European Guidance and Counselling Research Forum

The influence of school and family to the formation of career development of primary and secondary education students¹

D. Sidiropoulou - Dimakakou, S. K. Krassas and A. K. Touloumakos

Throughout this presentation we will attempt to explore the possible ways in which family and school affect the career development of students in both primary and secondary education.

Most of the parents consider that one of their key responsibilities is to help their children plan and attain their careers. Studies show that parents have a lead role to their children career planning (Amatea & Cross, 1980) and that they impinge on the way that young people see both world and professions (Isaacson & Brown, 1995). At the same time parents exposing their children to a number of different experiences also help the latter's career development (Sidiropoulou, Mylonas & Argyropoulou, 2003) and affect their attitudes with respect to the content of their career choices. The interference of parents to their children's career development may:

• Encourage and help children analyse and comprehend their interests, abilities and difficulties,
• Provide children with career related information,
• Provide information about the career values that parents experience,
• Create the conditions for career decision making,
• Help children explore, design, prepare for the professional role that he / she will have in the future,
• Help children become responsible through working within the house (Herr & Cramer, 1992 & 1996).

However, the career development of a young person does not solely depend upon the family within which the young person is raised, but connects to a great extent with the educational context. The time a young person spends in school is a period of constant development and change for him / her. This is the time where children attain the bases for their future academic and social achievement and establish their attitudes that will have a permanent influence on their career development. Those same attitudes affect as well the way a person plans his / her educational and professional career (Drummond & Ryan, 1995 . Gysbers, et.al, 1998). One of the main goals of education and of the structure of educational system affect the attitudes, values and goals of young people, while at the same time shape the criteria for their life choices and therefore their school and career guidance.

The years in primary education consist the period of life when a child's goals, achievement motivation, and perceptions of self as worthy or inferior begin to be formulated. The concepts children acquire during this life stage directly influence later school success, career identity, adult interests, and general perspectives on life. Elementary school children, in the school framework, are concerned with individual differences, work, adult life patterns, and personal feelings of competence, which they translate into self-perspectives and preferences for some work or educational activities to the exclusion of others. Frequently, unrealistic career plans are made at this level perhaps because of the school textbooks, which present the occupations reinforced by sex - typing (Φραγκουδάκη, 1985 . Σιδηροπούλου, 1995 . Golombok & Fivush, 1996). Far too often, large segments of the student population have no systematic models of effective behavior, which could display a consistent vocational identity that provides a stable base for the child's self and occupational explorations. Furthermore the absence of career guidance activities in primary education does not provide the opportunity to many children to have access to adequate behaviors or correct information about them or their opportunities (Κρασσάς, 2001).

Junior high school students are not the same creatures who inhabited the elementary schools a year or two earlier. As a result of experience and growth, their horizons have widened. They need time and space to gain new experiences and to contemplate the meaning of these experiences for their lives. They seek opportunities to use their skills and to participate meaningfully. Due to being near entering senior high school, their sensitivity towards work environments and their relevance to their characteristics is accentuated. Educational decisions made in the junior high school are obviously not benign, although they may be reversible. It is a period when such career development concepts as compromise and congruence or incongruence between aspirations and expectations become operational as realities, and when idealistic fervor or naivete get their initial temperings in the reality - testing of curricular and school activities. It is also a time when values emerge with enough continuity to be measurable. This is a time, then, when change in the self and the world can be used as a focal point for planning, and when student responsibilities through participation in planning can be related to the consequences of decisions. The research of Campbell and Parsons (1972) has shown that the majority of junior high students exhibit a readiness for vocational planning. The question is, are schools and counselors prepared to help in this process?

Senior high school premises the transition from school to work. At this period high school students vary in the status of their career development and the most of them profess major needs for help with their career planning. However, their interests are more adult; they are more aware of the significant characteristics of occupations and have more information about occupations that interest them. They have more specific plans for obtaining the required training, education, and on-the-job experience. In other words that awareness of concern with present and future decisions, awareness of factors to consider in making decisions, occupational information, and planning are important aspects of vocational maturity in adolescents.

Sample

The sample of study was comprised of 326 students of primary and secondary education of the municipality of Attica. 45,4% (148 of them) are male and 54,6% (178 of them) are female. 42,1% (135 of them) are in primary and 57,9% (191 of them) are in secondary education.

