Education
Research Paper
E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 5 | Issue : 2 | Feb 2019
CAREER MATURITY AMONG ADOLESCENTS IN RELATION TO THEIR SELF-CONCEPT AND ANXIETY Dr. Manju Gehlawat Assistant Professor, C. R. College of Education, Rohtak, India. ABSTRACT Career maturity among adolescents is of prime concern as they constitute an important part of the society. In the current scenario the career education and career guidance programmes have been reorganized for the secondary and senior secondary students in the context of the recent changes in the education system. In the present study, the researcher has tried to explore the relationship between career maturity, self-concept and anxiety of the adolescents. The study also aimed at comparing career maturity, self-concept and anxiety of the adolescents with respect to their gender, type of schools and academic stream. Career maturity was treated as the dependent variable and the independent variables comprised of self-concept, anxiety, type of schools. For the purpose of investigation, descriptive survey method was employed. The sample comprised of 120 students of class XII studying in CBSE affiliated schools located in Rohtak city. Multi-Stage Random Sampling Technique was used to select the sample for the present study. Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) developed by Gupta (2013), Self-concept Questionnaire (SCQ) developed by Ahluwalia (2005) and Sinha's Comprehensive Anxiety Test (SCAT) by Sinha & Sinha (2003) were used to measure the career maturity, self-concept and anxiety of the students. The obtained data was analyzed using Means, SD's, t-test and Pearson's Product Moment Correlation. The findings of the study revealed: i) Significant differences were found between career maturity of adolescents studying in government and private schools ii) No significant differences were reported between the self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government and private schools iii) There was found a significant and positive correlation between career maturity and self-concept; career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools iv) The study reported a small and substantial relationship between self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools v) The self-concept of adolescents studying in the private schools was found to be moderately associated with their level of anxiety. KEY WORDS: Career Maturity, Self-concept, Anxiety & Type of Schools. INTRODUCTION: Career maturity plays an important role in deciding the future of adolescents. Adolescence is the period when a major turning point takes places in life of a student because the career will depend upon the subject selected at this level. Any mistake committed due to pressure from family, or from indecisiveness on the part of adolescent, can block his growth and development in future. Youth in India, in the absence of proper attitudes and competencies to deal with career problem are adding to the unemployment figure in the country. Studies have consistently found that adolescents perceive a range of career barriers such as ethnic and gender discrimination, financial problems, family attitudes, lack of ability and lack of educational opportunities. In the present scenario, the importance of the career education and career guidance programmes have been reorganized for secondary and senior secondary students in the context of recent changes in the Indian education system which aims at bridging the gap between education and life and making education more work oriented. In the present system, the ten years general schooling focuses on socially useful productive work and workexperience programme. After this stage, the students have to make a choice of courses between academic and vocational streams available in school for two years of senior secondary education. Many variables such as self-concept, anxiety, type of schools influence the career maturity of the adolescents and are crucial to child's achievement. In this regard, Kaur (1992) investigated the predictors of career maturity and found that selfconcept and locus of control were the significant predictors of career maturity with a mixed sample, whereas no sex differences were found. Kaur and Dhillon (2005) found a significant relationship between career maturity competence and career maturity guidance as well as self-concept and achievement motivation. Dillard (2006) studied relationship between career maturity and self-concepts of suburban and urban middle- and urban lower-class preadolescent black males. The results indicated relatively weak-positive relationships between career maturity and self-concept. Hasan (2006) concluded that self-concept, occupational aspiration and gender played a significant role in generating variance in career maturity of the adolescents. Ybrandt (2008) highlighted the need of promoting a positive self-concept in every adolescent. Shekhar & Zubaidah (2012) reported that there were no significant differences between the self-concept of students studying in government and private schools. Sirohi (2013) reported that the students of private schools show higher career maturity as compared to the students of government schools. Bihari (2014) found significant differences in the mean scores of anxiety of government and private school students. Migunde, Qthuon & Mbagaya (2015) found that the students from public schools are more career mature and have lower career indecision than their counterparts from private schools. Thus, an attempt has been made in the present study to study the career maturity of the adolescents in relation to their self-concept, anxiety, type of schools.
