes and
ethics in guidance and counselling as the basic professional skills, knowledge and attitudes required in
career education. It entails three major elements as derived from the major theories in career education
(Holland’s theory of Vocational Personalities and Work Environment, Super’s life span Life space
Approach, Social Cognitive Career Theory and others). These are ; self-understanding and
development(to understand one-self and the impact of external influences), career exploration ( to
investigate options, opportunities and constraints of learning and work) and career planning and
management ( making decisions, formulate and acting out plans to manage changes and transitions in
learning and work) (EDB,2014).
Life planning education and in this case career education and career guidance service can be delivered
flexibly through various modes within or outside the school timetable. They can be taught as part of
Personal, Social and Humanities Education through Liberal Studies, Moral and Civic Education
lessons; part of other academic subjects to build up a connectedness between their secondary
education and further studies/career path through career-related activities; part of Applied Learning or
career-related experience learning; part of class-based comprehensive personal growth programmes;
and /or comprehensive career guidance programmes. Formal lesson time (e.g class teacher periods ),

25
after-school sessions, outside school hours and some school holidays can be reserved in the school
calendar for delivering the life planning and career-related activities(e.g career visits and work
experience schemes) (EDB,2014).
To add on the facts above, Rupert and Gordon (2001), in their article “The rationale for Career
Education”, stress that career education is justified by the fact that it teaches the skill of decision-
making which is rarely attended to in most school settings. They add that career education is a natural
vehicle for formation of individual work ethics since it teaches the importance of work to all students.
Lastly, these scholars emphasise that career education exists to play the vital role of preparing
individuals for work or occupations. The researcher found these to be pertinent observations in this
study because most administrators who were interviewed pointed out that the current educational setup
does not prepare the students adequately for the world of work and hence the hiking levels of
unemployment among the youth.
2.3 Conclusion
Having reviewed the literature above, several research gaps have emerged and these majorly include
the following: while the literature revealed that students had/have various misconceptions about
professions and subjects, the reasons for such misconceptions were not divulged. Therefore, there is
need to research into this as well as establish how these misconceptions about subjects influence
students’ career choices. There is also need to establish the most dominant source(s) of career
information for secondary school students and how this particularly impacts on their career choices.
Apart from that, there is need to research into how much the secondary school students know about the
real world or the realities of the current world of work and how this ultimately influences the career
choices that they settle for. The literature reviewed also revealed a gap with regard to the reasons as to
why the methods and processes for career information provision vary between schools.Need has also
been identified to find out the various forms of career assessments that are commonly used in
secondary schools and whether these assessment modes have any significance on the students’career
choices. Lastly, there is need to establish the career guidance curriculum that different secondary
schools pursue and how this curriculum relates to the students’ career choices.

26
From these gaps, the researcher chose the topic: “Career Guidance and Career Choices of Advanced
levelStudents in Selected Secondary Schools in Masaka Municipality”, simply because it helped to
address research gaps related to how much students know in relation to the world of work that
ultimately impacts on the career choices that they settle for. This topic also helped to close the gaps on
career information sources and provision procedures as well as that on the commonly employed forms
of career assessment that needed to be investigated.

