Investigating high school students’ career
choices in an unequally developed economy:
Perspectives from the different rungs of the socioeconomic ladder
NATAL’YA SHCHERBAK & LINDA GRAHAM
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY, AUSTRALIA
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Content
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Problem
Conceptual framework
Methodology
Main findings
Further research
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Problem: background information
• “Two-speed” economy
• New South Wales:
– ~51% of population of employment age rate
– Highest youth unemployment (up to 40%)
– Decrease in unemployment is correlated with
increase in Disability Support Pension
– Changes in the ratio of blue collar to white
collar occupations
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Conceptual Framework
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Drawing on ideas of:
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Career choice is a multi-stage formative
process involving:
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Human Development theory
Moral education and autonomy
“Democratic threshold” of education
opportunities to discover career options
experiences helping to develop the
intellectual and technical skills
Main questions of the research project:
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Who is and who is not active in career
decision-making
Difference in their educational experiences
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Methodology: Focus Groups
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Exploratory Stage
– Qualitative data collection and
analysis
– 40-60 min group interviews
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Participants:
4-6 Year 10 students per focus group
Different geographic areas of New South
Wales, Australia
Different Index of Community SocioEducational Advantage (ICSEA) strata (low
to high)
All schools - co-educational
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Focus on student:
• Ability to articulate a viable career choice
• Students’ perceptions related to school
preparation/education
• Demographics and socioeconomic background
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Areas of Discussion
Experiences
and doings
Role models
Articulation
of Career
Choices
Pathways
Good life
Have + Do
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Career Education
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Most disadvantaged schools tend to be targeted by Government initiatives
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Schools with middle range ICSEA are often left without action
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Delayed career education sessions and advice
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Less targeted by Government programs
Schools with high ICSEA often rely on parents advice or assume that children will go
to Universities to get high status professions
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Articulation of Career Choices and
Pathways
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Students from high ICSEA tended to articulate:
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1 career choice (with 1 or several pathways)
Students from low ICSEA tended to articulate:
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More than 1 career option,
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Often in jobs that were unrelated to each other and organised:
1. By preference (interest) and
2. By achievability
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Among all groups, regardless of ICSEA:
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Some students haven’t yet got a clear idea of what they want to do
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Some students wanted to go to University, but didn’t know what they wanted to study
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Helpful experiences
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Bulls eye:
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Discovery of opportunities and pathways
Seeing examples of
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other students who already made their career
choice
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people from industry
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what is happening at University
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Seeing what parents do
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Goal-setting seminars
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Visits of Army representatives
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Experiences provided by parents:
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Travelling overseas
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Visiting museums and historical places
Scholarship programs to help to decide
what to do in future
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Career sessions
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Personality test
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Writing resume
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Excursions
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Role models
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Parents and their friends
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Siblings and their friends
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Other relatives
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TV shows (i.e. movies, talk shows)
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Teachers
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University/Government initiatives (examples
they provide)
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Work experience
Abby Sciuto (NCIS)
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Good life
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A lot of similar goods considered to be necessary to HAVE by all students
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Some differences in the ways students talked about goods highlight:
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different attitudes and
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the way students adapt to their personal circumstances and life experiences.
Higher ICSEA:
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“if you at the point where you haven’t got like enough money to afford a car, you can probably get
by… by public transport means time, but cars… convenient.”
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Lower ICSEA:
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“You don’t really need a car. If you really wanted one… you can go get one if you could afford it.”
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Good life
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Students from lower ICSEA expressed:
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Owning a house or a car as a responsibility
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“having life to buy everything”
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Having “a really good proper education”
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“Freedom being who you are… not being pressured into being someone else”
Students from higher ICSEA expressed:
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“Having a big house isn’t important, it’s more important that you have friends and family with you”
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Having savings (as a way to have less financial pressure and stress)
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Having steady job and steady income
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“purpose is needed in life. Lots of people get that from their job”
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Self in the world
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Family values were present in all groups, but expressed in a different way:
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Student from lower ICSEA:
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“To feel good and liked… I don’t want to be alone. I’d like a family. Even if it means living with my parents or
anything, I don’t want to be on my own.”
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Student from higher ICSEA:
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“…walking into a house that had a happy family inside, where they were all happy and had what they liked
and weren’t selfish.”
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Travelling was mentioned in most of the groups:
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Student from lower ICSEA:
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“I want to do something different… adopting the children, going overseas, helping people”
Student from higher ICSEA:
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Travelling as a way to “get understanding of the world”
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Highlights
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Students from different ICSEA backgrounds have different:
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Life (and school ) experiences
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Attitudes and preferences (often adapted to the circumstances)
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Role-models (with less reliance on family in low ICSEA)
Schools play a vital role in providing experiences that some
families are unable to provide
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Different students require different kinds of educational
experiences to help them reach the level of
Informed Career Choice
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Further research
• Career decision-making readiness
• Awareness and access to different sources of information
related to career decision making
• Career opportunities that students can access
• Ability to connect school experience to their future careers
• Quality of school education and career advice received
• Self-vision:
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self-direction,
autonomy
self-efficacy,
self-determination
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Thank you for your time and
participation!
• Questions?
– [email protected]
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