strain. Adolescents are worried about their future. They always try to find a special or proper place in the society and want to develop their self-concept. They want to have recognition in the family, peer-group and the society. Career maturity is another cause of their anxiety as it is related to the vocational efficiency of an individual. Adolescents suffer from mental dilemmas while opting for any occupation as their future career. Choosing an appropriate occupation is a process spanning throughout the life because occupation is not only means of livelihood but also a way of life for adolescents. Therefore, vocational education is must for adolescents. They need proper vocational guidance because their future depends upon career guidance provided to them. It is helpful in providing information about occupations and developing their interests, abilities and aptitudes. Further, there is high level of anxiety in children during adolescence period about their career. Career maturity prepares them for selecting proper career goals according to their aptitudes, interests and personality. Thus, the researcher made an attempt to study career maturity of adolescents in relation to certain demographic variables. Also, it is assumed that the present study will help the parents, teachers and school authorities to identify and channelize the career maturity of the adolescent students. Operational Definitions of the Terms Used: Adolescents: Adolescence refers to the period of development and adjustment during the transitional period between childhood and adulthood. In the present study, the term adolescent refers to the students of class 12th. Career Maturity: Career maturity is the readiness to make appropriate decisions regarding the career. Self-concept: Self-concept refers to an individual's perception about oneself. It also signifies his way of thinking, felling and behaving. Anxiety: In the present study it has been defined as the natural physiological and psychological response to certain situations. Variables Involved: Ÿ Dependent Variable: Ÿ
a) Career Maturity
Independent Variables: a) Self-concept b) Anxiety c) Type of Schools
RATIONALE OF THE STUDY: Adolescence stage is the most important period of life. It is full of stress and Copyright© 2019, IERJ. This open-access article is published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License which permits Share (copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format) and Adapt (remix, transform, and build upon the material) under the Attribution-NonCommercial terms.
International Education & Research Journal [IERJ]
35
Research Paper
E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 5 | Issue : 2 | Feb 2019
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY: 1. To compare the career maturity of adolescents studying in government and private schools. 2. To compare the self-concept of adolescents studying in government and private schools. 3. To compare the anxiety of adolescents studying in government and private schools. 4. To study the relationship between a) career maturity and self-concept b) career maturity and anxiety c) anxiety and self-concept of adolescents of government schools. 5. To study the relationship between a) career maturity and self-concept b) career maturity and anxiety c) anxiety and self-concept of adolescents of private schools. HYPOTHESES: Ho1 There exists no significant difference between career maturity of adolescents studying in government and private schools.
Statistical Techniques Used: Means, SD's and t-test were used to compare career maturity, self-concept and anxiety of adolescents with respect to their type of schools. Also, Pearson's Product Moment Correlation was used to determine the relationship between the career maturity, self-concept and anxiety of the adolescents studying in government and private schools. Data Analysis and Interpretation: The objectives of the study were to compare the career maturity, self-concept and anxiety of adolescents with respect to their type of schools. The study also aimed to determine the relationship between the career maturity and self-concept; career maturity and anxiety; self-concept and anxiety of the adolescents studying in government and private schools. The means and S.D.'s of different subsamples have been presented in the Table-1 and graphically represented in Fig.1. Table-1: 't'-values for the mean scores of Career Maturity, Self-concept and Anxiety of Adolescents with respect to their Type of Schools Variables Career Maturity
Ho2 There exists no significant difference between the self-concept of adolescents studying in government and private schools.
Self-concept
Ho3 There exists no significant difference between anxiety of adolescents studying in government and private schools.
Anxiety
Ho4(a) There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and selfconcept of adolescents studying in government schools. Ho4(b) There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools. Ho4(c) There exists no significant relationship between self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools. Ho5(a) There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and selfconcept of adolescents studying in private schools. Ho5(b) There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools. Ho5(c) There exists no significant relationship between anxiety and self-concept of adolescents studying in private schools. METHODOLOGY: Descriptive survey method was employed in the present study. Population: The population for the present study comprised of all the adolescents of class 12th studying in the schools located in Rohtak city. Sample: A sample of 120 adolescents (60 each from govt. and private schools) of class XII studying in schools situated in Rohtak city was drawn using multi-stage stratified random sampling technique. The break-up details of the sample are as follows:
Group Govt. Private Govt. Private
N 60 60 60 60
Mean 27.36 33.40 48.45 47.96
S.D. 6.31 7.47 7.45 8.44
Govt.
