Research
shows that:
Students who understand the connection between school
and their career goals are more motivated, get better
grades, and are more likely to go to college.
Why start thinking about a career when in high school?
Students entering college without a career plan often change
majors multiple times and end up using their time in college
to
find a career, not educate
themselves for one. While changes in a college major add to
the extensiveness of a student's education, the tuition costs
of extra years of college study, translate into tens of
thousands of dollars of tuition costs. The time to start
thinking about a career is before a student enters college,
not after they have already started paying tuition.
The number of youths entering college as "undecided"
can range from 20% to as high as 60% at postsecondary
institutions. Our highly diverse and global economy makes
selecting a career more complicated than ever before. By
participating in career development in high school, students
can become aware of their many career options and can start to
narrow their career choices.
Local Survey
A local survey of the students participating in the SABA
Career Shadowing Program indicated that students are very
interested and very appreciative of the opportunity to receive
guidance in the career decision making process.
Results of a survey completed by 558 students:
95% of students indicated that their expectations for career shadowing were met.
96% of students would recommend job shadowing to other
students.
96% of students believe that participating in career exploration is an important part of high school.
Factors Influencing Career Choices
A data summary conducted for Ferris State University's Career Institute for Education and Workforce Development (2002) indicated that:
78% of students indicated that the one thing that had the biggest influence on their career choice was one or both of their parents.
81% of students believe that grades in school influence the type of career that they can consider.
