1. SOKOINE UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
FACULTY OF SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
DEG. PROGRAMME: BSc. EDU. (INFORMATICS & MATHEMATICS)
RESEAARCH PROJECT II
TITLE: FACTORS AFFECTING CAREER CHOICE OF SECONDARY
SCHOOL STUDENTS:
A Case Study of Kilakara Secondary School in Morogoro municipal
SUPERVISOR: Professor F.W.DULLE,
STUDENT’S NAME: DONALD, Pita.
REGISTRATION NUMBER: EDU/D/12/T/0372.
A RESEARCH PROJECT REPORT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT
OF THE REQUIREMENT FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF SCIENCE
WITH EDUCATION (INFORMATICS AND MATHEMATICS) AT SOKOINE
UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE: MOROGORO, TANZANIA.
JUNE 2015

2. i
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine factors influencing career choice and
aspirations among secondary school students in Morogoro municipal specifically at
Kilakara secondary school. A quantitative paradigm of research guided this study.
Questionnaire was used in this study in order to identify the factors that influence career
choice and aspirations among Kilakara secondary school students. A random sample of
50 from five and six students (24 form five and 26 form six) all female students
participated in this study. The Career Aspirations Questionnaire was used in this study.
The questionnaire explored the factors that determine students‟ career choice and
aspirations. Data were analyzed using Statistical Product for Social Science (IBM SPSS
version 20). The study found that the family members, peers at schools, teachers at
school were significant factors that influence the career choice and aspirations of
students. The implications of the findings and practical considerations are discussed in
the study. This study recommend that, since some of parents and other family members
especially peasants are not aware with careers than teachers and school counselors
teachers and counselor should be involved to counsel and guide students on which career
to take considering the available employment opportunities and academic ability of a
student.

3. ii
KEY TERMS
Career Choice
Career Aspiration
Students‟ Career
Career Factors
Secondary School Students
Morogoro Secondary School

4. iii
DECLARATION AND APPROVAL
I, DONALD, Pita declare that this research project report is my own work and has not
been submitted to any other University for the award of degree.
Signature…………………………
DONALD, Pita.
Date……………………………
Supervisor’s approval
Signature………………………………
Professor: F.W.Dulle.

5. iv
ACKNOWLEGDEMENT
I appreciate the professional assistance, contribution, comments and suggestions from
Professor F. W. Dulle who was my supervisor of this research project from writing the
proposal to writing this report. God bless you indeed. Also, I would like to say thank you
to the Head of school and academic master at Kilakala secondary school who sincerely
accepted my request to collect data for this study at Kilakala secondary school. I have
nothing to pay rather than saying be blessed much for your sincerely contribution for this
study.

6. v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................... i
KEY TERMS.................................................................................................................................. i
DECLARATION AND APPROVAL.........................................................................................iii
ACKNOWLEGDEMENT...........................................................................................................iii
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATION....................................................................................viii
LIST OF TABLES....................................................................................................................... ix
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION........................................................................................ 1
1.1 Background of the study ....................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the problem ...................................................................................................... 2
1.3 General objective of the study............................................................................................... 3
1.4 Specific objectives of the study............................................................................................. 3
1.5 Research questions................................................................................................................ 4
1.6 Significance of the study....................................................................................................... 4
1.7 Delimitation of the study....................................................................................................... 4
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................ 5
2.1 Career choice among secondary school students.................................................................. 5
2.2 Benefits of having career choice to secondary school students ............................................ 5
2.3.0 Factors affecting career choice of secondary school student ............................................. 6

7. vi
2.3.1 Family influence............................................................................................................. 6
2.3.2 Age and sex .................................................................................................................... 7
2.3.3 Teachers‟ influence......................................................................................................... 8
2.3.4 Influence of peers ........................................................................................................... 8
2.4 Recommendations from other researchers ............................................................................ 9
2.5 Summary of Literature review ............................................................................................ 10
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ......................................................... 11
3.1 Research Approach and Design .......................................................................................... 11
3.2 Description of the Case Study Area .................................................................................... 11
3.3 Target Population................................................................................................................ 12
3.4 The Study Sample and Techniques ..................................................................................... 12
3.5 Methods and Instruments for Data Collections................................................................... 13
3.6. Validation of Instruments for Data Collection................................................................... 13
3.7. Data Processing and Analysis Strategies ........................................................................... 14
3.8. Ethical Consideration......................................................................................................... 14
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION ............... 15
4.1 Overview of the chapter...................................................................................................... 15
4.2 Demographic Data............................................................................................................... 15
4.3 Career aspiration of Kilakala secondary school students.................................................... 16

