A. Problems
The major purpose of this study is to examine the influences of the factors affecting on occupational aspiration. The basic assumption of the study is that occupational aspiration has a large portion of contribution to one's occupationa...
A. Problems
The major purpose of this study is to examine the influences of the factors affecting on occupational aspiration. The basic assumption of the study is that occupational aspiration has a large portion of contribution to one's occupational standing and social status.
In this context, the specific questions of this study are as follows:
1. What are the important factors to determine the occupational aspirations of high school students?
2. What is the relative contribution of each factors in determining the occupational aspiration?
3. What kind of casual relationships is existing among the factors in explaining one's occupational aspiration?
B. Methods
1. Subjects
The sample of the study, 12 classes (658 students) were selected from high schools by region, tracking, and sex. The sampling method used was stratified-cluster-random sampling.
2. Instruments
Each variables were secured from responses to the quesionnaire on the one hand, and from their school records on the other hand.
3. Statistical Analysis
The statistical methods applying in this study were cross tabs, multiple regression analysis, and path analysis by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS).
C. Results
The major findings are as follows:
1. All the variables except region, grade are positively related to both the idealistic occupational aspirations and the realistic occupational aspirations.
2. The variables account 36% of the variance in level of occupational aspiration, 28% of the variance in level of idealistic occupational aspiration, and 29% of the variance in level of realistic occupational aspiration.
3. The relative contribution of each independent variable to dependent variable (path coefficient) is as follows: educational aspiration (.391), intelligence (.084), socio-economic status (-.071), grade (.042), and tracking (-.027).
4. The influences of educational aspiration and grade on occupational aspiration are direct effects, but parent's socio-economic status (SES) and tracking in high school influence indirectly rather than directly.
5. The amount of variance in occupational aspiration of males (30.4%) that these variables can explain is greater than that of females (20.6%).
As a conclusion, we conform that one's social and occupational attainment is determined not only by ascriptive factors but also by achieved factors in Korean society.
However, due to the limitations in sampling and measurements of variables, generalization based on above results could be restricted.