This study tests the validity of Holland's (1985a) principles regarding the parent-offspring vocational type agreement in immigrant families. Moreover, it examines and compares the influence of parental ethnicity, SES and level of education on the parental-offspring type agreement in immigrant and non-immigrant families. Finally, it explores the role of child's gender on the parent-offspring type agreement. / Data were collected through the administration of (1) The Vocational Preference Inventory (VPI, revised) (Holland, 1985b), and (2) The Personal Data Questionnaire (PDQ) (developed by the researcher) to high school and college students. The immigrant sample consisted of 100 Canadian-born children of Greek-born immigrants to Canada. The non-immigrant sample consisted of 80 children of Canadian-born, Anglophone parents. / The results revealed: (a) no significantly high agreement between Parental and Offspring Typology in either ethnic group; (b) no significant influence of parental ethnicity, SES or level of education on the Parent-Offspring Type agreement in either ethnic group; (c) significant influence of offspring's gender on the Parent-Offspring Type agreement, which is higher for the male than the female offspring, in both ethnic groups. / The above results do not validate Holland's (1985a) propositions that parental types produce similar vocational types of offspring in immigrant or non-immigrant families. Yet, it was found that parents do influence offspring's vocational choices, in ways that need to be further studied with larger samples of different ethnic populations.

This study explored the career awareness of learners in grade 9 and their selection of school subjects for their subsequent years of study in the secondary school. This was based in a remote rural setting with a sample of 71 respondents made up of 34 females and 37 males. Their ages ranged from 13 to 24 years old. Questionnaires and interviews were conducted with this group of learners. The findings indicated that some of these learners lack information on careers and are not adequately aware of what the world of work entails. It was found that r when they have to make selections of subjects for their subsequent years of studYr they make choices that are not in any way related to their anticipated careers. SecondlYr they are found not yet ready to think and decide about their future in the world of work indicating a lack of career maturity. Learners were not aware of the link between their work at school and ~vhat they wish to become in future. Lea.rners r/llere not able to account reasonably for their selected subjects and (iii) how they hoped to build a career path from those subjects.Of all activities in which the learners were engaged at school, much emphasis was placed on academic performance and achievements. The significance of the findings of this study as well as its implications are discussed and recommendations are made for research and practice. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 1998.

The aim of this study was to focus on tertiary students' perceptions of career education which they received at secondary school level. It will try to determine the extent to which the role of the guidance teacher is known and also determine whether guidance as an auxiliary service is considered helpful by students. The,:sample consists of 92 male and female respondents drawn from the university and the technikon in Pietermaritzburg. The measuring instrument used is the questionnaire constructed by Skuy et al (1985) revised by Haffajee (1991) but included a number of questions were devised by the author to address the needs of her study. As a number of the questions in the questionnaire were constructed by the author, it was realised when analyzing the questionnaire that questions on parental influence were not included. Therefore, the results of this study must be interpreted with caution. The results of this study indicate that students received inadequate exposure to career guidance at school. This is linked to the fact that most of the guidance teachers themselves did not have adequate training in guidance and career guidance. The guidance periods were also used for examination subjects and also used by students as self-study or free periods. It is also indicated that most students changed their secondary school choice because the career assistance received at school was not adequate. Visits to tertiary institutions by pupils were " found helpful as it helps one in career decision-making. The results of this study indicate that guidance and career guidance should be enforced at school as this will help students to make responsible career choices. If career guidance is made compulsory at school, students will realize that uninformed career decisions made can be costly in time and in money. The results of this study also suggest that friends and guidance teachers are considered to be the most important helping agents in relation to career choice. The parents are found to have had little influence on their childrens' career choices in this study.1t is also indicated in the results of this study that environmental influences affected the respondents career knowledge. Since some limitations of this study were found, these results must be interpreted with caution and one should be cautious in applying them to a wider population. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg.

