Abstract

The study sought to examine the influence of career choice as perceived by secondary school students in Ilorin Metropolis of Kwara State. Two research questions were raised and answered and two hypotheses were formulated for the study. The descriptive survey research design was used. The population of the study consisted of 2, 022 senior secondary class two (SSII) students from Ilorin Metropolis of Kwara State. Samples of 250 students were selected using proportionate stratified simple random sampling technique. The research questionnaire was a standardized test named "Motivation of Occupational Preference Scale" (MOPS) developed by Bakare and was use to collect data on demographic variables and occupational preferences of students. The instrument was modified and subjected to face validation by two research experts and had reliability indices of 0.74. The research questions were analysed using the mean and standard deviation while t test of independent and analysis of covariance were used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. It was found that there was significant difference between male and fema!e students in their perception of the factors influencing career in Ilorin metropolis and there was a significant differences on the basics of age in the students' perceptions of the factors influencing career choice among secondary school students in Ilorin metropolis. It is recommended among others, that career development programmes should be developed and encouraged in secondary schools.