Career Aspirations of Bachelor of Education (Early Grade) Students
- January 21, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: Education, IJRISS
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue I, January 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
Career Aspirations of Bachelor of Education (Early Grade) Students
Kwadwo Oteng Akyina
College of Agriculture Education (CAGRIC), University of Education, Winneba, Ghana
Abstract: – The study was carried out to find out the careers aspired for by B. Ed. (Early Grade) students. Employing descriptive survey design, 397 Early Grade students were purposively sampled for the study. A self-made questionnaire was used to collect the data. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics and independent samples t-test. The study revealed that most students had moderate 259 (65.2%) knowledge of careers in Early Grade. Most of them 165 (41.6%) aspired to teach in preschools after completing the programme. Significant difference was found between the career aspirations of West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination and Diploma in Education certificate holders pursuing the programme but no difference was found in terms of gender. An implication drawn was that most of the students should be employed to teach in preschools on completion of the programme since that is their aspired career.
Keywords: career, aspirations, bachelor, education, early grade
I. INTRODUCTION
Career decision is very important in life. It affects the psychological, emotional and social dimensions of a person’s life. Because of the importance of career choice in people’s lives, career guidance is an important focus of Guidance and Counselling. Career has been defined by various authors. Greenhaus (1987) cited in Pattanayak (2008) defined career as pattern of work-related experiences and activities over the period of a person’s work life. To Pattanayak (2008), career is moving upward in one’s chosen path of work. Cascio (2008) on the other hand, saw career in two perspectives, first in the objective perspective and second in the subjective perspective. In objective perspective, career is a sequence of positions occupied by a person during the course of a lifetime. Subjective wise, career consists of a sense of where a person is heading to in his or her work life. Career can therefore be understood from both perspectives.
With respect to how a person makes career decision in life, a number of theories (career development theories) have been propounded to explain that phenomenon. Career development is the process by which a person’s career identity is formed from childhood through a lifetime. A theory, on the other hand, is a way of assembling and putting together in a systematic way, what is known about something (Shertzer & Stone, 1977).
