Career Aspirations of Slovenian Ninth Graders: The Influence of Personal Factors and Attitudes Towards Engineering Professions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18690/rei.5090Keywords:
ninth grade students, career aspirations, engineering professions, personal factors influencing career choice, attitudes towards engineering professions.Abstract
The study examines the career aspirations of Slovenian ninth-grade students and analyses how these are influenced by personal factors and their attitudes towards engineering professions. Regression analyses on a sample of 779 students show that interest in outdoor work is a significant predictor of engineering career aspirations across all educational levels. Physical demands positively influence aspirations for engineering occupations requiring secondary or elementary education, while intellectual demands and employment opportunities encourage interest in engineering occupations at the tertiary level. A positive perception of engineering professions as interesting is a key factor for all levels of education. The results emphasise the importance of fostering interest in technical careers.
Downloads
References
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211.
Bandura, A. (2005). Guide for Constructing Self-Efficacy Scales. Self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents. Greenwich, CT. https://motamem.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/self-efficacy.pdf. 17. 8. 2023.
Borrego, M., Knight, D. B., Gibbs, K. J., and Crede, E. (2018). Pursuing Graduate Study: Factors Underlying Undergraduate Engineering Students’ Decisions. Journal of Engineering Education, 107(1), 140-163.
Chan, C. K. Y., Yeung, N. C. J., Kutnick, P., and Chan, R. Y. Y. (2019). Students’ perceptions of engineers: dimensionality and influences on career aspiration in engineering. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 29(3), 421-439.
Chen, Y., So, W. W. M., Zhu, J., and Chiu, S. W. K. (2024). STEM learning opportunities and career aspirations: the interactive effect of students’ self-concept and perceptions of STEM professionals. International Journal of STEM Education, 11(1), 1.
Cleaves, A. (2005). The formation of science choices in secondary school. International Journal of Science Education, 27(4), 471-486.
Cronbach, L. J. (1951). Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests. Psychometrika, 16(3), 297–334. http://doi.org/10.1007/bf02310555.
Davenport, C., Dele-Ajayi, O., Emembolu, I., Morton, R., Padwick, A., Portas, A., Sanderson, J., Shimwell, J., Strachan, R., Wake, L., Wells, G., and Woodward, J. (2020). A Theory of Change for Improving Children’s Perceptions, Aspirations and Uptake of STEM Careers. Research in Science Education, 51(4), 997-1011. http://doi.org/10.1007/s11165-019-09909-6
Deci, E. L., and Ryan, R. M. (2012). Self-determination theory. Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology, 1(20), 416–436.
Dolenc, K., Šorgo, A., and Ploj Virtič, M. (2021). Signs of a Catastrophe: Predicted Shortage of Teachers of Lower Secondary Science and Technics and Technology in Slovenia. Journal of Elementary Education, 14(2), 239–256.
Field, A. (2013). Discovering Statistics Using IBM SPSS Statistics. Sage.
Gero, A., and Abraham, G. (2016). Motivational factors for studying science and engineering in beginning students: the case of academic preparatory programmes. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 18(2), 72–76.
Ginzberg, E., Ginsburg, S. W., Axelrad, S. and Herma, J. L. (1951). Occupational Choice: An approach to a general theory. https://books.google.si/books?hl=en&lr=&id=MIVo0jBGG70C&oi=fnd&–pg=PA74&dq=Ginzberg,+Ginsburg,+Alexrad,+%26+Herma,+1951&ots=6M05iLP5ta&q=&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Ginzberg%2C%20Ginsburg%2C%20Alexrad%2C%20%26%20Herma%2C%201951&f=false.
Gray, M. P., and O’Brien, K. M. (2007). Advancing the Assessment of Women’s Career Choices: The Career Aspiration Scale. Journal of Career Assessment, 15(3), 317–337. https://doi.org/10.117–7/1069072707301211.
Heberlein, T. A. (2012). Navigating Environmental Attitudes. New York: Oxford University Press.
Ivanova, V., Trubchenko, T., Dreval, A., and Shaftelskaya, N. (2019). Engineering Education Evaluated by the Technical University Students. V M. Kaz, Global Economics and Management: Prospects of Fundamental Science Development International Conference 2018. Springer Nature.
Jiang, Z., Newman, A., Le, H., Presbitero, A., and Zheng, C. (2019). Career exploration: A review and future research agenda. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 110, 338–356.
