Parental influences upon students educational and occupational aspirations

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between Parents' Educational Attainment t their Occupat ional status, and students Educational and Occupational Aspirationso The data was obtained by administering a qtlestionnaire to hiO hundred secondary school students. Ninety-six of the students were in Form Four (eleven years of formal education) while one hundred and four of the students were in Form One (eight years of formal education). Among the subjects, there were seventy girls and one hundred and thirty boys. The subjeots carne from three Secondary Schools. Two of these schools were in the rural areas, and one was in the outskirts of the city of Nairobi. The Educational Aspirations of the students was measured by asking the studentsf the level of education they would like to attain after their school certificate examination. The subjects were asked to look realistically at their future and the chances that they be available for furthering their educational plans. Tne Occupational Aspirations of the students was measured by assisting the studentds the kind of occupation they would like to

obtain, if all the necessary training was made available. -.The results shoved that the sex of the objects was significantly related to their educational and oocupational'

aspirations..Similarly, the level of education attained by the respon.dents was significantly related to both their educationa.l and occupational aspirations. The results also indicated that both the educa.tional and occupational aspira.tions of the respondents are related to their parents' level of education ami the status of their parents' occupations. The fathers' education clearly emerged as a very important faotor in the overall relationship to both educational and occupational aspirations of the respondents. Those respondents who came from well placed families, had generally very high aspirations. These findings shed some light upon the kind of parental factors, namely, the fathers' and mothers' education and occupations, which are related to the formation of the students' educational and occupational aspirations.