8. vii
4.4 Factors affecting career aspiration of secondary school students ....................................... 17
4.4.1 Parental or family influence ......................................................................................... 17
4.4.2 Peer influence ............................................................................................................... 18
4.4.3 Teachers‟ school visitors and school counselor influence............................................ 18
4.5 Discussion ........................................................................................................................... 19
5.1 CONCLUSION................................................................................................................... 21
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................................... 21
REFERENCES............................................................................................................................ 23
APPENDIX ONE: QUESTIONNAIRES ................................................................................. 26
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENT .................................................................................... 26
APPENDIX TWO: SCHEDULES FOR ACTIVITIES........................................................... 29
APPENDIX THREE: BUDGET............................................................................................... 30

9. viii
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATION
SPSS – Statistical Package for Social Science
MOEVT- Ministry of Education and Vocational Training
PCB- Physics Chemistry Biology
PCM- Physics Chemistry Mathematics
HGL- History Geography Kiswahili
CBG- Chemistry Biology Geography

10. ix
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1 number of students with their respective combination. ................................................. 15
Table 2 career aspiration of a student .......................................................................................... 16
Table 3 career influential factors ................................................................................................ 18

11. 1
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Career refers to the progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime
especially those related to person‟s occupations (Mitchell, 2003). A career is often
composed of jobs held, titles earned and work accomplished over a long period of time.
All over the world there are several studies that intend to determine the factor that can
influence the choice of career of secondary school students. Ngesi (2003) in his study
explored that poor financial status of students from disadvantaged communities deters
choices of appropriate educational programs and careers. Such students tend to avoid
careers which appear to them to require long period of training their finance cannot
support. Which implies that students from low economic status families have no
independence of taking careers that took long period of time to train them.
According to Issa and Nwalo (2008), the choice of career of secondary school students is
mostly determined by two factors namely personal altitude and educational attainment.
That there are some students who perform poorly in their subjects they can not apply for
a training of a particular career since they don‟t meet the qualification to take the course
even if they need to be trained such a career. In a similar vein, some studies suggest that
children are influenced in their career choice by socio-demographic factors and these
factors include family, school and peers (Kniveton 2004).
On the other hand, studies show that families, parents and guardians in particular, play a
significant role in the occupational aspirations and career goal development of their

12. 2
children. Without parental approval or support, students and young adults are often
reluctant to pursue or even explore diverse career possibilities (Taylor and Haris 2004).
The significance of parental influence upon their children„s career choice is consistently
important, even across gender and racial lines. Although schools, peers, and the student„s
community all have an impact on the young adult„s self-identity and career choice, the
parent„s expectations and perceptions of vocational fit for their children have been found
to be the key roles in shaping their career choices (Ferry, 2006). According to Creamer
and Laughlin ( 2005), this influence has been so strong as to override the influence of
teachers, faculty, and career counselors, who likely know more about the career field in
question but were not as well-known and trusted as the student„s parents for this type of
decision career choice of students. Despite the introduction of counselors in secondary
schools who also perform the task of career counseling to the secondary school student
but still the problem of career choice to students persists in most of secondary school
students (Yambesi 2012). There are several studies conducted in other places concerning
the factors affecting career choice of secondary school students but in Tanzania and in
Morogoro municipal in particular there is no study conducted. Therefore, this study
exposed the factors that affect students‟ career aspiration.
1.2 Statement of the problem
The dynamic and sophisticated socio-economic system of the contemporary society with
accompanying innovations in science and technology present a wide array of occupations
for the youths to choose from (Wilson, 1992). It should be noted however that career
choice tends to be a persistent problem for students in the contemporary society. That is

