INFLUENCE OF HOME BACKGROUND ON THE CAREER CHOICE OF SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN EGOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF EDO STATE.

This study was designed to examine the influence of home background on the career choice of secondary school students in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Utilizing survey methods and structured questionnaire, the research was aimed at the influence a child's home background would have on his choice of career. To guide the study, four research questions were raised and four hypothesis formed. The study adopted the descriptive research design to carry out the study. The population of the study consists of all secondary school students in public schools in Egor local government area. A total number of 1,225 from the 11 secondary schools in Egor local government area of Edo State make up the population. The sample for the study was (100) one hundred students which were randomly sampled from the total population of students. The instrument for data collection is a questionnaire titled ‘Impact of home background on Career Choice of Secondary School Students Questionnaire (IHBSCSQ)’. The instrument was validated by the researcher’s project supervisor and two (2) other experts in the Department of Educational Evaluation and Counselling Psychology. To ascertain the reliability of the instrument, it was administered to 20 respondents who were not originally part of the sample under study. The data collected were subjected to internal consistency using the Cronbach Alpha Statistics and a reliability coefficient of 0.65 was obtained. This shows that the instrument was highly reliable for the study. The instrument was administered by the researcher and was analyzed using the Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistics. The finding revealed that while home environment have great influence, it's impact is generally perceived as positive and negative. A supportive and encouraging home environment can promote self confidence and ambition, thereby having a positive influence on the students choice of career. Finding also revealed that socioeconomic status, parental occupation, and educational level determines a child's choice of career. Influencing factors such as Personal factors, parental, environment, educational, peer pressure , they do significantly affect careers choice within the study population. The study offers practical recommendations for strengthening home background, emphasis was laid on early training, effective guidance and counseling to be given to students to help them make wise choice of career, which will enable them to make informed career choices irrespective of their home background.