PARENTAL FACTORS AND CAREER ASPIRATION OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED ADOLESCENTS IN ABUJA MUNICIPAL AREA COUNCIL, FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY.

The study examined the influence of parental factors and career aspiration ofinternally displaced adolescents in Abuja Municipal area council, FCT. To guide this study, four research questions were raised and four hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. The population of the study comprised 400 IDP adolescents enrolled in school within the Abuja Municipal area council. The sample size for this study was one hundred (100) adolescents living in IDP camps. A survey research design was adopted for the study. The instruments used for the study was a self structured questionnaire titled, Parental factors and career aspiration questionnaire (PFCAQ) The instruments was validated by three experts in the Department of Educational Evaluation and Counselling Psychology University of Benin. The reliability of the instrument was established through internal consistency using Cronbach alpha statistics which yielded reliability index of .858 as composite value while the subscale of occupation has .723 reliability value, education has reliability of .668, socio- economic status has the reliability co-efficient value of .599 and the family type has the reliability co-efficient of .666 respectively. Frequency tables, mean scores, standard deviation were used to test formulated hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level using linear regression. The findings of the study revealed no significant influence of parents’ level of education, parents’ occupation, socioeconomic status, or family type on the career aspirations of the adolescents in IDP Camps. The findings also revealed that the usual parental influence on career choices weakens in displacement conditions. The study concluded that in internally displacement contexts, career aspirations are shaped more by environmental exposure and support systems within the camp than by parental background. Based on the findings, the researcher recommends that career guidance programmes in IDP schools be strengthened, NGOs increase vocational and psychosocial support, educational resources in camps be improved, and parents be empowered with counselling and
parents support.