Influence of guidance and counselling services on career awareness level among secondary school students in Soy Division,Uasin Gishu District-Kenya

Abstract

The major aim of career awareness is to expose students to a wide range of occupational opportunities, establish a relationship between their abilities, interests and the job market. Most students are not are able to make informed decisions on career choices since they are not equipped with adequate information. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of guidance and counseling services on career awareness level among secondary school students. The study was conducted in Soy division of Uasin Gishu in Kenya using the survey research design. A sample of 266 students and 14 career counselors drawn from 17 schools and selected using proportionate stratified random sampling techniques was used. Data was collected using the career counselors and students questionnaires. The instruments were piloted for reliability using the Cronbach Alpha method. The instruments yielded reliability coefficients of 0.75 and 0.81 respectively. Data was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences. The results of the analysis were then summarized and described using frequencies and percentages, t-test and ANOVA. The tests were computed at 0.05 level of significance. The recommendations may provide usefiil infomtation for schools to improve career guidance services and career counselors may be better equipped with up-to-date information to enhance career awareness among students. The findings established that the students were slightly aware of the future careers they would wish to pursue. The study found out that physical and human resources were inadequate. The findings also revealed that the personal characteristics of career counselors and students do not significantly influence the career awareness level of students.