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Factors Influencing Enrollment in a Vocationally Oriented Course: Perceptions of Students and Teachers
Author(s) -
Johnson Faye C. Stucy
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
home economics research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1552-3934
pISSN - 0046-7774
DOI - 10.1177/1077727x8701600106
Subject(s) - likert scale , psychology , perception , test (biology) , set (abstract data type) , scale (ratio) , medical education , variance (accounting) , mathematics education , medicine , developmental psychology , paleontology , physics , accounting , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , computer science , business , biology , programming language
The purpose of this study was to test hypotheses set forth in the Social Learning Theory of Career Selection regarding the importance of various factors on stu dents' decision to enroll in a food‐service‐related course. Seventy‐five instructors and 1,097 students throughout California completed the 33‐point questionnaires which queried demographic characteristics and, on a five‐point Likert‐type scale, the importance of the factors. A 69 percent completion rate was attained. Anal ysis of variance (p < 0.05) and Least Significant Differences test were utilized to analyze the data. Findings indicate (a) interests and persons close to students were most influential, (b) teachers and students perceived similarly the order but not degree of importance of factors, (c) teachers considered school‐related factors to be influential, (d) nonwhite populations were receptive to influences, and (e) females perceived little influence from expected wages. These findings will allow individuals involved with career guidance of students to increase their effectiveness by better understanding the factors that motivate students to enroll.