The Impact of Family Background on the Occupational Aspirations of Secondary School Students in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State Nigeria

A lot of students may have aspired for a particular career path but may have been stalled by alot of push-backs from the family level. These push-backs however, may be orchestrated by anumber of deliberate or uncontrollable factors that is within or outside the grasp of the parents.Hence, this study investigated the impact of family background on the occupational aspirationsof secondary school students in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. The studyprovides answers to questions of: what is the relationship between the family’s financialbackground and the student’s occupational aspiration; does parents’ personal career influencestudent’s occupational aspirations; does the level of students’ parents’ education impact thechoice of occupation they enforce on their children, and does the family belief/culture have anyinfluence on the choice of students’ occupational aspirations? The population of the studycomprises of senior secondary school students in Ondo West Local Government Area of OndoState. The sample of the study was 90 senior secondary school students drawn from Commercial,Arts and science classes respectively in Demonstration Secondary School, Ondo. Questionnairewas the major instrument for data collection. Data collected were analyzed using mean andstandard deviation. Based on the analysis, the following major findings were made: (i) There is alink between families’ financial background and students’ occupational aspirations in secondaryschools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State, (ii) parents’ personal careerinfluences students’ occupational aspiration in Senior Secondary Schools in Ondo West LocalGovernment Area of Ondo State, (iii) parents’ level of education impact the choice of occupationthey enforce on students in Senior Secondary Schools in Ondo West Local Government Area ofOndo State, (iv) family culture/belief does not influence students’ occupational aspirations inSecondary Schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. Based on the findings,it was recommended that financial support programs for families with limited financialresources should be implemented. Scholarships, grants, or other financial aid initiatives couldbe introduced to help students pursue their desired career paths without being hindered byfinancial constraints and that parents should provide a liberal ground for students to choose acareer of their choice based on their intellectual strength and desire