Influence of School, Family, and Peers on the Career

Choices of Philippine Science High School - Western

Visayas Campus Students

A Case Study

Presented to

The Faculty of Philippine Science High School - Western Visayas Campus

Bito-on, Jaro, Iloilo City

In Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements in

English V

by

Hezekiah Antonano

Grade 11

April 2017
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One of the most important decisions one has to make in life will be about

their career choice. A person’s career choice has a significant impact on their lives,

affecting their work, social status, friendships, and several other factors. It will also

shape their role in society for the rest of their lives.

A recent survey reveals that students believe social responsibilities have a

significant effect to happiness. Financial security topped the survey as the most

important factor for satisfaction, and having a prestigious career or having an

impacting job were also among the top answers for the students. These factors will

be heavily affected by the career choice that they will select. The career choice of a

person usually becomes apparent upon choosing their college courses.

This case study is about evaluating the effects of family, peers, and school

on a Philippine Science High School - Western Visayas Campus (PSHS-WVC)

student’s career decision making. It was conducted by analyzing the interview

answers of two PSHS students. Due to the nature of the study, it is limited to the

students interviewed and by extent students in the school.

PSHS-WVC is one of the campuses that is included in the PSHS system.

This system provides scholarship to students that excel in science and technology.

It is tuition-free and has special benefits to its student like monthly stipend among

others. Students must take a qualifying exam and be among the top students from

their elementary school to be able to apply to this scholarship that is supported by

the government. Its curriculum has great focus on the sciences, with heavy

emphasis on the field of research. Only science careers can be selected by the

students upon entering college. Students unable to comply to this by choosing a

different career other than the ones allowed or by transferring schools need to pay
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the full amount covered by their scholarship. Changes have been applied recently

to the system’s curriculum because of the new twelve-year pre-university code that

the Philippines adopted.

The Philippines was the last country in Asia to adopt a twelve-year pre-

university code. Being one of the last three countries in the world to have a ten-

year requirement before admission to college, the new law was met with mixed

reactions. The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, more commonly known as

the K-12 program has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Students will

have to stay in high school for two more years, which will increase costs of their

education and increase the amount of time before they can go to college. On the

other hand, those who decide to work abroad will be able to work without any

further studies. In the past, Filipino graduates who decide to work abroad are

sometimes required to have further studies and courses before being able to work.

This was because of the Philippines not having a twelve-year pre-university code,

which made the requirements for work different in other countries. This also

allows high school students to be able to work directly even without graduating in

college.

This two-year extension in high school, which is now called senior high

school, will equip students with abilities that will further prepare them in their

lives, whether it be in employment, entrepreneurship, skills development or college

(DepEd, 2017). These additional two years prior to college are important, as this

will give additional time for a student’s family, peers, and school to affect their

career decision making. Senior high school covers eight learning areas for its core

curriculum, and adds specific tracks based on four disciplines: academics,

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technical-vocational livelihood, sports, and arts and design. Because of the rules in

the PSHS system, PSHS students can only choose the STEM track in their senior

high school.

Vocational interest and development often starts early in life (Palos &

Drobot, 2010). A person’s family, especially their parents are often their first

forms of guidance. Early on in a person’s life, their family provides them all the

support they need to advance to their next stages in life. It is also important to note

that home is one of the very first workplaces of a person in the form of chores.

These tasks are usually assigned by parents to their children. These are important

for the child as these are basically assimilations of their workplaces in the future.

Important working habits and values can be learned by children from their parents

in their early lives through these experiences.

Parents can be an important and positive influence in the career decision

making of their children, but over-involvement may undermine the effects

(Middleton and Loughead, 1993). Some of a parent’s key influence on a child’s

career choice lies in their expectations for their child’s career and education. A

parent’s encouragement can be a positive influence, and help increase the

confidence of the child in learning other skills, which in turn, allows more

exposure for other careers they might want to explore.

Likewise, parents have a powerful enough effect on a child’s career

decision making that shutting down their ideas might hinder their exploration

process for the career that they want to achieve. Excessive parental control in the

career decision making process can result in negative outcomes (Nucci & Weber,

1995). Parents imposing their own goals on their children might cause their
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children to limit their career choices, and might even influence them to take a

career that differs from the choice imposed by their parents.

