Importance of Vocational Guidance prior to access to Higher Education

Abstract

Vocational and professional guidance for students entering higher education is essential to ensure success in the learning process and professional practice. This research aims to compare self-reported careers and vocational and professional orientation test results by types of vocational guidance. Using descriptive, docu-mentary, and field research with a mixed approach, we explore the vocational ori-entation test of 3,692 students in 13 public schools in the city of Ibarra in Ecua-dor. The test consisted of 98 dichotomous items identifying vocational interests and aptitudes using a computer-based questionnaire in Kobotoolbox. The instru-ment’s validity was evaluated using Cronbach’s Alpha and reliabity was estimat-ing using McDonald’s Omega coefficients. The Chi-square test was used to compare self-reported careers and the CHASIDE test results by vocational and professional guidance of the students using the R-studio software. Results showed significant differences between students’ self-reported careers and the CHASIDE. Indeed, the corre-spondence between the two showed values lower than 50% since a family mem-ber mainly did vocational guidance processes and professional guidance was nonexistent. Results suggest the importance of vocational guidance done by a professional before entering higher education institutions to minimize the risk of dropouts among students after mistakenly choosing a career.