Research Project Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Project - Research Paper Example Many aspects in life eventually influence one’s career choice, including personality characteristics which was dutifully categorised by Holland (1985). Holland (1985) describes six main orientations of individuals that can be predictive of their career choices. While it is not the aim of this paper to present data on the relationships between categorical personality types and career choices, Holland’s (1985) contribution in building the rationale for this paper is his notion that there exists a freedom of choice. This is not true, however, for all individuals and we are familiar of stories from young adolescents who express their lack of control over their career path. This feeling is best defined through the psychological concept, â€Å"learned helplessness,† discovered by Peterson et al. (1993). Research studies have identified the reported strong influence of parents over teachers in the student’s choice of career (Teru 2000; Kniveton 2004). These studies noted the strong implications of these findings for career guidance counselors to facilitate the decision making process of parents and pupils. As discovered by Kniveton (2004, pp.56-57), â€Å"there was little evidence of consideration of the appropriateness of further/ higher education for career choice.† Thus, here rests the gap where guidance or career counselors can fill in to ensure that a substantial number of pupils leave secondary schools with a better perspective of their career choices. The challenge of providing comprehensive information to pupils may be daunting for guidance counselors. In most cases, schools employ psychological testing and career talks for graduating pupils. â€Å"Career education is increasingly present in the curriculum at the lower secondary school level, either as a separate subject or included in another subject† (OECD, 2004, p.12). The inclusion of this policy by the European Commission emphasises the important role of