CHAPTER 1

The Problem and Its Scope

Background of the Study

Since the implementation of Senior High School, students, and even

parents were doubtful of its utility. Many said that it is just a waste of

time, money, and effort. We conducted this research to give clarifications

as to what Senior High School implementation is

really for.

Senior High School is two years of specialized upper secondary

education; students may choose a specialization based on aptitude,

interests, and school capacity. The choice of career track will define the

content of the subjects students took in Grade 11 and 12. Senior High

School students fall under either core curriculum or special tracks. And

this two-year upper secondary education helps students to have solid

decision on what course to take in college. Yet, there are several factors

that may affect their perceptions and preferences.

Educational status is a bit essential to the progress of one country’s

economy. According to Martin Luther King (1964), “The function of

education is to teach one to think intensively and think critically. Intelligent

plus character –that is the goal of the education. This only means that

attaining knowledge is not only about how easy or how difficult the

1
academic subjects are. It is about how they are taught. As today’s

reception to the curriculum accordance with the K-12 program

implementation, many factors are affecting the Senior High School

student’s course preference. Most of the students in senior high school

may not have solid decision on what course to take and where to go to

college. They are planning to enter college without clear idea of what career

to pursue for their future (Ramirez & Dizon, 2014). They may

sometimes consider the people and the information they received within

the environment. Palifi and Mylonakis (2011) emphasized that in

coming up with the right decision what profession to take; students can

properly utilize their skills, knowledge to gain proper experience which

could contribute to the development and welfare of the society. Koni,

Zainal, and Ibrahim (2012) noted that some studies show that not all

students who enter university have the intention to obtain a degree. The

decision on good career choice and school sometimes depend on how the

way students perceive the world and their future.

We conducted an interview on one of the Senior High School

graduates last year, she was an ABM (ACCOUNTANCY, BUSINESS and

MANAGEMENT) student, but she took up Bachelor of Science in Secondary

Education in College. Due to some factors, she wasn’t able to take the

course aligned to the strand she took up in Senior High. In her case, the

primary factor was her family. She needed to study near her family because

of some matter.

2
 There are several factors that may affect the decision of the

students and parents, where it can be a good source of insight for

private higher education institutions to offer quality services that will suit

to the needs, expectation and demands of the community. But some of it

may not have enough knowledge and consciousness about how they

should process information from personal, social, economic, political,

spiritual, and environmental aspects of putting into context and

realization of having a successful profession.

Statement of the Problem

This study aims to determine several factors affecting course

preferences of senior high students in Bayog National High School.

Specifically, this study seeks to answer the following questions:

1. What are the frequency levels of the factors that affect the

respondent’s course preference in terms of?

a. Family/Relative Factor

b. Personality Factor

c. Personal Interests Factor

d. Job Opportunities Factor

3
 2. Is there any significance of the factors stated to the

respondent’s course preference?

3. What factor has the highest frequency level that affects the

respondent’s course preferences?

Significance of the Study

This study aims to determine the factors that affect the track

preferences of ST EM students of Bayog National High School. The

findings of this study will redound to the benefit of STEM students

utilizing a correlational type of research method with these students as

respondents. It would see if dependent variables relating to

personality, peer influence, family/relatives, interests, job

opportunities that were significant factors that influences the

respondents in choosing track preferences. Learning is the aspect of

development that connotes modification of behavior, skills, and

knowledge that results from practice and experience that sought for quality

education. The generalization of this present study would be great

contribution to the vast knowledge in relation to student’s achievements.

Vital results of this investigation could be highly significant and

beneficial to researchers, students, teachers, school administrators,

curriculum planners, Bayog National High School, community,

4
stakeholders, government agencies (Department of Education) , and

future researchers.

Scope and Delimitation

The findings of this study will redound to the benefit of the

senior high students, specifically STEM students considering that the

purpose of this study is to investigate and determine the frequency level

of the factors affecting their course preferences in terms of the following:

Family / Relative factor, Personality factor, Personal Interests factor,

and Job Opportunities factor. The study is to be conducted at Bayog

National High School - Senior High Department (STEM students).