27
CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY
3.0 Introduction
This chapter presents the methods, steps and procedures that were employed in the collection of
Research data. It spells out the research design, the area of the study, the sample sizes and selection as
well as the instruments used in the collection of data.
3.1 ResearchDesign
A research design is a plan that shows what data to gather, from whom, how, when to have it collected
and how to have it analysed(Paulin,2007). The study was generally conducted through a mixed
quantitative and qualitative approach and specifically a cross-sectional survey design was employed.
This is a research design where data on preference,attitudes,perception,practices,concerns or interests
of a group is gathered from a sample of a population at a particular time and the result is applied to the
entire population(Amin,2005). A cross- sectional design was selected because it considers the opinions
and views of the selected respondents in a given population(Amin,2005).The researcher also employed
a cross sectional survey design because it permitted the data to be collectedfrom a particular place and
as well as have it assessed in the same period of time. It also allowed for rapid data collection and it
permitted the researcher to understand the rest of the career counsellors, school administrators and
students in the target population that formed a part of those being investigated or sampled. It was also
suitable for extensive research (Oso and Onen, 2009).
3.2 Population and Sampling
3.2.1 Target Population
Population in a research study refers to the larger group to which one hopes to apply the results of a
given study (Jack and Norman:2000). The target population in this study constituted of 15 top
administrators (5 Head teachers, 5 deputy Head teachers, 5 Director of Studies) and 5 senior teachers
in the five selected secondary schools in Masaka Municipality. 206 students from the five selected
secondary schools, specifically in senior five and six classes also constituted the target population. The
five selected schools were named as A,B,C, D and E. Their names were purposely omitted in order to
avoid aspects of bias in the study. School A was one of the oldest schools that were well established,
government aided and purely a boys’ boarding school. It was one of the best performing Catholic
Church founded school country wide, but found in Masaka Municipality. School B was also among

28
the oldest, government- aided, mixed boarding schools. It was a Church of Uganda founded school.
Another school that was considered was a mixed as well as a populous, well established, catholic faith
based and privately run secondary school in Masaka Municipality. It was also a mixed as well as Day
and Boarding School. It was code named “School C” in this particular study. The fourth school in the
researcher’s area of inquiry was another populous, day and boarding government-aided school located
in the centre of Masaka Town. It was founded on the principles of the Moslem faith. In this study, it
was referred to as “School D”. Lastly, the research considered another privately owned, mixed- day
and boarding private school. Its code name in this study was “School E”. These schools were selected
because they are a good representation of Masaka Secondary Education with regard to the privately
and government owned secondary schools. The schools were selected because of their fairly large
student enrolment as well as for their fair representation of the major religious sects in Uganda. They
also represent the oldest as well as the recently established secondary schools in the country.
3.2.2 Sample Size
According to Jack and Norman (2000), a sample in a research study is any group on which
information is obtained. The sample in this study constituted 20 staff members (school
administrators/senior teachers) and 206 students. The sample size was chosen basing on the non -
Mathematical, convenience methods because the schools selected have differing student enrolment
features. Simple random sampling was used to select the students for this study. This is a type of
sampling where each and every item in the population has an equal chance of inclusion in the sample
and each of the possible samples in case of a finite universe has the same probability of being selected.
It was also known as chance or probability sampling. This method was chosen in this study because it
helped to minimize or eliminate bias as well as estimate the sample error ( Kothari, 2008).

29
Table 3.1: Sampling Frame
No. Category Population Sample Sampling
Techniques
1. Top administrators 15 15 Purposive
2. Careers’ masters 05 05 Purposive
3. Students 530 206 Simple Random
Sampling
Total 550 226
Source: Field Data (2019)
The researcher settled for the target population of 550 and finally the sample size of 226 as derived
from the Morgan et al(1970) table of determining sample size for research activity, simply because
from his preliminary survey in the selected schools, the advanced level section had fewer students
compared to the Ordinary level. At least each of the selected schools had 80 to 100 advanced level
students. This target population was also arrived at when the researcher looked at the limited time at
his disposal in which he was required to carry out this research.
3.2.3 Sampling Techniques
Purposive random sampling technique was used to select top administrators and senior teachers for
this study. This sampling technique was opted for basing on the interests and specific judgment as
well as purposes of the researcher and the willingness of the respondents to participate in the study
( Jack and Norman,2000). In this study, this technique was used to ensure equitable representation
of the population in the sample. The researcher’s conviction was that the target population was not
uniform. For example, day schools were not the same as boarding schools, just as mixed ones were not
the same as single sex ones. Therefore, the target and accessible population cannot be regarded as
homogenous. The researcher random sampled the teachers purposely because he wished to capture the
views of those who were not only most experienced on the topic but those who were passionate
,willing and available as well.
Simple random sampling was also used. This is a type of sampling where each and every item in
the population had an equal chance of inclusion in the sample and each one of the possible samples in