Primary education:

51,1% (69) of those coming from primary education are males and 48,9% (66) of those are females. 80,6% (108) of them are 12 years old, 14,9% (20) of them are 11 years old and 4,5% (6) of them are 13 years old. 43,1% (56) reside in Athens, 31,5% (41) are residences at West Attica, 3,1% (4) are residences of North Attica and finally 22,3% ( 29) reside in East Attica.

Secondary Education:

41,4% (79) of those coming from secondary education are males and 58,6% (112) are females. 9,9% (19) of them are 14 years old, 38,7% (74) of them are 15 years old, 24,6% (47) of them are 16 years old, 24,6% (47) of them are 17 years old, 1,6% (3) of them are 18 years old and, 5% (1) is 20 years old. 41,4% (79) resides in Athens, 12,6% (24) are residences at Piraeus, and 41,6% (88) are residences of West Attica.

In terms of their preferences 39,6% (74) seem to have a preference of pursuing graduate studies in a university level, a 13,9% (26) want to pursue technical education, 1,1% (2) want to pursue some sort of advanced yet not higher education and finally most of them 45,5% (85) would like to pursue something different from all aforementioned (without clarifying exactly what that is).

Instrumentation

In order to explore the attitudes of primary and secondary education students with respect to their role as career guidance counselors and draw some solid and valid conclusions, two questionnaires (with forms A and B) were developed (one for primary and one for secondary education). Each of the two questionnaires was comprised by exactly the same questions for forms A and some common and different questions for forms B. In form A for both primary and secondary education, 30 questions were constructed. It was our intention to gather information from students with regard to their viewpoint and their parents' viewpoint. Therefore every question asks for the students' opinion, his or her mother's opinion, and his or her father's opinion. In form B there were constructed 25 and 28 items for primary and secondary education respectively sampling student's attitudes towards the role of school. All items incorporated were interval leveled with a 5 point Likert- type response scale from ‘strongly disagree' to 'strongly agree'.

Research Question

What are the differences between primary and secondary education students in terms of the groups of variables that hold together based on the questionnaires administered.

Reliability and Validity

The internal consistency (or otherwise known as) Alpha Coefficient for the primary education form A is .87 and form B is .75

The exploratory factor analysis conducted yielded 10 and 8 major factors respectively:

Form A
Variance Explained: 56,04%
Principal component analysis. Orthogonal Rotation (Varimax).

Form B
Variance Explained: 58,62%
Principal component analysis. Orthogonal Rotation (Varimax).

The internal consistency (or otherwise known as) Alpha Coefficient for the secondary education form A is .84 and form B is .87

The exploratory factor analysis conducted yielded 13 and 7 major factors respectively:

Form A
Variance Explained: 51,86%
Principal component analysis. Orthogonal Rotation (Varimax).

Form B
Variance Explained: 57,97%
Principal component analysis. Orthogonal Rotation (Varimax).

Analyses
Comparisons among primary and secondary education in terms of the factors yielded

Primary Education Form A

Factor 1. Conservative Pattern Financial aspect Job socially acknowledged Gender roles	Factor 2. Current / Progressive Pattern Gender equality of opportunities Being well-informed Career development Secure future Parental support
Factor 3. Parental Support and Trust Pattern Decision based on the child Trust that the child is well informed Trust that the child can practice and given profession	Factor 4. Career values relating to social aspects Pattern Environment that enables collaboration among people Environment that enables people getting in touch Children financially help and support their parents
Factor 5. Social Stereotype Pattern Women- Child raising Men - Financial aspect	Factor 6. Opportunistic Pattern Everything about a job is a matter of: Chance Money
Factor 7. Independency and Power Pattern Child has his/her own job Child is able to help others	Factor 8. Career Security Pattern Child should choose studies that will provide him with future stability and security Child should pursue a career in the public sector
Factor 9. Quality of life Pattern Child should study an art Children's career decision should allow for some quality free time	Factor 10. Indecision Pattern Everybody but the child knows better what the child should do with his/her life

Two items were excluded from the analysis due to low loadings:
* The child needs his parents' advices in order to make a career decision
** The child needs to decide about his/her future career