Definition of Terms

The following terms are operationally and theoretically defined to

enhance the understanding of the readers of this study.

1. Career Preferences – optional courses that offers the student for

specialization in academic, technical-vocational, sports, and arts, and

entrepreneurship. This affects the respondent to choose a career that is in

lined with its specialization.

5
2. Personality- it refers to the desired careers that the children want to be

upon becoming adults. This may be a base for his/her preferred courses.

3. Opportunities- are favorable juncture of circumstances in this study,

opportunities would refer to the circumstances favorable employment

or pursuing a career.

4. Interests- are the qualities or things that attract one’s attentions and

make him/her want to learn more about something or to be

involved/engaged in something.

6
 Chapter 2

Review related literature and Studies

This chapter presents a selection of literature and studies that has a

bearing on present study. The researchers have gone through intensive

readings of materials, both printed and online, all of which has a great

significance to the problem during the course of thesis writing. Most of the

literature gathered talks about the factors that affect career preferences /

choices, namely: family/relatives, personality, interests and job

opportunities, which is specialized in Senior High School, specifically the

choice of the STEM students.

Family/Relatives

Respect for family is one of the most influential factors that impact

Filipino students’ career decision. It is concurred that “Out of respect and

loyalty may not be appropriate to express personal desires; rather, one may

alter one’s interests to maintain harmony.” As a sign of respect, Filipino

children want to do well for the sake of family, follow parents’ advice about

choosing a job or major in college and lastly, make sacrifices for the

family (Finlayson, 2009). For practicality reasons, it is also reported that

parents usually encourage careers that will of cost much money, but at

the same time, are stable sources of income. Careers in nursing,

7
accounting, and engineering are highly popular for Filipino families (Saysay,

2011).

In an online blog article by Angerman, family background is one of the

major factors to examine for those who seek career guidance. When talking

about “family background” issues, the extent of the influence of the parents

and the extended family has on the person is at focus – both at positive and

negative ways. This includes the place where he grew up, the economic realities

facing the family, illness, the countries of origin, among others (Angerman,

2009)

Personality

There has been a lot of talk whether or not passion is the sole way for

choosing an individual’s career path. But there are other significant factors

that can influence the career path, not just passion. Several recent studies

shows that understanding the personality the individual’s own traits and

characteristics, rather than passion, are a key to career fulfillment and

success.

An article posted by Adecco UK (Adecco UK, 2015), a part of a Swiss

multinational human resource consulting company of the same name, states

that it is worth finding out what type of worker an individual is with the

increasing of employers utilizing personality and psychometric testing

8
procedures to analyze the employee’s attributes beyond qualifications. It

is also stated in the article that “choosing job to which an individual is

inherently suited-rather than just able to convince the interviewer that he/she

is interested in the position – will make him/her a happier, more productive

employee.”

There are many methods for assessing personality type, and the most

common is the RIASEC model of the psychologist John L. Holland (Holland

1973), which is developed from his theory which postulates that people project

self- and world-of-work views onto occupational titles and make career

decision that satisfy their preferred personal orientations based on premise

that personality factors. Holland’s model constitute of six basic personality

types, namely: Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising,

and Conventional. From the 6, the model provides the possibility of a 720

different personality patterns. The result will show the tendencies of a

person to lean towards a certain type of personality, which would

provide list of careers that suit the person best.

Another study that establishes the influence of personality on career

choice is of Dr. Claudia Harzer and companions of University of Zurich

(Hazer, et.al, 2012), which focuses on the character strengths of an individual

and how it affects their career. From interviews of over 1,000 working

people , their study shows that the degree of positive experiences increases

with the number of personal character strength, or called ”signature

9
strengths”, applied at work. This would imply that understanding what roles

a person are best suited to based on his/her personality is what will make

him/her the most happy at work.

Interests

Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) is grounded in Bandura’s (1986)

social cognitive theory, and explores how career and academic interests

mature, how career choices are developed, and how these choices turned

into action. This is achieved through a focus of three primary tenets: self-

efficacy (beliefs people have about their ability to successfully complete

the steps required for a give task), outcome expectations (beliefs related to

the consequences of performing a specific behavior ), and goals (decision to

begin a particular activity or future plan) (Lent et al., 1994).

