A Qualitative Research 1

A Qualitative Research:

Factors Affecting Senior High School Student’s

Course Choice in College

Manicad, Rhoane Kyra Tobias

Mapili, Fernan

Mepania, Charles Windsor D.

Mercado, Allen

Mesa, Kc Nicole

University of Perpetual Help System-DALTA

A Qualitative Research 1

CHAPTER ONE

Background of the Study

There are many important choices that students will have to make in determining
their future. Choosing and deciding on something have consequences. College choices
is one of many important choices students will make in determining future plans. This
decision will impact them throughout their lives. When we make a decision, we want to
identify as many of these alternatives as possible and to choose the one that best fits with
our desires, goals, values, objectives, and so on.

In choosing a course, there are a lot of factors that students must consider.
According to Boyer (1987), “in taking a course, one of the life’s major decision is being
made. A lot of time, money, and effort will be involved. The shape and excellence of the
student’s life may rest on the result.” The study sought to select the factors influencing
the students in choosing course of Senior High School of the University of Perpetual Help
System-DALTA.

Choosing a course in college can help you set professional goals and develop a
strategy for getting where you want to be. Part of selecting an appropriate career path
involves making an honest self-evaluation of your talents, skills, and interests. One theory
that prompted research on the different factors that affects students career choice was
Renowned scholars like Holland’s (1987) personality type theory posit that people fit into
one of six personality types namely; realistic, investigative, artistic, social, enterprising,
and conventional (RIASEC). Students’ career success can be attained if there is proper
guidance in choosing the right course in college, suited to the pupils’ personality, ability,
and intellect.
A Qualitative Research 1

Review of Related Literature

According to Borchert (2002), there are many factors that affect the career choices
of high school students and by identifying those factors will help parents, educators, and
industry to where students place most of their trust in the process of career selection.
Students will be able to examine the processes that they are using for career selection.
The literature review provided and recommended models in career choices. The review
of the literature showed that there are three areas of a student’s life affect the career
choices they make: environment, opportunity, and personality. The three had varying
roles in career outcomes. The study tried to identify to what extent the different factors
played a role in career choice and which had the most impact.

According to Vallente, et al. (2016) the most important factor is the educational
aspiration/expectation. The advice from others is the less factor subjective to the
students. Based from the survey on what Factors Influencing the Students in Choosing a
Course of selected Senior High School, most of the respondents choose the Academic
Aspiration/ Expectation. The study sought to identify the factors that influenced the
students in choosing course of Bukidnon, National High School students. The study
wanted to answer the following factors: Educational Aspiration/ Expectation, Academic
Experience, Friends/ Peer Influence Advice of Others; and Family Background. The data
was interpreted in a quantitative manner by determining the Mean and Standard Deviation
of the Senior High School. The study involved One Hundred Seventy Nine respondents
of Senior High School Students school year 2015 – 2016.

According to Witko, et al. (2005), career planning is important to high school

students and they most likely ask their parents to help with their career planning. Students
in grades 10 through 12 indicated that information about the courses and careers would
be helpful. Grade 12 students stated that they desire improved career counselling and an
increased work experience. The study used Comprehensive Career Needs Survey to
assess the career planning and had 2360 senior high school students in Southern Alberta,
Canada as respondents. The study examined how senior high school students see the
relevance of career planning.
A Qualitative Research 1

Synthesis of Review of Related Literature

Michael Borchert stated that there are three major factors that may influence
students in their career choice namely environment, opportunity, and personality. Cleo
Bernadette M. Vallente and her colleagues determined that the factors influencing
students’ decision in choosing a course appears to be significant to students from
Bukidnon National High School as their bases in picking what course to take. Academic
experience and Educational aspiration– appear to have a greater impact in choosing a
course. Kim Witko, Kerry B Bernes, Kris Magnusson and Angela D Bardick found out that
overall, senior high school students rated career planning to be either ‘very important’ or
‘quite important’ at this time in their lives.

Theoretical Framework

Figure 1: RIASEC chart

A Qualitative Research 1

One theory that prompted research on the different factors that affects students
career choice was Renowned scholars like Holland’s (1987) personality type theory posit
that people fit into one of six personality types namely; realistic, investigative, artistic,
social, enterprising, and conventional (RIASEC). Holland (1987) further argued that in
choosing a career, people prefer jobs where they can be around others who are like them.
They search for environments that will give them the opportunity to use their skills and
abilities, while taking on enjoyable problems and roles.

Holland (1987) codes are a way of classifying people according to their interests
so that they can be matched with appropriate careers. The system was developed by Dr.
John L. Holland, an academic psychologist. His theory is also known as the RIASEC
system.

Dr. Holland's theory proposes that there are six broad areas into which all careers
can be classified. These same six areas can be used to describe people, their
personalities and interests. For instance, Building careers are those that involve working
with tools or machinery (e.g. carpenter, mechanic, or airline pilot). People with Building
interests are typically practical types who like working with their hands and creating a
tangible product.

To find the ideal career for an individual, the individual's interest level in the six
areas must first be determined; then, those interest scores can be used to find matching
careers.
A Qualitative Research 1

Research Questions

Based on the problem statement mentioned before, the following questions are
constructed:

 What are the different factors that affect a student’s choice in selecting a college
course?
 How do these factors affect the choice of a student’s in choosing a course in
college?
 What factor has the most influence towards the student's college choice?

Significance of the study

There are many factors that affect the college choices of senior high school
students. Identifying these factors would give educators, the industry and parents an idea
as to where students place most of their trust in the career selection process. It would
also allow students to examine the factors that may come into play in their career
selection.
The study’s significance of the study includes the following:

1. The study results will be helpful for the parents, and the faculty members of a
university in developing and finding a guidance programs for the students to
facilitate them in making the right course choice.
2. The study will help students to choose the career that suits them can be done by
integrating career plan with the curriculum so that students can make good
decisions in what course to take in college.
3. The study will also be useful for the industry, so they could see where, why, and
when it could be beneficial for them to invest resources for the purpose of training,
while still in technical schools.

Scope and Delimitations

A Qualitative Research 1

This study will focus on identifying the different factors that affects the course
choice of senior high school students in college and determine which factor is more
influential to students. However, the data is not accurate enough and cannot be generally
applied to all senior high school students because the study was conducted in one
university and to limited students only.

Method

Participants

A sample size of 20 Senior High School students was randomly selected from the
community of Senior High School of University of Perpetual Help System-DALTA.