Secondary Education Form A

Factor 1. Financial Aspect Pattern Financial aspect of a job Job equals making money	Factor 2. Social Stereotype Pattern Women- Child raising Men - Financial aspect Men- Career
Factor 3. Freedom of Choice/ Parental Trust Pattern Trust that the child can make the decision Trust that the child is well informed Trust that the child can practice and given profession Factor	4. Directive / Indecision Pattern Everybody but the child knows better what the child should do with his/her life Everybody believes that the children should follow their lead with regard to his/her career decision
Factor 5. Parental Support and Trust Pattern Decision based on the child Trust that the child is well informed Trust that the child can practice and given profession	Factor 6. Career values relating to social aspects Pattern Children financially help and support their parents
Factor 7. Combination (social related values) Pattern Job happiness for child equals helping people Discuss with parents career decisions Environment that enables collaboration among people Environment that enables people getting in touch	Factor 8. Survival- Quality of life Pattern Everything about a job is a matter of Chance It is preferable that the child will study an art Children's career decision should allow for some quality free time
Factor 9. Career Stability Pattern Child should pursue a job that will provide him with future stability and security Child should pursue a career in the public sector	Factor 10. Independency Pattern Child has his/her own job Parents support their children
Factor 11. Career Development Pattern Decision based on the child Being well-informed Job should offer professional development	Factor 12. Conditions of professional success Pattern Gender equality of opportunities Child should choose studies that will offer him a good professional future
Factor 13. Traditional Pattern Everybody believe that the child needs their advice to make a career decision Job socially acknowledged

The present exploration helped draw some conclusions, and led to some more empirical questions.

The central conclusion is that both parents and school affect children's career development and shape to great extent children's educational and career choices. Another conclusion is that in all instances students seem to be in a relative accordance with their parents, and that is based on their answers to the questions. In factor analyses conducted, in all cases the answers of a student on his behalf and on behalf of their parents hold together.

The view of students in secondary education is more extended when compared to students of primary education. A practical way to see that is only by looking at the structure of factors yielded (in combination with the factors) in any of those two analyses. Using the same volume of information, in primary education the information is gathered together in 10 distinct dimensions, whereas in secondary education the dimensions are 13. In an initial analysis one might think that students in secondary education have the ability to do more complex and sophisticated dis-tinctions and to organise the information in a more advanced and detailed way.

Following that interpretation there are of course common themes in they way that items hold together when compare answers to the very same questions of students in primary and secondary education. The following constitute the similarities:

• Social Stereotypes: that translates to the professional roles that all students assign to males and females (i.e. males bring the money home and females raise their children).
• Parental trust and support: translates to the fact that parents need to support in any possible way their children. A main difference between primary and secondary education students is that in secondary education trust is a separate construct and in the analysis a separate factor. (That is a good example of the advanced distinctions that students is secondary education can make when compared to students of primary education).
• Career Stability - Career Security: incorporates items that underline the need for stable and well rewarded employment as well as a sense of being tenured.
• Indecision- Directive/ indecision: is the factor that in both instances incorporates the notion of ‘everybody but the child knows better than the child what the latter should do with his life' in the case of secondary education students that is accompanied by a notion that the ‘child should follow their parent's lead'.
• Social Related Values Pattern: that translates to professions that offer for socialisation. In the case of secondary education that is combined with happiness and asking for parents' opinion in a more combined view of ways that a child should make career decisions. In that case we pinpoint the complexity and the ability of synthesis that children in secondary education have when compared with children in primary education.
• Quality of life- Survival pattern: where the child should study arts and make sure that his/her career choice provide with some free quality time and in the case of secondary education students keep in mind that a job is always a matter of chance.

In primary education we see that children consider that a work related decision should offer good, compensation, while being social acknowledged and compatible with gender roles (conservative pattern). There is also the progressive pattern where, the child should be offered equal opportunities with a child of the opposite sex, should be well informed, the lob should offer for career development and secure future, and the parents should provide their support. Another pattern is the opportunistic one where everything about a job is a matter of money and chance. There is also the Independency pattern where the child should have his/her own job and be able to help others.

In secondary education the financial aspect pattern is the one that stresses the compensation of the job.

Career values relating to the social aspects pattern is the one that stresses the ability of children to support their parents when necessary.

Independency pattern: translates to something different for secondary education students when compared with primary education students. That is in secondary education, a child should have his/her own job and even though parents should help their children until the latter reach that level.

Career development pattern: is an additional factor where the decision should be made by a well informed child and choice should grant him/her with the opportunity to professionally develop.

Conditions to professional success pattern: provides with some criteria of professional support such as gender equality of opportunities and a choice of studies that will offer a good professional future.

Traditional pattern: reminds us a bit of the conservative pattern in primary education where a job should be socially acknowledged and parents should advise their children with respect to their decision making.