The SCCT interest model shows that career interests are regulated by self-

efficacy and an outcome expectation, which means people, will form lasting

interests in activities when they view themselves as competent at it.

When they anticipate that performing it will produce valued outcomes. It can

also be seen from the figure that emergent interests (along with self-efficacy

and outcome expectations ) promote particular goals for activity

involvement. In other words, as people develop an affinity for activity at which

they feel efficacious and expect positive outcomes, they form goals for

sustaining or increasing their involvement in that activity.

10
Job Opportunities

There are many opportunities that wait for every career that one wants

to pursue. Some people may stumble upon better occupation opportunities,

thanks to the strategies and steps that they follow. Investigating for

career opportunities is well worth taking time (Mind Tools, 2014). By doing

this, one can discover opportunities that are perfectly matched to

his/her interests or skills, find out about promotions and job openings

before anyone else, and identify ways of expanding the knowledge and skills

needed for that career.

Opportunities exist for school to take greater advantage of the fact that

their students are working by integrating employment and school experiences

to the benefit of adolescents’ vocational development. Guidance counselor

can play a key role in spearheading such efforts. Many youth do not see their

jobs as connected to their future work lives or as having any influence on their

occupational preferences. More can be done to develop internships and work-

school cooperative programs that might involve workplace visits or job

shadowing, for example. Through such programs, youth are exposed to the

possibilities of working in particular kinds of settings; they can learn

about the requirements to fill certain kinds of jobs and do particular types of

tasks (Hamilton & Hamilton, 2000).

Opportunities in career choice would include academic settings,

technical schools, entry-level job openings, job shadowing, vocational

11
guidance, job placement, and industry contacts. Super (Super, 1957) stated,

surprisingly enough, that intelligence has little to do with getting entry-level

positions; rather, maturity, as an physical science and manner, is

valued more by the employer than intelligence. An academic background that

closely meets the desired qualifications for a job is a critical factor. Likewise

shop skills are essential for some jobs in that they would benefit someone

pursuing a machine trade’s career.

Extracurricular activities are beneficial to a job hunt. A record of clubs

and activities provide evidence of leadership and the ability to work in

groups. The careers most suited for someone with many extracurricular

activities on her/his resume are sales, junior executive positions, and an

educational career. Work experience has been seen as the way a student

demonstrates responsibility and dependability. Those that are in the

position to have the best contacts are students with parents who hold

supervisory or executive position. Super stated that can be a hard fact to face,

sometimes it is not what one does know, but who does he know (Super 1957).

Schools and employment services have played a huge role, therefore, in the

social mobility of students entering the workforce. Schools and employment

agencies have matched the qualifications of the job to the education level of the

career seeker, using computers, and eliminating barriers of distance quite

easily.

12
 Vocational guidance is a final factor in getting a job. Vocational

counseling could reduce the number of changing vocational choices early in

one’s life. Psychological testing, one means of helping a student focus on an

appropriate career choice, resulted in better employment records, as shown

for example in the stability, promotions earning s, and employer ratings

throughout the student’s career (Super 1957).

13
 CHAPTER 3

Methodology

This chapter contains the research design and the methodology used

in the conduct of this study. It incorporate the sampling technique,

source of data, the research subjects, population of the study, the instrument

utilize the gather data, as well as the statistical tools employed in processing

the data. This chapter is showing how the researcher came to the necessary

data for this study, and how these data were analyzed, interpreted and

presented in the easiest way possible.

Research Design

This study utilizes the correlational method of research to determine the

factors that affect the senior high school track preferences of the STEM

students of Bayog National High School of the Academic Year 2018-2019. It

would see if dependent variables relating to personality, family/relatives,

interests and job opportunities were significant factors influencing the track

preferences of the respondents. This correlational research would use

quantitative methods to assess the feedback from the respondents.

