CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education is commonly accepted as the solution to the world’s socioeconomic challenges. Education, among other things, is looked to by nations and people to offer a remedy for poverty, ignorance, drought, excessive rains, mental inadequacy, joblessness, terrible government, a poor communication system, starvation, and inadequate housing. Secondary schools in Nigeria may be traced back to numerous missionary organizations. In the creation of most post-primary schools in various sections of the country, the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) took the lead, and was followed by other missions. According to Fafunwa (1974) in Onoyase and Onoyase (2009), there was a consistent curriculum across the missions, with the topics mostly consisting of the four RS: Reading, Writing, Arithmetic, and Religion. According to Oroka (1998), with the increased government participation in education from 1882, the curriculum material was enlarged to include courses like as Latin, Greek, European History, Economic History, and English Literature. These topics were designed to promote British culture. In reality, this was the curriculum passed down from the colonial overlords to Nigeria. University graduates were held in great regard throughout this time period. The situation has changed, and the number of vocations has grown dramatically, and the current tendency is for students to specialize in a certain subject. This was one of the elements that led a shift from the 6-5-4 educational system to the 6-3-3-4 educational system, which prioritized technology education.
Every country in the world strives to a high standard of living and social standing. With the development of information technology, the post-industrial revolution, and employment competitiveness, career selection has evolved into a sophisticated science. It was normal practice in the past to turn feudalism into a family issue, with the son of a blacksmith bound to become a blacksmith and a feudal born a leader. Industrialization and post-industrialization have made it feasible for the average individual to become affluent as long as she or he possesses the necessary skills and information (Wattles, 2009). Today, in order to adapt to changing socioeconomic situations, one must not only conduct thorough career planning but also extensive job study before choosing a professional decision (Wattles, 2009).
One of the many critical decisions students will make in choosing their future goals is career choice. The term “career” refers to all of the positions that individuals play throughout their lives, including those of students, parents, employees, retirees, and employers. As a result, a person’s profession might be viewed as a lifetime endeavor. Career theorists such as Super (1957), Ginsburg et al (1951), Tiedeman and O’hara (1953), and Gelatt decision making model (1962) in Eremie acknowledged the complexity of individual career choice making earlier (2015). All of the theories mentioned above agreed that individual decision-making methods play an important role in the overall process of job development, and that gender, personal interests, and learning experiences are all variables influencing students’ career choices. They realized that personality, hobbies, self-concept, cultural identity, globalization, family, and social support all affected students’ profession choices. According to Geciki (2002), a career is an occupational, commercial, or industrial activity that a person may pursue during his or her school life or in some other period of his or her life until death. Career is defined by Redman and Wilkinson (2001) as the application of a person’s cognition and competencies, offering mastery over profession, timely job knowledge, and a foundation for creating and improving business networks.
The appropriate career path for students entering professional education is crucial, since it has a large influence on their professional life and future accomplishment. This is the tipping point: intuition, preconceived beliefs, wild imaginations, or popular concepts cannot be relied on. When not aligned with the expectations, a misperceived career decision puts all individual efforts and resources in the incorrect direction, which is not only irritating but also exhausting of human energy and waste of resources. A re-alignment is doable, but it will have major consequences in terms of time, money, and motivation. Students’ profession choices must be founded on solid knowledge, full information, and being effectively directed, as well as matching individual personality type and other intrinsic and extrinsic criteria. Students must be informed about new developing trends, future prospects, and problems in the context of professional alternatives. They must be aware of current market trends and practices, as well as the employment market in various areas (Kazi, Nimra and Nawaz, 2017). According to Hewitt (2010), the variables that influence profession choice might be internal, extrinsic, or both. A variety of factors, including ethnic origin, year in school, degree of accomplishment, choice of science subjects, attitudes, and disparities in work qualities, have been found to impact students’ perceptions of being fit for specific careers (McQuaid and Bond, 2003).
