Analyzing the Career Motivations among Secondary Schools' Students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Abstract

Motivation for a career is a significant indicator for the determination of future careers among secondary school students, therefore; the study aimed at analyzing the career motivations of secondary school students in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Objectives of the study were to find out career motivations among secondary school students and recommend strategies for appropriate career motivations among secondary school students. The design of the study was quantitative survey with population of 30439 secondary school students from public sector secondary schools of district Swat Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The sample of the study was 380 and it was selected with simplerandom sampling procedure. A questionnaire containing information about career motivations was developed, validated and pilot tested for the collection of data from respondent students. Data were gathered with self-administered questionnaires and analyzedwith mean scores, standard deviations and the chi-square test. The study found medical, teaching, engineering, computer and information technology and business as dominant career motivations of secondary school students. The study recommended the strategies of providing career guidance facilities, mechanism for understanding students’ interest and aptitude for careers and provision of information regarding career outcomes for development of appropriate career motivations among secondary school students