The research design, depicted in Figure 1, follows an Input-Process

Output framework. The Input portion includes the socio-demographic profile of

the students, their choice of field of study to specialize, their track preference

14
and the factors that affect their preference. The process portion includes

determining their track preferences and determining the leading factors that

affect their preference. And at the end, the Output portion would have the

track preferences of the STEM students of Bayog National High School and the

factors that affect them which can be used as basis for a career guidance

program of the said school and for certain institution that would like to design

and implement a Senior High School program.

OUTPUT
PROCESS
 Leading
INPUT  Tallying of
Factor/s
data
 Track  Weighting
Preferences the extent
 Factors of influence
that Affect of the
their factors.
Preferences

Figure 1: Research Design Framework

Locale of the Study

Bayog National High School (BNHS) is a public educational institution

managed and operated by the Department of Education (DepEd), particularly

15
under by the Division of Zamboanga del Sur. It occupies a nine-hectare school

area situated at Kahayagan, Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur, big enough to be

considered as the second biggest school at the province of Zamboanga del Sur.

Aside from the six main buildings, the school also has an on-going 4-floor

building, gymnasium, and TVL workplace. Also a wide oval field and outdoor

basketball court. The school also has workshops and laboratories for

electronics, electrical, computer, and science courses. The students of the said

institution, which offers Grade 7 to Grade 12 has boys and girls; whereas, the

population of the girls are dominant.

Research Respondents

The research respondents in this study are all of the Grade 11 and 12

STEM students of the Senior High School Department – Academic Year 2018-

2019. The respondents consist of two sections, with an average of 23 students

per section, makes it 46 students in total.

Research Instrument

For this study, a survey rating scale/questionnaire was used to gather the

respondents’ feedback. Table 1 shows the specification grid of the 16-item

rating scale/questionnaire for the respondents regarding the factors that affect

the students’ career preference.

16
 It asks the respondents of their preferred responses in a 16-item rating

scale, wherein, they would rate each item on a scale from 1to 5, with 1 as “not

influenced” and 5 as “very much influenced”.

Rating:

5 – Very Much Influenced

4 – Influenced
3 – Somewhat Influenced
2 – Less Influenced
1 – Not Influenced

Appendix A

Personality 5 4 3 2 1

1. My personality fits best in my chosen career that

I would take from this track.
2. My traits and understanding of them will give me
an advantage on landing to my pursued career.
3. I am more productive in the career that I’ll practice
due to my traits.
4. My attributes should be ideal for the career that I
would focus on.

Family/Relatives

5. My parents and/or relatives took the same career

that I would pursue.
6. Preferences are made by a relative since they will
provide for the expenses.
7. My family will give me support on the chosen career
for me.
8. I believe that they are the one who are responsible
to choose a career for me since they may know what is
best for me.

Interests

17
9. I am particularly interested in this career that I’ll
pursue from this track.
10. I like doing things related to the career that I
would specialize in this track.
11. An experience piqued my interest for this career.
12. I see myself as competent at this career that I’ll
pursue from this track.

Job Opportunities

13. There are abundant opportunities I can avail from

the career I would pursue.
14. The Track that I chose will help me to find a
suitable career easily.
15. The career that I would pursue is timely in-
demand.
16.I am fully aware of the opportunities that surround
the career that I seek.

Data gathering procedure

Approval to distribute the questionnaire and conduct the study was

secured from the school administrator. The researchers then distributed the

survey forms and conducted the study personally.

Table 1: Specification Grid on the Rating Scale/Questionnaire on the Factors

Affecting the Student’s Senior High School Track Preference

Content Item Numbers Total Items

Part I: Student Profile

A. Gender
B. Age
C. Parents’ Occupation
D. Parents’ Educational
Attainment

18
 E. Socioeconomic
Status
Part II: Career Preferences
A. Track Preferences
Part III: Factors Affecting
Senior High School Track
Preference for Students
A. Family/Relatives 1-4 4
B. Personality 5-8 4
C. Personal Interests 9-12 4
D. Job Opportunities 13-16 4
Total: 16

Statistical Treatment of Data

For Part I and II, which covers the profiling of the respondents,

frequencies and percentages are used.