13. 3
why it is not uncommon for students to get into occupations that are not quite suitable to
their abilities (Abid, 2006).Tanzanian students are also facing the problem of career
choice and that is probably why the Ministry of Education and Vocational Training
(MoEVT) institutionalized guidance and counseling to schools by initiating courses
relating guidance and counseling to student teachers in teachers training colleges.
However, to this moment it is not clear to what extent do such measures have reduced the
problem of career choice among secondary school students. This study was therefore
designed to find out the extent of career choice problem and assess factors shaping
students‟ choices of their future careers.
1.3 General objective of the study
The main purpose of this study was to assess the factors affecting career choice of
secondary school students in Morogoro municipal specifically at Kilakara secondary
school.
1.4 Specific objectives of the study
The following were the objectives of this study:
i. Find out whether students have career choice in their mind.
ii. Investigate on the factors which influence the occupational aspirations of
secondary schools students.
iii. Recommend measures to enhance career choices among secondary school
students

14. 4
1.5 Research questions
Three research questions were used to address the problem of this study which was as
follows.
(i) Do secondary school students have career choice in their minds?
(ii) Is there any significant factor that determines the students‟ career aspiration?
(iii) To what extent do these factors influence the career choice decisions of a
student?
1.6 Significance of the study
This study is significant in the sense that it exposes the factors that affect students‟ career
aspiration and give recommendations on how to overcome those factors and hence
students could be making realistic occupational choices whereby in turn they will derive
much satisfaction from their career and hence it will enhance smooth running of
economic activities in the nation as a result there will an increase in national productivity.
1.7 Delimitation of the study
The scope of this study was only involving one secondary school which found in
Morogoro municipal. The concentration was only to this school due to the limited
resources such as time for conducting study. Also, there was limited finance for
conducting the study at more secondary schools in Morogoro Municipal. However,
results from this study may be applicable to other schools in Tanzania with a similar
environment to the case under the study.

15. 5
CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Career choice among secondary school students
Career selection is one of the important major questions in students‟ life (Ghuntla, 2012).
Career selection is not only a question for individual student life but also affects
individuals whole life, an individual passes his whole life in a field which he has selected
as the career in his student life and has to be a useful person for not only his family but
also for the whole society. If a student selects the field of higher learning of his own
choice he will not only perform well in his study but it will help him to explore his inner
potential. But in secondary schools students are affected much in their career choice by
parental educational background and their wealth (Ferry, 2006).
2.2 Benefits of having career choice to secondary school students
Choosing a career path is a huge part of a young man or woman‟s life. The career path
students choose will affect how they will live the rest of their life (Abid, 2006).
Therefore, it is better for a student to have a career choice in their mind so as to live
better in the rest of their lives. A lot of students go through college without knowing what
career path they want (Moxley et al., 2001). Before students can pick a career path they
need to experience what that career is like and what it involves through seeking advice to
their parents, teachers, career counselors and workers who are more experienced in the
particular career. King (2004) said that, “The more familiar an individual is with the
requirements and rewards of the work world, the better equipped they are to make a
career choice” (page. 204). Kings‟ ideas show the significance of student to have prior

16. 6
information about the particular occupation that they will select their career
corresponding to their ability.
2.3.0 Factors affecting career choice of secondary school student
The important stage students have to make clearly during their lives is to choose their
career as per their academic ability. This is very essential to both an individual and to the
national in general due to the fact that the nation with employees who are committed to
their profession will implement their duties efficiently leading to rise of national income
.There are several factors that hinders the selection of careers of secondary school
students which are; parents or family members, school counselors, peers at schools and
teachers .These factors are briefly explained in this chapter.
2.3.1 Family influence
Kniveton (2004), in his research discussed how parents are the ones providing the
strongest influences on their children„s career development through support and advice
related to their own experiences. The results of Kniveton„s study also show that parents
had a much larger influence than that of the teachers. Linn (2000) found that attachment
to mother had a significant direct effect on career self-efficacy, and career self-efficacy
again influenced career aspiration of secondary school students.
Other family variables that have been shown to influence career aspirations include the
parents‟ occupation and family size (Singh, 2002). The father‟s occupational status is
highly correlated with his son‟s occupation (Blau, 1992). Family size also appears to
influence adolescent career aspirations because parents with large families tend to have