60
34.43
11.12
Private
60
44.88
12.08
't'-value 4.777* 0.332 (NS) 4.929*
NS=Not Significant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels; * = Significant at 0.05 and 0.01 levels Table-1 reveals that the 't'-value for career maturity of adolescents studying in government and private schools is 4.777 which is significant at both the 0.05 and 0.01 levels. It indicates that the students belonging to government and private schools differ significantly with respect to their career maturity. Thus, the null hypothesis, H01, “There is no significant difference in the career maturity of adolescents studying in government and private schools” is not retained. Further, the mean scores reveal that adolescents studying in the private schools (33.40) possessed higher level of career maturity than the adolescents studying in government schools (27.36). The present finding is also supported by Sirohi (2013) who concluded that the students of private schools show higher career maturity as compared to the students of government schools. However, Migunde, Qthuon & Mbagaya (2015) found that the students from public schools are more career mature and have lower career indecision than their counterparts from private schools. It is also evident from the above table that the 't'-value 0.332 for the self-concept of adolescents studying in government and private schools is not significant. It indicates that male and female students do not differ significantly with respect to their self-concept. Thus, the null hypothesis, H02, “There exists no significant difference between the self-concept of adolescents studying in the government and private schools” is retained. Thus, it can be concluded that the adolescents studying in government and private schools possess the same level of the self-concept. This finding is in tune with the findings of Shekhar & Zubaidah (2012) who reported that no significant differences were found between the self-concept of students studying in government and private schools. However, in context of the mean scores it was found that the private school students were having higher selfconcept (8.44) than the adolescents studying in government schools (7.45). Table-1 reported that the 't'-value for the anxiety of the adolescents studying in government and private schools is 4.929 which is significant at both 0.05 and 0.01 levels. Thus, the null hypothesis, H03, “There exists no significant difference between anxiety of adolescents studying in govt. and private schools” is not retained. It indicates that the adolescents studying in government and private schools differ significantly with respect to their anxiety. This result is substantiated by the findings of Bihari (2014) found significant differences in the mean scores of anxiety of government and private school students. However, the mean scores reveal that the adolescents studying in private schools (12.08) were found to have more anxiety than their counterparts studying in the govt schools (11.12).
Tools Used: Personal Data sheet prepared by the researcher to collect information about the demographic variables of the respondents.
Ÿ
Ÿ
Career Maturity Inventory (CMI) developed by Dr. Nirmala Gupta (2005) to assess the career-maturity.
Ÿ
Children's Self-concept Scale (CSCS) developed by Prof. S.P Ahluwalia (2003) to assess the self-concept.
Ÿ
Sinha's Comprehensive Anxiety Test (SCAT) developed by Dr. A.K.P. Sinha and Dr. L.N.K. Sinha (2002) was used to measure the anxiety.
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Fig. 1: Mean Scores of Career Maturity, Self-concept and Anxiety of Adolescents studying in Govt. And Private Schools
International Education & Research Journal [IERJ]
Research Paper
E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 5 | Issue : 2 | Feb 2019
Table-2: Coefficients of Correlation between Career Maturity, Self-concept and Anxiety of Adolescents studying in Government Schools jb Variables
Career Maturity
Self-concept
Anxiety
Career Maturity
1.000
0.740*
0.834*
Self-concept
0.740*
1.000
0.587*
Anxiety
0.834*
0.587*
1.000
4.
Significant and positive relationship was found between career maturity and self-concept of adolescents studying in government schools.
5.
There was found a positive and highly significant correlation between the career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools.
6.
The study reported a small and substantial relationship between self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools.
7.
A highly significant and positive degree of correlation was found between career maturity and self-concept of adolescents studying in private schools.
8.
The study revealed a positive and high degree of relationship between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools.
9.
The self-concept of adolescents studying in private schools was found to be moderately associated with their level of anxiety.
*Significant at both 0.05 and 0.01 levels The Table-2 depicts that coefficient of correlation between career maturity and self-concept of adolescents studying in government schools is 0.740 which is significant at both 0.05 and 0.01 levels of significance. So, the null hypothesis H04(a),“ There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and self-concept of adolescents studying in government schools” is not retained. Hence, there exists a marked and positive relationship between career maturity and selfconcept of adolescents studying in government schools. This result is in tune with the findings of Kaur and Dhillon (2005) found a significant relationship between career maturity and self-concept of the school students. The above table also indicates that co-efficient of correlation between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools is 0.834 which is significant at both the levels. So, the null hypothesis H04(b),“ There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools ” is not retained. Hence, there exists a positive and highly significant correlation between the career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools. A close persual of the Table-2 reveals that the coefficient of correlation between self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools is 0.587 indicating a small but substantial relationship between them. Therefore, the null hypothesis H04(c),“ There exists no significant relationship between self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools” is not retained. So, it can be concluded that there is small and substantial relationship between selfconcept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools. Table-3: Coefficients of Correlation between Career Maturity, Self-concept and Anxiety of Adolescents studying in Private Schools Variables Career Maturity Self-conceptAnxiety Variables
Career Maturity
Self-concept
Anxiety
Career Maturity
1.000
0.814*
0.738*
Self-concept
0.814*
1.000
0.601*
Anxiety
0.738*
0.601*
1.000
*Significant at both 0.05 and 0.01 levels An examination of the Table-3 reveals that there is a highly significant and positive degree of correlation between career maturity and self-concept of adolescents studying in private schools with coefficient of correlation as 0.814 which is significant at both 0.05 and 0.01 levels. Therefore, hypothesis H05(a),“There exists no significant relationship between career maturity and selfconcept of adolescents studying in private schools” is not retained The present result is in contrast with the findings of Dillard (2006) who found relatively weak-positive relationships between career maturity and self-concept. The coefficient of correlation 0.738 (vide Table-3) between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools is found to be significant at both the levels. Therefore, the null hypothesis H05(b),“There is no significant relationship career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools” is not retained. Further, it is also revealed that a positive and high degree of relationship exists between career maturity and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools. Table-3 depicts that there is a moderate and positive relationship between selfconcept and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools having coefficient of correlation as 0.601 which is significant at both 0.05 & 0.01 levels. Therefore, the null hypothesis H05(c),“There is no significant relationship self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in private schools” is not retained. Thus, it can also be concluded that the self-concept of adolescents studying in private schools moderately is associated with their level of anxiety.