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The purpose of the study was to discover the attitudes toward work held by children in grades four, five and six. The instrument used was written by the researcher and based upon six factors found previously by other researchers to be important for job satisfaction among adult workers. The six factors included money, self-expression, leadership, working conditions, independence on the job, and status and prestige.The Instrument, the Kuldau Occupational Development Inventory (KODI), was administered to students enrolled in grades four, five and six in three community settings, the professional-white-collar (PWC), the working-blue-collar (WEC), and the inner city (IC). Each item on KODI was projected by an overhead projector and also read orally by the researcher. A total of five hundred eighty-six subjects were sampled. All children enrolled in each room selected was included in the study regardless of race, creed., and length of residence in the city.Statistical analysis of the data consisted of a three way analysis of variance computed between grade and sex, grade and community setting, and sex and community setting. A trend analysis was computed for grades. The statistical analysis for sex and community setting required the calculation of a t-test. Review of the data led to the following conclusions.Children have developed attitudes which they can recognize by the time they enter the fourth grade. The attitudes developed were toward money, self-expression, status and prestige, working conditions and leadership.When the data were considered by grades, the results indicated attitudes had been developed toward money, leadership and status and prestige. The results of a trend analysis indicated a greater attitude toward status and prestige in grade four than in grade six (p= <.01). No trend existed for the factors money and leadership.The attitudes held by boys and by girls were found to be related to self-expression and leadership. The results of the t-test for the group means of boys and girls indicated a significant difference existed between the attitudes toward leadership. The results of the trend analysis indicated a downward trend from grade four to grade six among girls toward the factors self-expression and status and prestige. The conclusion was drawn that as girls matured the attitudes toward self-expression and status and prestige became less important. Since no trend was found among boys sampled, the conclusion was drawn that no trend occurred in the development of attitudes toward work.When community setting was considered, working conditions, money and leadership were found to be significant. The results of a t-test computed on group means indicated a significant difference existed between the group means of the PWC and the WBC settings on the factors working conditions, and leadership; WBC and IC settings on leadership and money; and PWC and IC settings on working conditions, leadership and money.To discover if a sequential development of attitudes toward work occurred, a trend analysis was computed for grades four, five and six within each community setting. A downward trend was evident for status and prestige when the PWC community setting was considered. The conclusion was drawn that as these children matured, factors other than status and prestige gained importance when attitudes toward work were considered.An upward trend in the development of attitudes toward money was found to exist among children reared in the WBC community. The conclusion was drawn that as these children matured, money becomes a more important factor when work was considered.No trend was found to exist among IC subjects sampled. The conclusion was drawn that the attitudes held by these subjects had not developed in a sequential pattern.

The purpose of the study was to measure and analyze accessibility of area vocational facilities in Indiana to physically disabled persons. Empirical data did not exist to determine accessibility of area vocational facilities in Indiana. The vocational facilities were all self-contained, or not attached to comprehensive high schools.Federal fiscal support of vocational education had been constant beginning with the Morrill Act of 1862. Intent of federal legislation toward accessibility and vocational education was to insure any person, regardless of handicap, an unobstructed, free and appropriate education.Enrollment of secondary vocational education students in Indiana has increased over ninety percent since 1967. Vocational schools' receiving federal monetary support have mandated accessibility for handicapped persons. Therefore, it is important that existing vocational facilities maintain accessibility compliance and future buildings be designed with accessibility for handicapped persons kept paramount.Twenty-two area vocational facilities were visited and surveyed between December, 1981 and March, 1982. The instrument used to survey vocational facilities was The Revised Accessibility Checklist as recommended by the Iowa Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.The Revised Accessibility Checklist was based on American National Standards Institute Specifications 117.1. ANSI Specification 117.1 was the established standard used in determining compliance with the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 required all buildings receiving federal funds be accessible to physically handicapped persons. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 required structures to be in compliance by June, 1980.Individual vocational facilities were evaluated according to specific accessibility checklist criteria. Classifications in determining individual building accessibility were Excellent, Good, Average, Below Average, and Poor. None was judged excellent, four were good, none was average, fourteen were below average and four were poor.Conclusions based on the findings and data were:The majority of facilities were not accessible to physically disabled persons. 2) Federal legislation mandating accessibility has had limited effect. 3) Facilities constructed after 1975 were in substantial compliance with accessibility standards. 4) Parking lots, restrooms, water fountains and telephones could be feasibly altered to comply with accessibility standards.Recommendations for specific renovations to the twenty-two facilities surveyed were made for improving accessibility.