17. 7
less money to aid the older children in attending college, while younger children may
receive more financial assistance since the financial strain is less once the older children
leave home.
The parents who are highly educated tends to emphasize their children to study hard and
providing them an advice on how to select career and leave them make their choice
among the alternatives provided to them (Ghuntla, 2012). According to Bear and Roeber
(2000), a child is raised in accordance with the values of the family and as he or she grow
he or she learns, internalizes and concretizes the behavior patterns to which he is
exposed. All these behavior patterns and training which the child learns from the family
often determines his/her job perception and subsequent occupational decision or career
choice in their future. This underscores why the family has extreme influence on the
evaluative aspects of the child‟s development including his judgment of which career to
pursue (Downey, 1995). As the family is the social group with which the child has direct
contact, it determines his vocational interests, at least to some appreciable extent.
2.3.2 Age and sex
Rabin (2001) studied the pattern of academic aspiration of Nigerian adolescents and
found out that many adolescents choose different occupations without proper
consideration of their individual capacity in academic issues. His investigation also
shows that age and sex has substantial effects on the largely unrealistic choice of
academic and occupational pursuit. This agrees with the findings of Olayinka( 2001),
who found out that youths were enticed to choose subject simply because it has a high
financial benefit or large measure of prestige attached to it. He also noted that many

18. 8
females were making in road into certain fields that were formally regarded as man`s
domain such as Engineering, Medicine, and Geology.
2.3.3 Teachers’ influence
Mitchell (2003) noted that the problem of career choice to be compounded by the present
state of the country; inadequate professional or qualified teachers in our secondary
schools to offer career guidance to the students for the child, the school should plan the
subject that will lead him to a job in which there would be job satisfaction. This means
that most of now day‟s secondary schools lack experts for guiding and counseling
students to choose their career that will make them satisfied.
In the school environment, the teacher plays an important role on students‟ career choice.
(Brok, 2005) has found that students are influenced by high school teachers and in
particular career guidance and counselors in making decisions that affect their future such
as their career choice. Adeleye (2009) indicated that the more dominant and cooperative
a teacher is being perceived, the greater the students‟ enjoyment. Since teachers have
more contact hours with the students, they are likely to influence their career choice
either negatively or positively. They also act as role models for the students therefore;
they are easily imitated by their students.
2.3.4 Influence of peers
On other hand, peers play a major role in career choice of students Stuart (2000). For
example, peers‟ attitudes toward gender and ethnicity may increase or decrease a
person‟s confidence in pursuing a career. Also adolescents are easily influenced by their

19. 9
peers because they rely on their friends to provide validation of the choices that they
make including career decisions. The young adolescent who enters school is encouraged
to set high aspirations for him or her and to work to achieve these aspirations. Peer
groups influence are sources of pressures which induce the young adolescent into pre-
determined occupations, sometimes with little or no considerations on the potentials,
actual needs and ego of the child.
On the other hand (Kaloki, 2009) found out that there was a significant relationship
between peer influence and educational aspiration of a student when making a career
decision. This researcher attributed this result to lack of career guidance services in many
schools in Kenya. He also alleged that, most of the students in the same groups during
their group wished to pursue the same level of education and had this consequently
influenced them to take up the same career.
2.4 Recommendations from other researchers
According to Mitchell (2003), there is a great influence of teachers on the career choice
of secondary school students since secondary school teachers are the one who shape the
career of students. Mitchell recommended that secondary school teachers should be
trained on counseling skills so that they will counsel students to make career choice
according to their ability and interests. Ajowi (2012) recommended to encourage female
students to aspire for physical science related careers, there is need for government and
other stakeholders to look into ways of encouraging female students to take physics and
other technical subjects at secondary school level to enable them compete favorably with
their male counterparts for the limited chances available for the same at colleges.

