Methods of Research

Methods of Research
[Your Name]
[University]
Methods of Research
Abstract
The focus of this paper will be on how people choose between careers and will emphasize on factors that influence an individual while choosing a career. The study will concentrate on a research conducted on a sample of students and the objective and subjective factors that influence their decisions while choosing a career. These factors will also focus on the individual factors and other social factors that influence the decision making career selection process. The research will examine the theoretical background of ‘career’ and ‘choice’ and the decision making process of an individual in changing times. The focus will be on the two factors affecting the student’s career development; parental influence and university education.
Introduction
Career choice refers to as career preferences, decisions and orientations of an individual. Career is something everyone is associated with throughout its adulthood. Right career choice can be the most crucial thing in one’s life. Simply a job to earn livelihood is not termed as a career, but a job with the chances of development and promotion is a career. The study for a right career choice has been a topic that attracted many researchers. The reason for being the food for research is how academically brilliant students often fail because of wrong career choices made. Concepts like career counseling have emerged over time which is available for students at the university level and often the parents are influential in such counseling. Career guidance can be beneficial to the students in order to make decisions for their careers. (Cesinger, 2011)
Theoretical Background
Career choice theory was an application of the social learning theory presented by John D Krumboltz (Krumboltz, 1979; Krumboltz et al., 1976; Mitchell and Krumboltz, 1990). He in his various books written presented career choice as a decision making process in which learning experiences of an individual along with various genetic, environmental and social factors results in the outcomes that determine the career choices made (Krumboltz, 2009)
Krumboltz (1979) in his theory presented genetic, environmental factors and learning experiences that affect the decision making process. These genetic factors include genetic endowment (gender, race and physical appearance) and special abilities (inherited aptitude, intelligence, abilities etc.). These factors are subjective by nature and can be associated with individual behavior. The environmental factors influential on the decision making regarding the career choice includes social, cultural and economic factors such as family and community influence, university influence, counseling, monetary and social rewards, location, training and growth opportunities etc. These factors are objective factors for career choice. On the other hand the learning experiences can play a vital role in c...