I want to be lawyer! Or do I?
Previous research in factors influencing career choice seemed to point primarily to an inherited genetic makeup. However, new studies reject this hypothesis and attribute career choice predominantly to parental influences.
George Holden, a psychologist
at Dallas Southern Methodist University, has revived the debate of whether
parents have a significant role in their children's career choice. Holden’s theory argues that
parents initiate professional trajectories based on their personal preferences,
and not in their child’s skills. Moreover, he discusses that career paths can
be founded on the encouragement and praise from the parents in determined
fields, and can block child-initiated trajectories. “This model helps resolve
the nature-nurture debate,” he said.
Dr Nazima Dharsee, an epidemiologist from Aga Khan University, moreover debates that children can
subconsciously follow their parent’s professional paths, discouraging them to
explore other options. “Parents may also become overly-involved in career
decisions because they want their children to be more content in a career than
they are in their own jobs”, she adds. Nonetheless, she points out that
adolescents who perceive high expectations from their parents, in many cases, have
higher aspirations of their own.
Although parents can have a
decisive role in career choice, it's not the only factor affecting this
decision.
Peer pressure can limit adolescents
from exploring new options, afraid at what other people might think. Plus,
boyfriends or girlfriends can influence the decision of career choice, especially
in studying abroad. Another factor that has been observed to influence career
decision is media and information. Since 2000, when the popular CSI TV show was broadcasted initially, a
radical increase in forensic sciences courses at university has been reported. Is
a TV show really a solid factor to base this important decision on?
This graph shows other key considerations that influence career choice.
- Do you think your parents have
a substantial influence on your career inclinations?
- What do you believe are the
most important factors in career choice?
- What are your professional aspirations
and why?
Please, if you are going to
write bleak waffle comment on another post: only honest observations here!
As you grow up, your parents are your reference point. They are the ones who tell you what is right and wrong, and you often take them as example. So, if indirectly they affect you so much why can´t they also influence in your future career decisions?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion parents are influential when you are young, because you can´t think for yourselves most of the time. But as you grow up you start being responsible and your parents don´t influence you so much, you start thinking for yourselves although there will always be something that will take parental references.
Basically, you normally finish doing what you want or like, that´s why you parents don´t influence so much. And to me, that is the most important factor when choosing career choice, doing what you like and think you are good at it. As Pepe said before, adolescents might get pressured by a lot of factors when choosing what they want to do and I think that that is the worst thing you can do, because it is a decision, which you will carry all your life with.
Everyone has a future aspiration. My professional one is ending up being an architect. My parents have nothing to do with architects so in my situation, what Dr Nazima Dharsee doesn´t follow her standard. I like the way, which you can express your creativity by doing what you like.
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ReplyDeletePersonally I think parents have a huge influence on children’s decision when they’re thinking what do they want to turn into when they grow older, although I would like to separate parents into two groups: the type of parents that are very proud of themselves in their work and want their children to become a ‘’better’’ copy of them, and then there is the other group of parents that understand how although being their son or daughters, everyone is different and can have different qualities as well as ambitions, moreover I think the trend is not to have children with the same desires as you have/had.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion the most important factor in career choice is your environment. When I say your environment I mean everything that has had direct or indirect influence on you: form the conversation you overheard on the tube whilst going to school to the chat the school psychologist gave to you everything counts.
My professional aspiration is to become a script writer and film director and I want to do that because it is what I like, I am one of those kind of people that think that you should work as your hobby in my case my hobby is filming when my teacher puts some filming homework on me I will be delighted it is what I like and what’s more I am being graded on it. I am going to spend more than half of my life working so; why work as something I don’t want to if I can turn my hobby into a profession?
There are many influences when it comes to choosing a career because it is one of the most important decisions in a person´s life. A profession is not a decision people take completely by themselves; because of its importance they usually comment it and discuss it with other people such as mainly parents, teachers, friends and family. As we all know, parents have a significant role in our lives, they have taught us their values and their beliefs, and have made us grow up with integrity, but are they making us think the way they do? In my opinion, they want the best for us in our future, and the bases of our thoughts come from their teachings, but they don’t really affect what we want to be. This is a decision that adolescents take by thinking in their goals and dreams, and even though parents give us their opinions, we are old enough to analyze the situation and make our own decisions about our future
ReplyDeleteOther influences such as friends and boyfriends/girlfriends also have to do with our decision making, but they are not an indispensable factor. Adolescents give their friends multiple advices, but the person is the one that decides thinking about the benefits and disadvantages of choosing a career. The other two factors announced, TV and inherited genetic makeup, seem the most disingenuous to me, they are don’t have to do with our further decisions at all and don’t affect our way of thinking about our future.
My stated opinion is based in my ambit of living, but we must also think there are people that don’t have many resources which are forced to study for a career something they don’t like to, or have a job that they detest. Modern parents think more about the benefits they would like their children to have and don’t force them to follow a career, like it was mostly in the past, even though they are exceptional cases.
My professional inspirations are to be an extraordinary psychologist, specialized in something that has to do with children. This has been my goal since I was ten years old and my parents couldn’t be more supportive about this decision. I am really glad to have family and friends that support me and give me different advices about this career and my future, and encourage me daily to reach my goals.