20. 10
Also, career choice must be brought into a clearer focus, starting with students in
elementary school and continuing beyond. Students seem to make high school a
watershed for making the big decision. Career choice is an ever-evolving process. Career
choice is a process that includes experimentation, trial and error, decision-making and
eventually judgment. Students must be made aware of this process; it has yet to be
perfected.
2.5 Summary of Literature review
The literature review above shows that the students‟ career choice is mostly influenced
by their parents, peers, teachers as well as gender of a student. The literature review
above shows that in different places for instance Kenya and Nigeria as shown in above
literature, research on the factors affecting students‟ career choice was conducted but in
Tanzania specifically in Morogoro municipal there is no study conducted to determine
factors affecting students‟ career choice.

21. 11
CHAPTER THREE: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter comprises a brief explanation about the methodology which was used in this
study. For instance this chapter exposes the method used in data collection, techniques
used for sampling, technique used in validation of an instrument of collecting data which
was questionnaire, ethical issues used when collecting data, and the approaches and
design used in the study.
3.1 Research Approach and Design
The study employed both quantitative and qualitative research approach to investigate
factors that affect the choice of career of students in Morogoro Municipal. Case study
design was used because the study concentrated only to one school at Morogoro
municipal hence the case study design was the best research design for the study.
Lauer (2006: 13) stated that descriptive research is one of the basic types of educational
research. “Descriptive research,” she wrote, “is used to answer questions: What is
happening? How is something happening? Why is something happening?” .This
descriptive research was employed in this study in which answer questions that why
students fail to choose their own careers instead they are choosing that of peers or
parents.
3.2 Description of the Case Study Area
This study was conducted at Morogoro municipal specifically at Kilakara high school
which is among of two government high schools found at Morogoro municipal. This
school was selected for the study due to the fact that it is the only special secondary

22. 12
school among of two Morogoro municipal high schools which is boarding and this school
consist only girls studying science combinations and one arts combination. The special
school takes students who have best performance in their ordinary level secondary
examination results. Therefore, this school is the only school that is in Morogoro
municipal having students from different places of Tanzania who score best in o-level
education.
3.3 Target Population
Kothari (2004, pg 14) defined a population as, “A collection, or set, of individuals,
objects, or measurements whose properties are to be analyzed”. In other words,
population is the group of entities which is interested for a particular study. The targeted
population of this study was advanced level students from Kilakala secondary school
located at Morogoro Municipal which is a public secondary school consisting of only
girls students from different places in Tanzania.
3.4 The Study Sample and Techniques
Sample refers to the small portion of a population which is to be studied and draw a
conclusion to the appropriate population (Kothari, 2004). In this study sampling
technique used to obtain sample was simple random sampling technique. This sampling
technique is probabilistic in nature in the sense that every individual has equal chance to
be selected to be in the study sample. The sample for this study was drawn from Kilakara
secondary school students randomly using simple random technique of sampling. Each
unit in the population has equal chance of inclusion in the study sample that is the
probability of selecting one unit is the same to all population units. In this study sample

23. 13
of 50 Kilakara secondary school students was selected randomly from form five and form
six classes. Both form five and form six were grouped together randomly in the dining
room then the selection was done by taking each 4th
student who counted from one to
four resulting to selection of 50 students out of 212 students consisting of 60 form six and
152 form five who were given the questionnaire asking some of questions relating to
career aspiration of students.
3.5 Methods and Instruments for Data Collections
Questionnaires was prepared for students that consist of several questions asking
students on whether they have career choice in their mind and why they aspire to have
those careers in their future. This instrument suited the study to collect data from study
sample accurately since students are capable of writing and reading in English. It also
ensures confidentiality of the respondent since no one knows the information filled by a
respondent.
3.6. Validation of Instruments for Data Collection
A valid instrument for research measures what it is supposed to measure (Kothari, 2004).
In this study, the instrument for data collection that is questionnaire was validated
through two methods: peer review and taking the instrument to experts of this field who
is the supervisor of this study. The questionnaire constructed was taken to the supervisor
and peer so that they provide comments to those questionnaires whether they can collect
valid data from the respondents.

