The purpose of this study was to serve as a basis for offering more rational, successful career guidance for vocational high school students, by making an explorative survey of how their career decision level and career preparation behavior would be a...
The purpose of this study was to serve as a basis for offering more rational, successful career guidance for vocational high school students, by making an explorative survey of how their career decision level and career preparation behavior would be affected by their own psychological separation and achievement.
The subjects in this study were 463 students in their third year from six vocational high schools in the city of Pohang and Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province.
The findings of this study were as below:
First, the career decision level and career preparation behavior of the third graders from the vocational high schools had significantly positive correlation to their conflictual independence level. This indicated that they were better at career decision level and career preparation behavior level when they were freer from excessive guilty conscience, fury or anxiety that arose from the relationship with their parents. Specifically, the career preparation behavior level had significantly negative correlation with functional independence from fathers and attitudinal independence from parents. This fact implied that those who sought more direct assistance or advice from fathers were better at career preparation behavior level, and the students whose values, attitude and belief agreed to those of mothers felt more secure psychologically and consequently were better at career preparation behavior level.
Second, the career decision level and career preparation behavior level had no significant correlation with achievement, no matter whether they were boys or girls.
Third, their gender made a significant difference to career decision level and career preparation behavior. The boy students significantly outperformed the girl students in career decision level, perhaps because there has traditionally been greater role expectations for male in terms of societal activities and occupation, and because men had a wider choice for job.
As the above-mentioned findings suggested, the independence from parents is one of the crucial factors for vocational high school seniors to make cognitive career decision and prepare for the future practically. Therefore, there seems to be a need to pay more attention to client's psychological separation from parents if he or she doesn't yet make career decision or make insufficient practical efforts for career preparation.