Abstract

The study investigated the influence of socio-cultural factors on career aspiration among secondary school students in Nasarawa North Senatorial District of Nasarawa State. Two research questions and two hypotheses guided this study. The study adopted descriptive survey research design. The population of the study comprised all senior secondary schools (SS1) students totaling 4520 in Nasarawa North senatorial zone (Akwanga, Nasarawa Eggon and Wamba local Government) of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. The sample size consisted of 381 students randomly selected from two randomly selected secondary schools in each of the three local government areas that make up Nasarawa North senatorial zone of Nasarawa State. The major instrument used to collect data in this study was a self-developed questionnaire tagged Socio-Cultural factors and Career Choice Scale (SCFCAS). This instrument was validated and validity index yielded 0.75. The reliability index using Cronbach alpha was 0.83. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of mean and standard deviation to answer the research questions while inferential statistics of one sample t-test was used to test the hypotheses at the 0.05 level of significance. The findings from this study revealed that: there is a significant influence of socio cultural factor and family expectations on students’ career choices among secondary school students in Nasarawa North Senatorial District. Based on the findings of this study, it was recommended among others that Schools should strengthen career guidance and counselling services to help secondary school students make balanced decisions that respect cultural values while aligning with personal aspirations