24. 14
3.7. Data Processing and Analysis Strategies
The quantitative data collected during this study was summarized, analyzed and
processed by using Statistical Product for Social Science (IBM SPSS version 20).
3.8. Ethical Consideration
The research ethics during data collection was considered by ensuring that data are
confidentially kept, also simple and polite language was used during data collection.
Doctoring and bribe such as provision of prize to respondents during data collection was
avoided when collecting data from respondents at Kilakala secondary school. Also,
permission was requested from head of school before facing students for collecting and
invasion of privacy was excluded during collection of data in the field by avoiding the
use of questions which directly hit respondent‟s privacy.

25. 15
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Overview of the chapter
This chapter comprises the presentation of data that were collected from Kilakala
secondary school consisting of 212 students including form five and form six who are
studying four combinations which are PCM, PCB, CBG and HGL. This section presents
the significant factor that determines the career choice of secondary school students at
Morogoro municipal specifically at Kilakala secondary school. This section gives a brief
explanation about the demographic information of secondary school students at Kilakara
secondary. Also, the section will answer three research questions which were: to
determine whether students have career choice in their mind, to check significant factors
that affects choice of careers of students, and to study the extent to which these factors
affect choice of careers.
4.2 Demographic Data
This study involved the students from Kilakala secondary school in which 50 students
were selected randomly from 212 students who were taking the combinations as shown in
the Table 1 below:
Table 1 showing number of students with their respective combination.
Which combination are you
taking at this school?
In which form are you?
Total
Form five Form six
PCM 9 8 17
PCB 10 9 19
HGL 4 4 8
CBG 1 5 6
Total 24 26 50

26. 16
From Table 1 above, 34% of the sample studied PCB, 38% studied PCM, 16% took
HGL, and 12% took CBG. Also, only 48% of form five students and 52% of form six
were included in the sample taken from the school as shown in the Table 1 above.
4.3 Career aspiration of Kilakala secondary school students
As the research question one intends to determine whether students from Kilakala
secondary school have career choice in their mind. The findings show that most of the
students have prior plan to take a particular career as shown in the Table 2 below.
Table 2 career aspiration of a student
What is your future occupational
expectation?
Which combination are you taking at
this school?
TotalPCM PCB HGL CBG
Doctor 5 14 0 0 19
Teacher 2 0 3 1 6
Engineer 9 1 0 0 10
Economist 1 1 2 1 5
Nurse 0 1 0 0 1
Other occupation 0 2 3 4 9
Total 17 19 8 6 50
The above Table 2 shows the occupations aspired by Kilakala secondary school with
their respective combinations they are pursuing at the school 19 students aspire to be
doctors 14 studying PCB and 5 studying PCM this implies that, some students studying
PCM did not know their field of work corresponding to their combination, 9 PCM
students and 1 PCB student aspired to be Engineers, 6 students out of 50 students plans to
be teachers. Also 5 students plans to be economists even though they are not studying

27. 17
economics at advanced level secondary school, this shows that students have no career
counselor to counsel them so as to take their right career which they have foundations in
their subjects. One student studying PCB aspired to be a nurse. Also, 9 students taking
PCB, HGL and CBG aspired other careers such as lawyers. This generally shows that
Kilakala secondary school students have career choice in their mind as shown in the
Table 2 above.
4.4 Factors affecting career aspiration of secondary school students
Many students at secondary schools appear to be affected by external factors while they
are deciding which career to take. Members of family can acts as the role model to a
student to in the sense that a student can decide to take career the family member
pursuing, student‟s peers, teachers and school visitors. The following are the findings on
the factors affecting career choice of a student at Kilakala secondary school.
4.4.1 Parental or family influence
In this study the results shows that the family members have the greatest influence than
any other influential factors such as teachers and career counselors who are said to have a
wide knowledge about the particular career than family members. Table 3 shows that
family members 74% was a significant factor in determining student‟s career choice. It
shows that of students at kilakara secondary school are helped by their family members to
select their future career. Family members such as parents appear to be the most
influential people for students to plan for their future career than any other individuals
surrounding a student. This finding appears similar to that of Singh (2002) that the