The purpose of the study was to collect and compile data relating to the eight types of vocational programs that are offered by public secondary schools throughout the State ofIndiana.The eight available programs were:1.(ACE)Agri-Business Education.2.(COE)Business and Office Education.3.(DE)Distributive Education.4.(HOE)Health Occupations Education.5.(HERO)Home Economics Related Occupations.6.(ICT)Industrial Education.7.(ICE)Inter-Disciplinary Cooperative Education.8.(RVC)Regional Vocational Centers.The major areas of emphasis for the study were the scope of the programs offered, program implementation, selection and control of students and staff assignments and responsibilities.The questionnaire was mailed to a randomly selected sample population of one hundred Indiana public secondary school principals. Seventy-four per cent of the secondary principals polled returned the questionnaire, with six principals indicating that no vocational programs were in operation at the time of the study.Based upon the findings of the study the following conclusions were reached:1. Business and Office Education (COE) and Regional Vocational Centers (RVC) and Agri-Business Education (ACE) were the most common types of vocational education offered by the public secondary schools in Indiana.2. Boys enrolled in vocational programs were most interested in Regional Vocational Centers (RVC) and AgriBusiness Education (ACE). The area of least interest to boys was Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO). Girls enrolled in vocational programs were most interested in Home Economics Related Occupations (HERO) and Business and Office Education (COE). The area of least interest to girls was Agri-Business Education (ACE).3. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs require some type of age or grade level requirement for admittance into the vocational program.4. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs do not require minimum grade or academic standards for admittance into the vocational program.5. All schools with vocational programs permit any interested student to participate in extra-curricular activities providing the student meets the minimum membership standards established by the organization or the state.6. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs consider vocational students for employment within the school corporation.7. Approximately three-fifths of the participating schools have related instruction classes which operate in conjunction with on-the-job work opportunities. Most of the related instruction classes were held at the mid-point of the school day, either late morning or early afternoon.8. Approximately one-half of the school corporations employ a full-time vocational coordinator. The remaining fifty per cent were considered as part-time coordinators and on the average taught two additional classes. Part-time coordinators were in most cases given time during the afternoon hours to work with the vocational program.9. A large majority of the schools with vocational programs used standard grades as a basis for evaluating student performance. Approximately 50 per cent of the schools used schools standards only in assessing grades while the remaining 50 per cent used a combination of school-employer standards in assigning grades.10. Approximately 75 per cent of the schools with vocational programs operated under the direction of an advisory committee consisting of local and area people associated with businesses, schools and government. The average number of members on advisory committees was six and the most common type of member was school personnel. Of those vocational programs operating under the direction of an advisory committee 98 per cent indicated that the use of advisory group was effective while the remaining 2 per cent believed that it did not improve the quality of the vocational program.11. Seventy-one per cent of the schools with a vocational program conducted a follow-up study of the vocational students. Approximately 53 per cent of the vocational students remained in the occupation for which they were trained, while 22 per cent pursued some type of additional post-secondary training.12. The most frequent comment by administrators and coordinators associated with the vocational program was that most vocational education students do not have enough time to become involved in the extra-curricular activities that are sponsored by schools.As a result of the conclusions presented in the preceding section, the following recommendations are proposed:1. Guidance counselors, curriculum specialists and school administrators should become more aware of the scope and quality of vocational education programs. Curriculum offerings should be such that students can prepare themselves for entering an occupation or some type of post-secondary training.2. Public school administrators should investigate the feasibility of coordinating the curricular offerings with the program of the nearest Regional Vocational Center. Those schools sending students to a Regional Vocational Center should evaluate the needs of the students and consider the possibility of sending additional students for some type of meaningful vocational training.3. Students in public secondary schools should be more aware of the major areas of vocational education and the many related occupations that provide maximum benefits in today's modern and complex society.4. Students enrolled in public secondary schools should become involved in assessing curriculum and occupational alternatives at an earlier age.5. The use of minimum grade standards as a requirement for admittance into vocational programs should be given careful scrutiny by school administrators and vocational coordinators. The student with poor academic credentials may be the one who could be best served by the vocational program.6. Coordinators should conduct a pre-school poll of vocational students to obtain an indication of extra-curricular interests and manipulate class and work schedules to increase the amount of extra-curricular participation time.7. School administrators could do much to display their confidence and support in vocational programs by hiring vocational students for work experience within the school corporation itself. Many area employers would feel more confident hiring vocational students if they knew that the schools had enough confidence in the vocational program to utilize qualified students themselves.8. School corporations could improve the quality of vocational programs by offering daily courses in related instruction. Such courses would aid students in obtaining instructional knowledge which could improve the students performance in relation to job skills and work experience. By offering related instruction classes at the mid-point of the school day, students involved in both morning and afternoon work experiences could receive the benefits of the program.9. Many schools could improve the quality and organization of the vocational programs offered by utilizing the services of a full-time vocational coordinator. Most part-time coordinators are handicapped due to the responsibilities that are associated with the teaching of additional classes.10. The mandatory use of advisory committees to regulate vocational programs would serve to improve the scope and quality of vocational education. State guidelines as to committee membership, committee make-up and committee responsibility would create a standardized base upon which vocational programs could adequately function.11. State guidelines to mandate the utilization of a follow-up study would do much to show the effectiveness of current vocational programs. The use of such a study would enable coordinators to assess the accomplishments of their program in relation to other schools in the state. It would also do much to aid coordinators in the establishment of practical and worthwhile work stations.

This study investigated teachers' perceptions of subjects and career choices of male and female students in relation to gender in six selected schools in Botswana. The study aims to raise awareness about a number of aspects that need to be considered in order to produce plans leading to the achievement of gender equality in education. Such perceptions needs to be investigated because students' choices of certain subjects, careers and academic performance are to some extent determined by teachers' perceptions of gender based opportunities. A total of 36 respondents, (males n=16 and females n=20) participated in this study. To carry out this study, the design Used was a survey and data was collected using questionnaires in sampled schools. In presenting data, percentages were used to determine what teachers perceive to be the chances of success of male and female students. Graphs, tables and figures were also used in the presentation and analysis of data. The results show that the school system plays a significant role in creating and maintaining gender differences. It was found that teachers recommended scientific and technical related subjects and occupations to male students while humanities and domestic related subjects are recommended to female students. Gender biased teaching style and textbooks were found to be the main influential factors in teachers' perceptions. Most of the respondents were generally not satisfied with the teacher training on .gender issues. The goal of better serving the students does not entail neglecting or suppressing the other gender. By putting boys and girls on equal 'plain' the gender stereotypes may be counteracted and eliminated, so education may begin to be more gender balanced. Most importantly boys and girls must be equipped with skills that will help them pursue their potential regardless of their gender. / Thesis (M.Ed. (Guidance and Counselling) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2005