Parental Influence on Career Choice
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Charleze Fernandez
College:
College of Liberal Arts
Major:
Psychology
Faculty Research Advisor(s):
Joshua Burnett
Abstract:
There are many social factors that affect a student’s choice of a career, and parents are a significant factor. This study divided deeper into how first-year college students, specifically at Kean University, have been affected by their parents to choose a career. It also aimed to provide more insight into reasons why parents have wanted to influence their child’s career decision-making process. Although each student differs in experiences, they are affected by their parents one way or another when choosing a career. Surveys were used to gather qualitative and general information from the larger population of first-year college students, and interviews are meant to serve as complimentary quantitative and specific information from individual first-year students. The results revealed that the majority of students who felt pressured by their parents to choose a certain career path were female, most of the students’ career choices were not in-line with their parents’ expectations even though half of them felt pressured to choose a specific career, and the overarching main expectation and pressure from parents was for their child to choose a high-paying career. These findings present a weak correlation between parental expectations and their student’s career choice, where parental influence and pressures were present, but it was not a direct predictor of the student’s career choice.