Influence of Parents Occupation on Choice of Vocational Courses among Students in Public Secondary Schools in Kiambu County, Kenya

Career choices is crucial among people all over the world and is challenging to those who do not have a wide life experience. Despite the high school completion rates, there is a noticeable trend in Kiambu County that majority of students find it difficult to choose a career after completion. The purpose of this study was to determine the influence of parents occupation on choice of vocational courses of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study was guided by the Social Cognitive Career theory and the Systems theory. This study used a combination of descriptive and correlational research design. Data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. The target population consisted of 29,682 form three students in Kiambu county .The sample size consisted of 380 form three students who were selected using Stratified sampling techniques from the 285 secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. Questionnaires were used for data collection. The questionnaires were pilot tested with 30 students from three secondary schools. The Reliability of the instrument was tested using Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient (r=0.79). Content validity was tested using content validity index (CVI=0.84). The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics which included percentages, means, and frequencies. The hypothesis was tested using t-test, Simple Regression and Analysis of Variance at 0.05 level of significance. The research found out that parents occupation (F=44.227 p=0.000), has statistically significant influence on choice of vocational courses of students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that parents occupation has statistically significant influence on choice of vocational courses among students in public secondary schools in Kiambu County, Kenya. The study recommended that the career teachers should consider parents occupation in career guidance as it statistically influence the choice of vocational courses among students in public secondary schools. This study contributes to the body of knowledge as it provides a model for predicting students’ choice of vocational course given the parents occupation Findings of this study informs the Ministry of Education, policy makers, career guidance teachers and also parents on the influence of parents occupation on the students while choosing vocational courses.