Adolescents valued parental influence and guidance in the area of career

choice and vocational development according to the study of Bregman and Kellen

(1999). Parents are usually the people that know their child the most, and this

special trust and bond between parents and their children allows parents to remain

to be an important factor in career decision making, even during their child’s

adolescent years. Adolescent years are vital stages for a person’s growth and

maturity. This is also the stage where most people prepare for college and their

career. According to the data from Longitudinal Study of American Youth, among

the children who never received encouragement to go to college from their parents,

only four percent decided to attend college. On the other hand, among the children

who were encouraged by their parents to pursue higher education, 41 percent of

them attended college.

Aside from the emotional support and warmth that a family can give, a

family’s financial support may also affect a person’s career decision making.

Adolescents may be pressured to pursue high-earning jobs rather than the

occupation they want depending on their family’s needs. There are also instances

where students change their career choice due to lack of financial support or

capability to pursue that career. Higher financial support allows students to have a

greater variety of career choices to pursue.

While parents and family are the initial leading roles in the socialization

and personality development, peers and friends have greater impact on the career

decision making process and academic decisions (Naz et al, 2014). Their study
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revealed that peers and friends affect the selection of subject, class, laboratory,

library, books, co-curricular activities, and time for homework.

Peers and friends are some of the people one spends the most time with in

our lives. They are an important aspect of the socialization process. As such, their

influence and pressure can be an important factor in one’s career-decision making.

Peers and friends open up new opportunities and experiences, and can help in

academics and hobbies. They also present the potential to be valuable colleagues in

the workplace, which make their influence more important.

While peers present a powerful influence on academic choices, like

selection of subject and class, the study of Alika I.H. (2009) concludes that they

may not significantly affect the career choices of students in humanities. The

influence exerted by peers on academic choices, however, is still very powerful as

it affects the fundamental choices made in school, which is another important

factor.

In the study of Hashim HM and Embong AM (2015), parents were more

influential than peers in when it comes to picking a career in accountancy. While

peers provided a positive effect in selecting a career choice, parents showed even

an even stronger effect.

School is one of the most influential factors when selecting a career choice.

It is the place where most of a student’s learning stems from. A school’s

curriculum and teachers provide exposure to several different topics which may

influence students on their career choice. Being considered as one’s “second

home”, it is highly possible that school can be a highly influential factor when it

comes to choosing a career. For example, students in the PSHS system have their
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initial career choice limited to science. This is incredibly vital as the focus of a

school’s curriculum may not expose a student to a career that he/she might choose

when given enough exposure.

School staff, such as teachers and guidance councillors might also have a

significant effect on the career choices of students. Students may be discouraged to

take certain careers if their teacher ends up discouraging them. Guidance

councillors are also vital. In PSHS-WVC, students are advised to talk to the

guidance councillors after receiving certain tests such as tests for career

assessment.

In the study of Amino M. and Timothy J. (2014), they evaluated the

reasons as to why Nigerian students chose Microbiology as a college subject and

correlated it to their academic performance. The study was conducted due to the

poor academic performance of the students despite increasing numbers of students

in the subject. The study was conducted by comparing the test results of students.

The results show that the students who applied for Microbiology as a career choice

(8.2%) scored higher than the other students. Other students took Microbiology

only because they applied for Medicine (61.0%) or felt compelled to do so

(29.4%). Surprisingly, 24.7% of the students had no knowledge of Microbiology

before they were admitted. Non-transferee students also scored higher than

transferee students. Choosing Microbiology as a career choice greatly improved

the scores of the students. It implies that being interested in the subject one is

taking also makes one perform better. The PSHS system limits the career choices

students can choose in college. This can have a negative impact on their academic
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performance, as this study shows. While students in PSHS excel in STEM

subjects, it is possible that their interests do not fall on those subjects.

The importance of teachers and guidance councillors are also important.

According to the paper of Obura et al (2012), some of the factors that affect career-

decision making are the perception of students on career aspirations. The

researchers observed a disparity between the academic choices of boys and girls in

Kisumu municipality. They also observed that fewer girls entered college. In order

to conduct their study, they interviewed 16 students and 5 teachers. They also

correlated the student’s academic choices and performance in school. The results

show that students’ career aspirations were significantly related to gender of

students, performance of students in examinations, level of self-efficacy and

gender stereotyping. The career guidance from the teachers also had a significant

effect on their career aspirations. It also showed that peer influence and socio-

economic status did not have a significant effect in career aspirations. The biggest

influence in the perception of students in career aspirations may be the school,

because it is where students learn the most.

Performance in school may also be a factor in making career choices.

Grades, being the primary tool used to measure performance may be a possible

influence. Scholarships may be given to those students who have proven

themselves worthy. This allows them to worry less about their financial burdens in

their future academics, and also opens up their career choices.

