A Case of Female Candidates in Pakistan - Effect of Parental Influence on Children's Career Choice

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- Justification

This research is conducted to lay emphasis on parental affect regarding career related decisions of their children. The research also identifies how parental values, norms, expectations and domestic circumstances affect girls more than boys while deciding on vocational choice.

A brief study on family values and gender stereotyping that prevail in Pakistan can help understand the gender discrimination, stereotypes regarding gender related jobs. This research is also an attempt to fetch under parent’s consideration the worth of their expectations and values to their children, and the need of parent’s honest guide for the betterment of their kid’s future rather than imposing wishes on them and/ or relying on the career counselors.

- Significance

- This research will help students to understand the effect of various factors on their decisions which may force them to make abrupt verdict regarding their vocational fit.

- The research will also give educational institute and career counselors an insight of student’s decision making, so they may be able guide students in a better way.

- Assumptions

- Data collected will be true and transparent.

- The data gathered is related to specific sample and cannot be generalized to the whole population.

- The information gathered will be ingenuous, and will be kept confidential.

- Key terminologies

- Career - A chosen pursuit or course of business activity or enterprise, especially one's professional life or employment that offers the advancement and honour.

- Influence- The power of acts by which parents or a person has to control the desire of another.

- Choice: An act of choosing between two or more possibilities.

- Factors: One of several things that cause or influence something or somebody to include as particular fact or situation when you are thinking about or planning something.

- Counselling: This is the process where a troubled or a confused person is helped by a professional to solve his problem and to make better adjustments to his society.

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- LITERATURE REVIEW

The significance of parental influence upon their children’s vocational decision is consistently valuable, even across gender and racial lines. Though educational institutes, peers, teachers, and community all have an effect on the adolescent’s personality and career choices; parent’s expectations and prospect of professional-fit for their children have a major impact on their career selection.

- Socializers

Franke (2010) termed Socializers as the social capital. Sarwar and Azmat, (2013) in their research stated that social capital includes media, peers and significant other people like friends or teachers who hold liaison capability in a society or they may be anyone who possesses the traits children admire and had a passion to adopt them. Socializers are also role models who impress children, it includes all those people whom children meet in their everyday life and then gradually they become an important part of the life. According to the National institute of career education and counseling, role models can even influence the deepest needs of an individual and hence molds the career decision. A research conducted by Maharaj (2010), revealed that media being a socializer, also perform a significant role in imparting the career awareness to people. However, Sarwar and Azmat (2013) affirmed that media’s role can be either constructive or destructive.

- Career itself

Career or job chosen must reflect the personality traits of children. According to Humlum, Kleinjans, and Nielsen (2007) career, enriches individuals with non- financial benefits which pay-off in the future, nowadays however the motive for pursuing a career is to acquire experience and satisfaction. According to Sarwar and Azmat (2013) interest in a particular career can be to uphold their father’s business or to work in the governmental sector and avail the monetary benefits specified by the government. Incentives offered by any particular career such as appraisals, recognition, health allowances, and old age benefits, etc., can also play an important role in the vocational choice.

- Environmental influences

All environmental factors should be considered while deciding the career choice. According to Sarwar and Azmat (2013), environmental factors which might influence the vocational choice include societal needs, domestic circumstances, gender, and job opportunities. As cited in Sarwar and Azmat (2013) societal needs are penchants of the society to which individuals give considerable importance. Domestic circumstances are the economic situations in which individual is planning to prevail their career. A wealth of information regarding domestic conditions helps to predict the future of the economy and hence the career. Availability of jobs in a sector where individual wish to work and a full fledge knowledge of that profession will also lead to a proper career decision. Gender discrimination is common and women countenance to this element more than men.

- Socioeconomic Status

Sarwar and Azmat (2013) highlighted that socioeconomic status includes variables such as current income of family, education level of their parents, parent’s current occupational and the status associated by the society regarding that occupation. Their research further highlighted that all these factors also affect the parent’s decision for their children’s school, college, university, and career path to be adopted. Cutter (2010) stated that students are also likely to adopt their parent’s profession due to their perception that parents’ profession is easy to adopt and pursue. Angela and Bardick (2004) also stressed the importance of socio-economic and cultural environment of individuals in influencing the perceptions regarding careers.

“If one were permitted only a single variable with which to predict an individual‘s occupational status, it surely would be the socioeconomic status of that individual’s family” (Schulenberg, Vondracek, and Crouter, 1984, p. 130). According to Clutter (2010), parents possess