The rate of technological change and the isolation of young people from the majority of places of employment have created problems in occupational choice. Most students are not able to obtain informal exposure to a variety of occupations, nor can they easily obtain relevant data about occupations. If students are to make well-informed and carefully considered educational and vocational decisions, they must be assisted in critically examining the social and psychological aspects of work as they relate to personal assets. Additionally, these individuals must be provided with early occupational experiences which will allow them to expand their knowledge and widen their view of the range of alternatives available to them. During this process, attention should be given to providing students with information about requirements within specific occupations. This should enable them to become more aware of the essential elements necessary for successful performance in the occupations they have examined. This process should assist students to discriminate more among the alternatives to which they have been exposed in depth and to determine which occupational alternatives would be socially and psychologically satisfying.
Discussion and Implications
Banducci (1970) found that academic development was related to accuracy of stereotypic perceptions of occupations. Krasnow (1968) also found that knowledge of general occupational information was significantly related to academic development. Findings of this study, however, indicate that the academic achievement of students did not exert an influence on how knowledgeable they were of occupations. Students of all academic levels had greater knowledge of low-level than of high-level occupations. In the past, it has been presumed that students with high academic achievement had a more firm basis for making occupational decisions than did students with low academic achievement. Presumably, high academic achievement students had more knowledge about occupations than low academic achievement students and could organize this knowledge in a more meaningful way. This belief would imply that high academic achievement students would be more likely to have knowledge about high-level occupations. Banducci's study (1970) revealed that high academic development students had a more accurate perception of high-level jobs than of low-level jobs. The results of this study, however, indicate that all students, regardless of academic achievement, know more about low-level occupations than of high-level occupations. When information regarding occupations is disseminated in the educational system, perhaps specific emphasis should be given to familiarizing students of all achievement levels with high-level occupations that are less visible in the environment. In this manner, all students would have the opportunity to gather occupational information which may not now be readily available to them.
Banducci (1970) reported that students of low social status had more accurate perceptions of low-level jobs than of high-level jobs. In this investigation, however, social status had no effect on the knowledge students had of the twelve occupations considered in this study. Students of high, middle, and low social status had greater knowledge of low-level occupations than of high-level occupations. One might expect students of high social status because of the environment in which they live, to have greater knowledge of high rather than low-level occupations. These data reveal, however, that this was not the case. Moreover, students often make educational and vocational decisions with limited information or knowledge. These data indicate that students of all levels lack information and knowledge about high-level occupations. Efforts should be made to provide students with information and to expose them to a variety of experiences that will broaden their knowledge of occupations. In this way, students may become more aware of the wide range of educational and vocational opportunities that may be realistic alternatives for them to consider.
Banducci (1970) found that students who had formulated future plans had more accurate occupational stereotypes than those without formulated plans and that students without plans viewed low-level jobs more accurately than high-level jobs. In this study, students who had formulated future plans had no more knowledge of the 12 occupations considered in this study than students who had not formulated future plans. Both plan and no-plan students had greater knowledge of low-level occupations than of high-level occupations. However, young people are often expected to determine the occupation they wish to pursue, even though they may not possess the knowledge required to make reasonable decisions. Additionally, the community or geographical area in which students live may require that plans be formulated early because of limited opportunities available. Counselors need to be aware of this phenomenon and should be prepared to provide assistance to their counselees which will help them in formulating and achieving realistically attainable goals.
Personal experiences were positively related to the knowledge students held of the occupations considered in this study. Although the relationship between personal experiences and knowledge of occupations was statistically significant, the correlation of .14 indicates that conclusions drawn about this relationship should be guarded. This finding may suggest, however, that a wide range of personal experiences can serve to increase the occupational knowledge of a student. Therefore, consideration should be given in the educational process and in personal life to exposing students to as wide a range of experiences as possible. This may be of valuable assistance to them in helping to choose educational goals and may ultimately be significant in the formulation of future plans and the broadening of occupational choices.