For Part III, weighted mean was used with the following formula:

Weighted mean = summation of the product of each frequency and

assigned mean is divided by total numbers of respondents (∑f x m) / n

Part III comprises a 5-point Liker scale, with 1 for the lowest and 5 for

the highest. The following describes the weight and the mean range of the

degree of influence, represented by each point:

WEIGHT MEAN RANGE DESCRIPTION

5 4.20 – 5.00 Very Much Influenced, deeply

4 3.40 – 4.19
3 2.60 – 3.39
concerned.
Influenced, concerned to
some extent.
Somewhat Influenced,
sometimes concerned.

19
 2 1.80 – 2.59 Less Influenced, slightly
concerned.
1 1.00 – 1.79 Not Influenced, no concern.

Graphs are used to illustrate the summarized findings from the survey.

20
 CHAPTER 4

Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of data and support

In this chapter, the statistical results of the study are divided into two

parts and each have a corresponding table for every topic/matter at focus. The

first part consists the socioeconomic profile of the statistical results is the fields

of study they want to pursue. The second is the results of the factors affecting

their choices.

Field of Study

The following table shows the frequency of the fields of study of Grades

11 and 12 that they want to pursue.

Graph 1: Fields of Study that the Students would pursue after Senior

High School.

Total Percentage
Medicine
30.77
38.46 Engineering
Education
Others
12.82 17.95
The graph above shows the fields of the respondents. Majority of the

students would pursue the Medicine field, comprising 38.46% of the

21
population. 30.77% of the population would pursue other fields like

Criminology, Business and Agriculture which aren’t mentioned above, 17.95%

would go for Engineering and 12.82% goes for Education.

While looking at the table above, we could conclude that most of the

respondents are really taking up courses related to the STEM strand they have

chosen to specialize. It would make sense that the students that would pursue

Engineering and Medicine are compatible, relevant and essential to what they

took up to know whether the field they chose will be the right one or wrong.

Factors affecting the Track Preferences

Career choice requires self-assessment. Students have to be well-

informed to make wise decision about careers as information is crucial on

making a satisfying career choice. There is a need to be update information in

order to reflect any changes in the self- analysis or in goals. It is vital that

options be open to prepare the students for a broad range of possible careers.

This study explores factors that influenced students’ selection of specific track

for senior high school.

22
Personality

Personality helps a person in finding the career that he is inherently

suited in (Adecco UK, 2015). As his characteristics define his behavior at work,

this may affect this productivity.

Table 2: Personality as a Factor on Students’ Track Choice

Personality Weighted D Rank

Mean
1. My personality fits best in my chosen 3.66 I 2
career that I would take from this track.
2. My traits and understanding of them will 3.89 I 1
give me an advantage on landing to my
pursued career.
3. I am more productive in the career that I’ll 3.58 I 4
practice due to my traits.
4. My attributes should be ideal for the career 3.64 I 3
that I would focus on.
Total 3.69 I

Legend:
D- Description S- Somewhat Influenced
VI- Very Much Influenced L- Less Influenced
I- Influenced N- Not Influenced

Table 2 shows the different ranks and descriptions of the different

questions under the Personality factor. The traits and understanding of the

STEM students to pursue in this career has the biggest rank with 3.89

weighted mean. After this, comes their personality with 3.66 weighted mean.

The student’s attributes for the career that they’ll pursue came next with 3.64

weighted mean. The factor with the least rank is their productivity due to their

traits with 3.58 weighted mean. Therefore, the student’s traits and

understanding has the highest rank in the Personality factor. This means that

23
they have decided to take a course basing on their traits and understandings

on what possible advantages will it give him if he would pursue the preferred

course he wants.

The totality mean of 3.69 meant that Personality Influenced the

students’ track preference. Students do consider personality as factors, but

most of them didn’t let it influence their decisions that much, on a possibility

that they can adjust to the occupation or career that they will be focusing on.

Family/Relatives

Many Filipinos do take upon the parents’ or relatives’ suggestion on what

they should specialize when they grow up. Sometimes they suggest careers that

wouldn’t cost that much, and at the same time, are stable sources of income.