30
case of a finite universe had the same probability of being selected. It is also known as chance or
probability sampling. This method was chosen in this study because it helped to minimize or eliminate
bias as well as estimate the sample error (Kothari, 2008).
3.3 Data Collection
Data is anything given or admitted as a fact on which a research inference will be based (Oso and
Onen,2002). The data in this research was obtained through conducting of oral interviews with the
Career’s Masters, Head teachers, Deputy Head teachers, senior male and female teachers as well as
specific senior five and six students in the selected Secondary Schools of Masaka Municipality.
In addition to that, questionnaires were administered to the respondents who included the head
teachers and their deputies, the director of studies, the Examination and Careers’ Masters and the
selected advanced level students in the specified secondary schools.
3.3.0 Instruments of Data Collection
(a)Self-administered questionnaires.
According to the Macmillan English Dictionary (4thEdition), a questionnaire refers to a set of
questions that a lot of people are asked as a way of getting information about what people think or
dogenerally. The researcher took off quality time to design relevant questionnaires and then had
them critiqued by his peers and some professional elders for purposes of guaranteeing authenticity
aswell asconstruct and content validity.
(b) Oral interview guides
These were also processed and used in this study as well.
(c) Document analysis
The researcher also carried out document analysis so as to verify data on the independent variables.
Questionnaires were preferred in this study because they helped the researcher to get authentic
information from the respondents in a short space of time. The oral interviews helped the
researcher to establish the attitudes of the respondents to career guidance in specific secondary
schools as the various respondents gave authentic views through their oral answers. The
researcher was mainly concerned with views, opinions, perceptions, feelings and attitudes. These
variables were not directly observed. Such information is best collected through the use of
questionnaire and interview techniques (Bell, 1993; Touliatos& Compton, 1988). The target
population was largely literate and was unlikely to have difficulties in responding to
questionnaire items.

31
3.3.1 Sources of information
(a) Primary sources.
According to Kenneth and Bruce (2002), a primary source is one containing the full research report,
including all details necessary to duplicate the study. It included descriptions of the rationale of the
study, its subjects, apparatus, procedure, results and references.
The researcher relied on the various published research reports such as that of TinaNweze and
Ugochukwu (2014) that appeared in the IOSR Journal of research & Methods in Education, Volume 4
and that of Kariene et al (2012) that appeared in a Journal of Vocational Education and
Training.(2012).
(b) Secondary Sources.
In Kenneth and Bruce’s (2002) words, a secondary source is one that summaries information from
primary sources (such as presenting the basic findings). It includes newspapers and theoretical articles
that briefly describe studies and results; as well as descriptions of research found in textbooks, popular
magazines, newspaper articles, television programmes, films or lectures.
The researcher utilized internet sources, unpublished dissertations, educational journals as well as
existing reports and text books on career guidance and counselling in secondary schools.
3.4 Data Quality Control
Data quality control is the reliability and validity of the instruments used for data collection.
3.4.1 Reliability
Reliability refers to the accuracy and precision of a measurement procedure. A measuring instrument
is reliable when it provides consistent results (Kothari, 2008). It refers to the consistency, stability and
repeatability of results (Twycross and Shields,2004). The researcher made effort to ensure reliability
of quantitative data by recording accurate facts, responses, observations and events. The researcher
also took trouble to brief the respondents by use of 2 to 3 minutes to explain the key objectives of the
study in order to ensure that they were motivated. He served the questionnaires to them and gave them
sufficient time so as to eliminate the possibility of fatigue affecting their responses. He made a pilot
study in one secondary school that was not part of those selected for this particular study. A pilot
study is a small-scale trial of the proposed procedure and its purpose is to detect problems of any kind

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