Perceived Self-Efficacy, Work Role Salience and Self Esteem as Predictors of Career Maturity among Senior Secondary School Students

Abstract

Career maturity manifests in the display of certain characteristics. A matured career person is expected to gather information about the self to gain insight and obtain the necessary competencies to make informed decisions to integrate self-knowledge and knowledge of the world of work. This study is focused secondary school students because this stage of education is a critical period for the development of career maturity. Some studies have contended that career maturity is largely determined by gender and socioeconomic status, while not disputing this, this study is set out to examine the impact of work role salience, self-esteem, and self-efficacy on career maturity of students. Two hundred and fifty-seven (257) senior secondary school students with age ranging from15 to 19 years (mean age = 17 years) were selected from four public and private Secondary Schools in the metropolitan city through stratified and systematic sampling techniques. A research hypothesis which says there will be a positive and significant relationship between career maturity, work role salience, career decision self-efficacy, and self-esteem among secondary school students was tested. Three instruments were employed for data collection. Work role salience was measured using the work role salience scale (WRSS). Self-esteem was measured using the globally acclaimed 10-item Rosenberg self-esteem scale and career decision was measured using the twenty-five (25) item Career Decision Self-Efficacy Scale – Short Form (CDSE-SF). Career Maturity was measured with the aid of the Attitude Scale of the Career Maturity Inventory (CMI). Results show there was a positive and significant correlations between career maturity and work role salience (r = .467, p<.000) and self-esteem (r = .133, p<.05). There was no significant correlation between career maturity and self-efficacy of the participants (r = .082, p>.05). There was also a positive and significant correlation between self-esteem and self-efficacy (r = .243, p<.05). With the outcome of this study, researchers are encouraged to implement programmes that will assist in the enhancement of career maturity and career decision-making self-efficacy among students who are about to transit to higher levels of study. Students support personnel should therefore create awareness and organize seminars for the students on career issues as this may improve students’ career self-efficacy.