28. 18
occupation of parents is highly correlated with that a student from that family expects to
pursue.
Table 1 showing career influential factors
Who helps you to select
your career?
Frequency Percent
Family member 37 74.0
School counselor 3 6.0
High school teacher 3 6.0
School visitor 3 6.0
Friends at school 4 8.0
Total 50 100.0
4.4.2 Peer influence
In this study the influence of peer in selection of career is very rare comparing to the
influence of parents. As shown in Table 3 above, 8% percent of students were helped to
choose their career by peer students at school which implies that fellow students have
some convincing power to student to take a particular career just for validation of their
careers, than school counselor, school visitors and teachers who knows more about
different careers. As in the study of Stuart (2000), adolescents are easily influenced by
their peers because they rely on their friends to provide validation of the choices that they
make including career decisions
4.4.3 Teachers’ school visitors and school counselor influence
On the other hand, the findings of this study show that 6% of students are influenced by
high school teachers to choose their career. Also, 6% of Kilakala secondary school
students are facilitated to choose their career to study at university or college by school

29. 19
counselor who are expected to make a right choice since the counselors seems to know
more career information like available opportunities and competition in the employment
opportunities than peers and parents. Similarly, the school visitors affected the choice of
career of students at Kilakala secondary school students by 6%. For instance visitors from
Banks such as CRDB attracted students to pursue courses that will make them employed
in banks.
4.5 Discussion
The issue of career choice and aspirations of students can be a nightmare if students do
not receive career counseling and support from the family (parents) and peers. This study
found that family is a significant factor in determining children‟s career choice since
about 74% of the sample taken from Kilakala secondary school is influenced by family
members to select their career, and teachers influence career choice of their learners.
These findings are consistent with the findings of other studies that have examined the
factors that affect the choice of careers of secondary school students such as that of
Kniveton (2004) who found that parents are the ones providing the strongest influences
their children„s career development through support and advice related to their own
experiences.
In this study, family members act as a significant factor in determining students‟ career
choice, and the ability to identify the intended career. Teachers like parents act as the role
models in the career paths that young students pursue as shown in the study of (Barnett
2007) .Also, the study of Denga (2004) shows that teacher‟s beliefs influence their
learners‟ self perceptions of ability and consequently career choice. In fact, teachers

30. 20
encourage students to take a particular subject options that are congruent with the
aptitudes and abilities that they identify. Therefore, this study is aligned with the study
that took place at other places as literatures above shows.
Literatures shows that a student starts to aspire the career to take while he or she is at
school so that they will take the careers which relate to their subjects they are studying.
Due to this fact therefore a student requires a strong counseling and advice about career
from school career counselor before they select subjects to study at higher level. It
appears that making the correct career choice matches with the correct subject choice at
university. As such, students are less
likely to regret making their decision to pursue their current career choices as the results a
nation will be having employees who are well equipped and are committed to their
career.

31. 21
CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
5.1 CONCLUSION
Basing on the research findings stated chapter four, family members who are parents or
guardians or other relatives residing within the same home with a student have a
significant influential factor in convincing a student to take a particular career. That
means a student seems to take the occupation that the family members are taking hence
parents acts as their role model in selecting their career. In addition, teachers play a
significant role in advising their students to take a particular subject which in turn will
determine which course to take at the college or at the university.
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS
In order a student to take a particular career which is as par their ability, parents should
not force their children to take career which their children are not interested. Parents
should ask their children which career they prefer most then they should advice them on
whether to take those career or not according to the reasons that hinders them to take
those career such as the cost of training (fees for the course) and employment opportunity
availability.
On the other hand, since teachers are the one who work closely to a student and knows
the academic ability of a student than parents, teacher should provide career advice to
their students to take a career which corresponds to academic ability of that student.
Finally, a school should provide a career counseling and guidance to learners during their
high school learning. This should start from the Ministry of education to train teachers
the counseling skills about careers that will enhance the career aspiration of a student

32. 22
before they go further to study in universities or colleges. Further research should be
done to find out why secondary school students are facing difficulties in selecting careers
as the result they tend to imitate careers of their colleague or careers which are not
suitable to them.