Educational Implications: The present study has educational implications especially for adolescents of senior secondary schools. It revealed that gender, type of school, stream, selfconcept and anxiety have an effect on the career maturity of adolescents. The teachers and parents must be aware to provide the vocational/career guidance to the adolescents because it is very necessary for their future and developing career maturity among them. Adolescents with high career maturity were found to be better in their selfconcept as compared to the students with low self-concept. This implies the teachers should pay personal attention to guide the adolescents with low career maturity. These adolescents should be given proper guidance and counselling by the school authorities. They should be motivated by their teachers and parents to develop a clear understanding of different vocations. Every effort and contribution of the adolescents from low career maturity group should be acknowledged and appreciated by the teacher during counselling to enhance their self-concept. But the adolescents belonging to high career maturity group should not be neglected at the same time. They should also be encouraged by their teachers and parents to maintain and upgrade their performance level. Therefore, group discussions and career talks should be organized grouping adolescents with high and low career maturity together. This will help the adolescents with high career maturity to utilize their energies in right direction and to bridge the gap between the teacher and the important section of the society. The study also implies that parents, teachers and teacher educators should make special efforts to raise the self-concept of adolescents. Efforts should be made by the teachers to provide a platform to adolescents with low self-concept for selfexpression through classroom experiences, brain storming sessions, tutorial groups. The extracurricular activities like debates, symposium, paper presentation and discussions etc. are vital in building up their self-concept. Through these academic and co-curricular activities, the teachers should appreciate effort of the adolescents in the form of praise or rewards. These positive reinforcers will be helpful to enhance their self-concept and ultimately their career maturity too. The fact that the adolescents constitute on important part of the society can't be denied. But there is a high anxiety level among them about their career. Due to this anxiety and stress they are unable to focus on their career so teachers and parents need to be very polite and helpful to them. Regular guidance and counselling should be provided by the school authorities to adolescents. The teachers and parents should help them whenever they needed. They should not ignore their problems and organize self-development classes for them so as to build up their self-confidence and utilise their anxiety. REFERENCES: 1.
Ahluwalia, S. P. (2003). Children’s Self-concept Scale. Agra: National Psychological Corporation.
2.
Bihari, S. (2014). Academic Anxiety among Secondary School Students with reference to Gender, Habitat and Types of School. International Journal of Education and Psychological Research (IJEPR), 3(4), 30-32.
3.
Gupta, N. (2005). Career Maturity Inventory. Agra: National Psychological Corporation.
4.
Hasan, B. (2006). Career Maturity of Indian Adolescents as a Function of SelfConcept, Vocational Aspiration and Gender. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, Vol. 32 (2), pp. 127-134.
5.
Kaur, R. and Dhillon, U. (2005). Career maturity of school children. Journal of the Indian Academy of Applied Psychology, 31 (1-2), 71-76.
6.
FINDINGS OF THE STUDY: 1. Significant differences were found in the career maturity of adolescents studying in government and private schools. Private school students were found to be more mature about their career as compared to their counterparts
Migunde, Q., Qthuon, L. and Mbagaya, C. (2015). Career maturity and Career Decision Making Status of Secondary School Students in Kisumu Municipality, Kenya. Educational Research, 6(3), 50-54.
7.
Shekhar, C., Shehna, S. & Zubaidah, S. (2012). Self-concept and mental health of school students under the impact of television viewing, International Journal of Psychological Studies, 4(4), 63-68.
2.
8.
Sinha, A. K. P. and Sinha, L. N. K. (2002). Sinha’s Comprehensive Anxiety Test. Agra: National Psychological Corporation.
9.
Sirohi, V. (2013). Vocational guidance and career maturity among secondary school students: an Indian experience, Annual International Interdisciplinary Conference.
No significant differences were reported between the self-concept and anxiety of adolescents studying in government schools. However, in the context of the mean scores it was found that female adolescents possessed higher level of anxiety than their male counterparts.
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Research Paper
E-ISSN No : 2454-9916 | Volume : 5 | Issue : 2 | Feb 2019
AIIC 2013, 24-26 April, Azores, Portugal. 10. Ybrandt, H. (2008). The relation between self-concept and social functioning in adolescence, Journal of Adolescence, 31(1), 1-16. 11. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0001879176900580 12. http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/bitstream/10603/169876/7/07_chapter%202.pdf
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