Childhood development and career development in eight year-old South African girls

Although it is generally acknowledged that critical career-related concepts and attitudes are first formed in childhood, research has focused little attention on this developmental stage. Statements about children‘s career development as an integral dimension of human development date to the early 1950s, yet limited research has investigated this interrelationship. It is imperative to gain a greater understanding of childhood career development in order to better prepare children for their future. The overall purpose of this study is to explore the interrelationship of childhood development and childhood career development. An exploratory-descriptive quantitative research method was used. Thirty participants (all eight year-old girls from a middle class, English speaking background) were selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Data were gathered from the Griffiths Mental Development Scales – Extended Revised (GMDS-ER) and the Childhood Career Development Scale (CCDS) and analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The results indicated a correlation, although not statistically significant, between childhood development and childhood career development, thus indicating a weak positive correlation between the two variables. Statistically significant relationships were established between certain subscales of the GMDS-ER and CCDS, namely Language and Exploration, Eye-Hand Co-ordination and Key Figures, and Practical Reasoning and Planning. The results from this study, although not conclusive, are groundbreaking in this neglected area of research as they indicate an interrelationship between childhood development and childhood career development. This research is an initial step in investigating this interrelationship and it is the hope of the researcher that it will stimulate further research in this area