33. 23
REFERENCES
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Year Medical Students in a Nigerian University. Pak J Med Sci 2010;
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Ajowi, O.J. (2012) .Gender and students‟ perceptions of career aspirations in secondary
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What can be done? Heidelberg: Brandeis University.
Bear, M. F. & Roeber, E. C. (2000). Occupational Information: The Dynamics of Its
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761.
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Vocational Guidance Quarterly, 18 (3), 203-206.

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Ferry, N.M. (2006). Factors influencing career choices of adolescents and young adults in
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University
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Taylor. J, Haris. M and Taylor S (2004) Parents Have their say about their college age
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36. 26
APPENDICES
APPENDIX ONE: QUESTIONNAIRES
QUESTIONNAIRES FOR STUDENT
TOPIC: The factors affecting career choice of secondary school in Morogoro Municipal.
My name is Donald, Pita from Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA) taking Bachelor
of science with Education (Informatics and Mathematics).
This study aims to determine the factors that determine the career aspiration of secondary
school students in Morogoro municipal. Your sincere participation will be of great help
and significance for this study. The questions below are only for the purpose of the study
and all information you provide will be confidentially kept. Thank you in advance for
your cooperation.
INSTRUCTION: Tick where appropriate.
1. Age……………years
2. In which form are you? (Tick one)
i) Form five [ ] ii) Form six [ ]
3. (a)Which combination are you taking at this school? (Tick one)
i) PCM [ ] ii) PCB [ ] iii) CBG [ ] iv) HGL [ ] v) HGK [ ]
vi)HKL[ ] vii)EGM [ ]
Other combination (Mention it).…………………………………………….
(b)Did you plan to take the combination you are pursuing ?
Yes [ ] No [ ]

37. 27
(c)If Yes/No in question 3(b) why?
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………………………………………………………………………
………………………………
4. Are there enough teachers for the combination you are pursuing at your school?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
5. What is your future occupational expectation? (Tick one)
i) Doctor [ ] ii) Teacher [ ] iii) Engineer [
]
iv) Economists [ ] v) Nurse [ ]
vi) Other occupation (Mention it).…………………………………………….
6. What is the level of education of your parents/guardians‟? (Tick one)
(a)Certificate [ ] (b) Diploma [ ] (c) Degree [ ] (d) Masters [ ]
(e) Standard seven [ ] (f) Form four [ ] (g) Form six [ ] (h) Not attended to
school [ ]
7. What is your parents‟/guardians‟ occupation?
i) Doctor [ ] ii) Teacher [ ] iii)
Engineer [ ]
iv) Economists [ ] v) Peasant [ ]
vi) Other occupation (Mention it) .……………………
8. Do you have career counselors at your school?
Yes [ ] No [ ]

38. 28
9. Who helps you in selecting your future occupation (tick one).
(i) Family member [ ] (ii) School Counselor [ ] (iii) High School
Teacher [ ] (iv) School Visitors [ ] (v) Friends at school [ ]
10. Does your parents plans for your future career? Yes [ ] No [ ]

39. 29
APPENDIX TWO: SCHEDULES FOR ACTIVITIES
TASK
YEAR
MONTH Writing
research
proposal
Collecting
data from
the field.
Analysis
of data
Writing the
research report
Consultation
of supervisor
2014
OCTOBER
NOVEMBER
DECEMBER
2015
JANUARY
FEBRUARY
MARCH
APRIL
MAY
JUNE

40. 30
APPENDIX THREE: BUDGET
SN ITEM AMOUNT(Tshs)
1. Preparation of research proposal (internet
services, printing and spiral binding).
40,000/=
2. Printing questionnaires for data collection. 10,000/=
3. Transport costs (from Mazimbu to SUA main
campus and from Mazimbu to Kilakara
Secondary school)
30,000/=
4. Data collection and data processing. 30,000/=
5. Writing research report, typing and spiral
binding.
50,000/=
6. Internet services when writing research
report
20,000/=
TOTAL 180,000/=