The study of Bochert (2002) explored the different factors that might

influence a student’s career choices. According to the study, students who did not

start thinking about a career early on in their education felt limited to career
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choices by their grades. Most students in the study tend to make wrong decisions

when it comes to socio-economic factors in college. The most important factor in

career decision-making that the majority of students picked in the survey’s study

was personality. The study gives several insights on the different factors that might

influence a student’s decisions in his/her career track.

According to one of the students interviewed for this study, his first career

choice was to be a priest. This was because he studied at a Catholic school when

he was four years old. When he was six, he wanted to become a soldier. After a

few years, he became uncertain of the career he wanted to have until he decided to

become a scientist. When he was in is ninth grade, he aspired to become a wildlife

biologist. However, due to his research class, he was discouraged to pursue it.

Currently, he aspires to become a professor.

His parents are supportive for his career choices, as he claims that they are

fine with any career he chooses. He also does not feel any pressure from anyone

regarding his career choice. For him, he doesn’t believe that his friends and peers

affected his major decisions but they have affected them at some level, especially

when he talks to people how they like what they like. It broadens his mind and

options in that way.

School influenced his career aspirations when he was aspiring to be a priest

because of his school, and when he was discouraged to pursue wildlife biology due

to his research class.

According to him, the greatest factor that influenced his career choices was

his family. It is because his family let him decide on his choices instead of
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pressuring him, and they were also supportive of his choices. Other factors that

affect his career choices are what he watches and reads.

The first career choice of the other student interviewed was a career in

journalism. This was her choice because she loved reading and writing. She also

was able to win first place in a contest in creating poems, specifically haikus.

Currently, she still writes poems but not haikus anymore. She also writes for the

school, and when given the chance, would still take the chance to compete in a

journalism contest. According to her, her peers think that a career in journalism

and writing suits her very well.

Her mother’s suggestion to her was for her to become a pharmacist,

because her mother wants her to hold the family business which is their drugstore.

However, since she claims to be someone that does not excel in chemistry, she

wouldn’t take that route. She still wants to help the family business, but not by

becoming a pharmacist. Before she entered PSHS, she did not know about the

restriction of only being able to select a science course after graduating in high

school. When the teachers explained to her about the lack of scientists in the

Philippines, she felt that it was right for her to become one. Currently, she wants to

be a veterinarian.

Based on the interviews, we can say that school has a significant effect on

the career choices of the students. The first career choice of the first student

interviewed was to become a priest because he first attended a catholic school.

Later, in his high school he was discouraged from pursuing wildlife biology

because he was discouraged by his research class. The other student interviewed

also felt that it was right to pursue a science course after listening to her teachers’
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explanation. This shows that both curriculum and teachers are very effective

factors that influence a PSHS-WVC scholar’s career choice. School can be an

encouraging factor, such as when the boy aspired to become a priest when he was

younger, a discouraging factor, such was when he was discouraged from pursuing

research. This important because the PSHS aims to produce world-class scientists,

but if the teachers or curriculum end up discouraging its students instead, then it

would be one step further away from its goal. The effect of the school is

understandable as it is basically the place where most of a student’s learning takes

place, and is also an excellent simulator of the workplace.

The families of the students in this study were generally supportive of their

children’s career choices. We can see that this allows their children to have a wide

variety of career choices. However, the school limits their choices to only those of

science. The suggestions of their parents are usually considered, but since they are

simply suggestions the students never felt the pressure to comply. It is

recommended that students who were pressured by their parents be interviewed.

The effects of peers in this study were minimal. The opinions of peers were

appreciated by the interviewed, but peer pressure was minimal on both of them. It

can be said that peers have the least amount of influence among the three factors in

this study. It is recommended that students who were affected by peer pressure be

interviewed.

We can say that the school has the most impact on students when it comes

to career-making decisions, but we must also not ignore the influence of parents.

These two have a greatly more significant effect than the effect of peers.
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References
Palos, R., Drobot, L. (2010). The impact of family influence on the career choice of
adolescents. Procedia social and behavioral sciences, 2(2), 3407-3411. doi:
10.1016/j.sbspro.2010.03.524
Middleton, Eric B.; Loughead, Teri A. Parental influence on career development: An integrative framework for adolescent
career counseling. Journal of Career Development, Vol 19(3), 1993, 161-
173. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF01353275

Nucci, LP & Weber, EK. (1995). Social interactions in the home and the development of
young children’s conceptions of the personal. Child Development, 66, 1438-1452.