Table 3: Family/Relatives as a Factor on Student’s Track Choice

Family/Relatives Weighted D Rank

Mean
5. My parents and/or relatives took the same 2.38 L 4
career that I would pursue.
6. Preferences are made by a relative since they 2.74 S 3
will provide for the expenses.
7. My family will give me support on the chosen 4.05 I 1
career for me.
8. I believe that they are the one who are 2.92 S 2
responsible to choose a career for me since they
may know what is best for me.
Totality 3.02 S

24
Legend:
D- Description S- Somewhat Influenced
VI- Very Much Influenced L- Less Influenced
I- Influenced N- Not Influenced

Table 3 shows the ranks and descriptions of the different questions

under the Family/Relatives factor. The student’s family giving their support on

their chosen career has the biggest rank with 4.05 weighted mean. After this,

their belief that it is their parents’ responsibility for their career preference

came next with 2.92 weighted mean. The student’s relative preferences came

next with 2.74 weighted mean. The factor with the least rank is their parent’s

relativity with the career that they’ll pursue with a weighted mean of 2.38.

Therefore, the student’s family giving their support on their chosen career has

the highest rank in this factor. This brings a conclusion that some of the

students think that he would take his preferred course knowing that his

parents will surely provide his needs in taking up in college.

The totality mean of 3.02 meant that the family/relatives Less

Influenced the preferred course of the students. The results from the

socioeconomic level of the students’ families, the parents’ educational status

being college graduates, and the parents’ occupations which the majority

having Blue-Collar jobs aren’t the reason why they took up the STEM Strand,

but because it is their own choice. It would imply that the students can think

less on worrying on sustaining college support themselves.

25
Interests

Most students, when making career choices, will say, “I want something

interesting”. The interests have already influenced many choices that person

has made, from the choice of breakfast in the morning to the late-night movie

to watch before going to bed. And those are likely to have similar influence to

career choice, the main emphasis on choosing a track.

Table 4: Interests as a Factor on Student’s Track Choice

Interests Weighted D Rank

Mean
9. I am particularly interested in this 3.95 I 1
career that I’ll pursue from this track.
10. I like doing things related to the 3.89 I 2
career that I would specialize in this
track.
11. An experience piqued my interest for 3.38 S 4
this career.
12. I see myself as competent at this 3.66 I 3
career that I’ll pursue from this track.
Total 3.72 I
Legend:
D- Description S- Somewhat Influenced
VI- Very Much Influenced L- Less Influenced
I- Influenced N- Not Influenced

Shown on the table 4 above are the different ranks and descriptions of

the questions in the Interest factor. The interest that the students have in

taking up the Stand ranked first with a weighted mean of 3.95. On the second

rank is he/she likes doing things related to the career that he would specialize

within the track with a weighted mean of 3.89. Next in the list is that he/she

26
sees himself/herself competent at the career that he’ll pursue from the track

with a weighted mean of 3.66. And lastly, an experience piqued him/her for an

interest in this career with the weighted mean of 3.38.

The total weighted mean of 3.72 means that Interest has Influenced the

respondents why they chose the Strand where they belong right now. This also

means that it was their choice to take up Medical and Engineering fields of

study because they have a big interest within it.

Job Opportunities

There are many opportunities that surround the career a person wants

to pursue. Being investigative with opportunities makes him discover more,

and those opportunities would make his career life better.

Table 5: Job Opportunities as a Factor on Students’ Track Choice

Job Opportunities Weighted D Rank

Mean
13. There are abundant opportunities I 3.76 I 2
can avail from the career I would pursue.
14. The Track that I chose will help me 3.89 I 1
find a suitable career easily.
15. The career that I would pursue is 3.76 I 2
timely in-demand.
16. I am fully aware of the opportunities 3.76 I 2
that surround the career that I seek.
Total 3.79 I
Legend:
D- Description S- Somewhat Influenced
VI- Very Much Influenced L- Less Influenced
I- Influenced N- Not Influenced

27
 Shown on the Table 5 above are the different ranks and descriptions of

the questions under the Job Opportunities factor. The idea that the track

he/she had chosen is a way of selecting and obtaining suitable job for him/her

ranked first with weighted mean of 3.89. On the other hand, the three other

questions had a three-way tie with a weighted mean of 3.76.

