Parental Influence on College Students’ Career Aspirations

The purpose of this study is to address the career decision making process for current college students who follow the same career path as their parents. More specifically, I am investigating the career trajectories of college students who choose the education field because their parents were also educators. The questions I am trying to answer through this study include: “What motivates decisions to pursue post-secondary careers in education?” and “How do college students and college professors describe choosing their career fields and how have their parents influenced their decisions?” This research will explore if there are specific factors influencing students to pursue the education field. This study will have two data sets one quantitative complete with a survey for education majors . Next a select group of education majors who completed the initial survey will participate in an individual audio taped interview with the researche