Some Social Factors Influencing Course Choices Senior of High School Students of Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Parañaque

Abstract

Choosing a college course is one of the most crucial decisions an adolescent makes. His choice must later enable him to enter into an occupation, even a career, that he finds interesting and fulfilling, enabling him to live a happy and socially well-adjusted life. This study looks into the different social factors that affect the course decision-making of senior high school students, namely parental influence (occupation and advice), peer’s course choice, sex appropriateness of the course, popularity of the course and employment opportunities. | Theories and previous studies reveal that these, among other variables are found to be significant influences on the course choice of adolescents. The respondents for this study are fourth year high school students from Immaculate Heart of Mary School, Parañaque. There are a total of 199 respondents; 96 of whom are males and 103 are females. The tool that is used for data-collection is a questionnaire. The data gathered is later treated using descriptive statistics (frequency tabulation and percentages) and non-parametric statistics (Binomial Test). Computer statistical programs (SPSS and Microsoft Excel) are utilized for more accurate computational results. The results reveal that parents’ advice, employment opportunities and sex appropriateness (for males) are the only statistically significant factors that affect course decision-making. Moreover, it also reveals that there are differences in the course preferences between the males and females. The most popular occupational fields that are chosen by the study participants are as follows: Engineering, Medicine, Business, Law and Mass Media; and the least popular are: Religious, Public Service, Education, Armed Force and Athletics. Results also reveal that all the 14 occupations given in the selection are classified as “for both males and females”. Lastly, it is found that the social factors affect the study participants in the following order: 1) Employment Opportunities; 2) Parents; 3) Popularity of the Course; 4) Peers’ Course Choice; 5) Sex Appropriateness; and 6) Others (interests, place of schooling etc.) Through analysis using related literature. vocational choice and development theories and previous studies, this study concludes that: First, parents’ occupation may not directly affect their child's course but through their advice, the child is influenced to pursue a similar field. Second, for the study participants, the perception that some courses are more popular than others is prevalent but they think it is more important to consider employment opportunities than popularity. Third, employment opportunities bear more influence than any other factor because unemployment is such a big issue nowadays that as early as high school, being able to secure a job in the future is a major concern. Fourth, sex appropriateness is significant only to males because they have to live up to certain social expectations like keeping their “macho” image by taking on occupations that are stereotyped as more masculine. Fifth, results of the ranking allowed this study to conclude that sex does not really make a difference regarding how the factors affect the course choices of the individuals. And lastly, that individuals possess far less freedom of choice in deciding on a course because they are necessarily affected and even limited by social factors that act on them. With these findings and conclusions, it is then emphasized that the role social factors play in shaping the individuals’ future is very important and must be given ample attention to ensure a generation of productive and satisfied citizens.