The totality mean of 3.79 clearly means that the Job Opportunities factor

has Influenced the respondents to choose the track for they are thinking that

it will be a great help for them to get a job easily. Especially the careers

interconnected with these are very in-demand.

Resume on Factors Influencing Students’ Track Preferences

Figure 2: Extent of the Factors' Influence on Track Preference

4 3.69 3.72 3.79
3.5
3.02
3
2.5
2
Weighted Mean
1.5
1
0.5
0
Personality Family/Relatives Interests Job
Opportunities

28
MEAN RANGE DESCRIPTION

4.20 – 5.00 Very Much Influenced (VI)

3.40 – 4.19 Influenced (I)

2.60 – 3.39 Somewhat Influenced (S)

1.80 – 2.59 Less Influenced (L)

1.00 – 1.79 Not Influenced (N)

Figure 2 shows that the Personality, Interests and Job Opportunities

Influenced a students’ track preference. This shows that the students’

personality traits, likes and interests and awareness to job opportunities

influenced them to some extent and gave them direction which would guide

them towards a career decision. Family/Relatives somewhat affect their

preference because the students can rest easy and trust on the support that

their families give them.

Among the four (4) factors, Job Opportunities ranked as first with the

total weighted mean of 3. 79 which means that within the four of the factors it

has influenced the students to choose the STEM track since they have

knowledge or realizations that the career of field of studies that are connected

with it are associated with in-demand, abundant jobs that fits their abilities

and interests.

29
 Chapter 5

Summary of findings, Conclusions and Recommendations

This chapter deals with the summary of the findings, conclusions and

recommendations regarding the result of the investigation of the factors

affecting the career preferences of the STEM students of Bayog National High

School Department.

Summary of findings

 The highest mean score was 3.79, which is job opportunities. Second,

the students’ interests with 3.72 weighted mean, then personality with

3.69 weighted mean, and lastly, the family/relatives factor with 3.02

weighted mean.

 Job opportunities has the highest mean score 3.79, which means STEM

students chose their preferences according to opportunities they’ll have

after studying the courses they took in lined with their academic track

preferences.

 The factor that has the least mean score 3.02 is the family/relative factor

which means that only some of the students considered the choice of

their families and relatives in choosing their career path.

30
Conclusions

On the basis of the findings, the following conclusions are:

 The STEM students of Bayog National High School chose their career

mostly because of the job opportunities that these fields/careers have.

 The students’ interests and personality came second and third in the

rating with 3.72 and 3.69 weighted mean. This means that their career

preferences are also influenced by their likes and dislikes, their passion

and love in what they do.

 The family and relative factor has the least effect on the students’ career

preferences with 3.02 weighted mean.

Recommendations

On the basis of the finding and conclusions, the researchers

recommend that:

 In choosing career preferences of the STEM students, they should put

the said factors into consideration.

 Since job opportunities have the highest rating among the factors,

students must look to how in-demand their chosen job is.

 Career guidance programs should be implemented and conducted

inside schools to give the students direction and guidance in the

career paths they’ll take in the future.

31
 Bibliography

Angerman, A., (2009). Family influence on careers. Retrieved at http; //

....... www. Highlandslifeandcareercenter.com. Retrieved on July

………………..20, 2018.

Crockett R., & Silberensen, K., Negotiating adolescence in times of social ………

change. Retrieved at (pp. 267 - 283). Cambridge, UK:

……………….Cambridge University Press. Retrieved on July 20, 2018.

Finlayson, K., (2009). Perceptions of career technical education and effects

………………..of these perceptions on student’s choice of career and

……………….educational planning: A published dissertation. Union,

……………….University: UMI Dissertation Publishing. Retrieved at July

……………….23, 2018.

Hamilton, S.F., & Hamilton, M. A., (2000). Research, invention, and social

………………change: Improving adolescents’ career opportunities.

Harzar, C., & Ruch, W., (2012). The application of signature character

………………strengths and positive experiences at work: Journal of

……………...happiness and studies.

Holland, J., (1973). Making vocational choices: A theory of careers

32