PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT AND CAREER ASPIRATIONS OF SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN OBIO/AKPOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OF RIVERS STATE

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This study investigated parental involvement and career aspirations of senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria. The study adopted correlational research design. The study was guided by three research questions and three null hypotheses. The population of the study comprised of 35,555 public senior secondary school students in the area. The sample size was 395 senior secondary school students which was determined using Taro Yamane Scientific Method. The study adopted the use of simple random sampling technique for the study. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire, titled: “Parental Involvement and Career Aspiration Questionnaire’’ (PICAQ). The instrument was validated by experts in the Department of Educational Psychology, Guidance and Counselling. The reliability of the instrument was determined through test re-test reliability method which a reliability index of r=0.77. Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) was used to answer the research questions and test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that there was high positive relationship between parental expectation, parental support, parent-child relationship and career aspirations of senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. It further revealed that there was significant relationship between parental expectation, parental support, parent-child relationship and career aspirations of senior secondary school students in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. It was recommended among others that; career guidance interactions should start in the early years of schooling in order to avert negative parental influences and build proper career aspirations among students.