School-based experiences as contributors to career decision-making : findings from a cross-sectional survey of high-school students

Evidence from recent Australian research indicates that the quality of high school students' educational experiences is crucial to career aspiration formation and post-school transitions. This paper reports the results of an empirical study examining the impact of young people's backgrounds and educational factors on career choice capability. A total of 706 students from secondary schools (Years 9-12) from New South Wales, Australia took part in an online survey that investigated a range of influences on their career preference formation including participants' demographics, school-provided experiences and anticipated career choices. There were no significant differences between career "certain" and "uncertain" students in relation to their school sector, their community social-educational background, self-reported attendance or access to a role-model. However, significantly higher percentages of students struggling with their career determination reported inadequate career education sessions and elective course options at their schools, and tended to dislike school to a greater extent in comparison to career certain participants. It is concluded that timely career information and guidance should be provided to students and their families in order to allow them to more meaningfully make use of the opportunities available to them, with a view toward converting these into real world benefits