Gender and Occupational Preferences among Senior High School Students in Cross River State Nigeria

This quasi-experimental study was carried cut to investigate the influence ofgender on the occupational preferences of senor secondary school studentsin Cross River State, Nigeria. The sample consisted of 450 respondents; 225male and 225 female randomly drawn from 2 (two) sampled schools, oneschool sampled form experimental group while the other was a controlgroup. A well constructed and validated questionnaire (SOPI) constructed bythe researchers was the instrument used for data collection. To achieve thepurpose of the study one null hypothesis was formulated and tested at 0.05level of significance using the (x2) chi-square statistical test. The findingshowed that gender has a significant influence on the occupationalpreference among counselled and uncounselled students. While one’s sexgroup determines one’s choice of occupation when choice was ignorantlymade, such sex influence manifested as a major variable even aftercounselling and the subsequent enlightenment of occupational demands.Based on the finding, conclusion and recommendation were made