Primary Education Form B

Factor 1. Curriculum School activities Books-courses lead to abilities exploration Books-courses lead information seeking School network helps me acquire work knowledge and skills	Factor 2. Educators Discuss with them about diverse professions Advice on career decision making Help on defining the best profession for me Help on what is more important to me Help to narrow down my choices
Factor 3. School and steps of career decision making Good career information predisposes a good education School activities and career decision Books and courses and career plans School activities and activities that the child would want his/her future job incorporate	Factor 4. Stereotypes and Career Development Better students have better careers Student's diversity affect career guidance in schools
Factor 5. Curriculum and Students' Needs Books and courses help me pursue a job relating to math or humans Career guidance should be taught in the two last classes of primary education School material should be updated to provide students with knowledge in order for them to make better career decision	Factor 6. School and self-knowledge Books and courses help students develop career interests Books and courses help students acquire self-knowledge Educators may help clarify the courses that a student is strong
Factor 7. Multi-leveled school and professional information Educator may provide students with the information they need School activities help gather information about professions of interest Visits help make good career decisions	Factor 8. Career Security Pattern Child should choose studies that will provide him with future stability and security Child should pursue a career in the public sector

An item was excluded from the analysis due to low loading:
* Gender equality in school

Secondary Education Form B

Factor 1. Curriculum and career development Books and courses help students develop career interests Books and courses help students acquire self-knowledge Books-courses lead to abilities exploration Books-courses lead information seeking Books and courses and career plans Books and courses lead to good career decisions	Factor 2. Educators and career decisions Discuss with them about diverse professions Advice on career decision making Educators can provide with professional information Help on defining the best profession for me Help to narrow down my choices Help children shape their professional values
Factor 3. School activities and career decision making School activities and career information School activities and career decision School activities and activities that the child would want his/her future job incorporate School activities and information on professions of interest School activities and good career decisions	Factor 4. Multi-leveled school and professional development School network helps me acquire work knowledge and skills Books and courses help plan extra training Educators may help prioritize professions of interest
Factor 5. Curriculum and Students' Needs Good career information predisposes a good education Career guidance should be throughout all years of secondary education School material should be updated to provide students with knowledge in order for them to make better career decision	Factor 6. Social stereotypes Better students have better career future Books and courses help decide whether a child should pursue university education or another form of formal or informal education Student's diversity affects career guidance
Factor 7. Intra-school factors and professional potentials Student's diversity affect career guidance in schools Gender equal opportunities

Similarities for form B

• Curriculum: incorporates book material, school activities (in secondary education is restricted to book material and career development of students).
• Educators: refers to the role of educator as a career counsellor that provides with information about diverse professions, helps children decide on which profession they should pursue, helps students narrow down their choices, and shape their career values.
• School activities or steps and career decision: relates to school activities and how those help students make their career decisions (information about professions, decision making skills development etc).
• Curriculum and students' needs: relates to when career guidance should be offered throughout the course of school years and how the material should be in order to serve their needs.
• Social Stereotypes and career development: is about the better children's belief that the better the student the better career will have and that student's diversity should affect career guidance in schools.

In terms of the differences:
In primary education there are 3 separate factors yielded:

• School and self-knowledge: where school material and courses along with educators may help students explore and discover themselves.
• Multi-leveled school and professional information: school books, courses and educators may provide students with information and skills in order to make the right decisions.
• Career security: where the child should make the decision based on the security and stability a profession provide him with.

In secondary education:

• Multi-leveled school and professional information: has a different meaning than it had before, school can help students plan their future extra training, books and courses can help students acquire new skills and knowledge
• Intra-school factors and professional potentials: relates with diversity in schools and gender equal opportunities.

Limitations - Need for further investigation:

• Non statistical comparisons were possible due to different questionnaires' structures.
• Are the differences due to underlying phenomena or due to the perception of constructs by students in primary as compared to students of secondary education? The matter of equality of forms.
• Why is it that in both primary and secondary education the same question when asking about the child, the mother and the father holds always together in factor analysis? Is it a matter of common viewpoints or is it due to the fact that the child needs to believe that he/she has the same opinion with their parents? If that is the case what that means with respect to matters of career decision making?

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¹ 27th International School Psychology Colloquium 2005: Promoting the well - being of children and youth: A challenge for the school, the family and school psychologist, Athens, July 13 - 17, 2005