INFLUENCE OF PARENTAL BACKGROUND ON THE CAREER CHOICE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH HEARING IMPAIRMENT IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Abstract

Career choice of students with hearing impairment in secondary is important to their overall future achievement. There are various factors that have been found to affect the career choice of students with hearing impairment. This paper investigated the influence of parental background on the career choice of secondary school students with hearing impairment in South west Nigeria. Three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. This study employed descriptive survey design and was carried out in all the six states in South west Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of 1,657 (873 male and 784 female) senior secondary three (SS3) students of public and private secondary schools for the deaf. The sample for the study was 831(460 male and 371 female) SS3 students selected using proportionate stratified random sampling technique. The instrument used for the study was a self-structured questionnaire tilled “Parental Background and Career Choice Questionnaire (PBCQ)”. Z-Test statistical method was used to analyse the research hypotheses. The findings showed that there is no significant difference in the mean response of male and female students with hearing impairment regarding the influence of parental attitude, parents’ level of education, and parents’ occupation on their career choice in secondary schools for the deaf in South west Nigeria. Based on the findings, it was recommended that guidance counsellors should be used in secondary schools for the deaf to help pupils make career decisions, parents should be made aware of the variety of occupations available for their deaf children through career talks and seminars organised by the deaf school, and that, parents ought to be active in their children's educational pursuits.