Kline, R. B. (2015). Principles and Practice of Structural Equation Modeling. Guilford Publications.
Košak, I. (2024). Napovedni model poklicnih želja in odločitev osnovnošolcev s poudarkom na izbiri tehniških poklicev: doktorska disertacija [I. Košak]]. https://dk.um.si/IzpisGradiva.php?id=86859
Košak, I., Šorgo, A., and Ploj Virtič, M. (2022). Factors influencing the engineering career aspirations of 15-year-old students. World Transactions on Engineering and Technology Education, 20(4), 246–250.
Košak, I., Šorgo, A., and Ploj Virtič, M. (2024). Differences in the career aspirations of Slovenian 15-years-old [sic] adolescents. In: Celec, R. (ed.). Education and Society in Transition: Addressing the challenges of youth and technology. Hamburg: Dr. Kovač, pp. 55–91.
Kozak, D. (2019). Study Programs in STEM Field in Eastern European Countries vs. Brain Drain. In S. Hloch, D. Klichová, G. Krolczyk, S. Chattopadhyaya, and L. Ruppenthalová, Advances in Manufacturing Engineering and Materials. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham.
Lent, R. W., Brown, S. D., and Hackett, G. (1994). Toward a unifying social cognitive theory of career and academic interest, choice, and performance. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 45(1), 79–122.
Liao, C., Palvia, P., and Chen J. L. (2009). Information technology adoption behavior life cycle: Toward a Technology Continuance Theory (TCT). International Journal of Information Management, 29(4), 309–320, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2009.03.004.
National Science Board. (2018). Science and Engineering Indicators 2018. Alexandria, VA: National Science Foundation.
OECD. (2022). Skills for Jobs 2022. OECD Publishing. https://www.oecdskillsforjobsdatabase.or–g/data/S4J2022_results.pdf. 29. 12. 2023
Ploj Virtič, M., and Šorgo, A. (2022). Lower secondary school experiences as predictors of career aspirations toward engineering, and production and processing occupations. European Journal of Engineering Education, 47(5), 833–850. https://doi.org/10.1080/03043797.2022.2033169
Shapiro, S. S., and Wilk, M. B. (1965). An analysis of variance test for normality (complete samples). Biometrika, 52(3–4), 591–611. doi:10.1093/biomet/52.3-4.591
Smit, R., Robin, N., De Toffol, C., and Atanasova, S. (2021). Industry-school projects as an aim to foster secondary school students’ interest in technology and engineering careers. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, 31, 61–79.
Sternberg, R. J. (2004). Words to the wise about wisdom? Human Development, 47(5), 286–289.
Šorgo, A., and Ploj Virtič, M. (2020). Engineers do not grow on trees. Global Journal of Engineering Education, 22(3).
Šorgo, A., Dojer, B., Golob, N., Repnik, R., Repolusk, S., Pesek, I., Ploj Virtič, M., Špernjak, A., and Špur, N. (2018). Opinions about STEM content and classroom experiences as predictors of upper secondary school students' career aspirations to become researchers or teachers. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 55(10), 1448–1468.
The jamovi project (2023). jamovi (Version 2.3) [Computer Software]. Retrieved from https://ww–w.jamovi.org
UNESCO (2020). Education for sustainable development: A Roadmap. UNESCO. https://unesdoc–.unesco.org/ark:/48223/ pf0000374802
Wei-Cheng, M., Hitchcock, R., and Calvert, C. (1998). High school students' career plans: The influence of others' expectations. Professional School Counseling, 2(2), 161.
Wolf, E. J., Harrington, K. M., Clark, S. L., and Miller, M. W. (2013). Sample size requirements for structural equation models: An evaluation of power, bias, and solution propriety. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 73(6), 913–934.
Woolnough, B. E. (1994). Factors affecting students' choice of science and engineering. International Journal of Science Education, 16(6), 659–676.
Woolnough, B. E., Guo, Y., Salete Leite, M., Jose de Almeida, M., Ryu, T., Wang, Z., and Young, D. (1997). Factors Affecting Student Choice of Career in Science and Engineering: parallel studies in Australia, Canada, China, England, Japan and Portugal. Research in Science & Technological Education, 15(1), 105–121.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Mateja Ploj Virtič, Igor Košak, Andrej Šorgo
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.