Lithuanian Gymnasium Students’ Career and Professional Self-Determination

Abstract

Career education is a very important part of general/comprehensive education. One of the main components of this process is proper students’ preparation for professional choice (professional self-determination). Thus, it is important to know objective and subjective factors determining young persons’ professional self-determination. Such awareness is important and necessary for the school, which accepts responsibility for the formation of students’ professional purposefulness and professional self-determination maturity. Lithuanian gymnasium students have to make an early decision concerning future professional activity. At the beginning of 2018, a complex research was carried out, comprising qualitative and quantitative approaches. Formulating research aim is to analyse Lithuanian gymnasium students’ professional self-determination context. A total of 643 Lithuanian gymnasium 11-12 grade students took part in the research. Apart from the main research instrument (questionnaire) in the research, the researchers presented four open-ended questions. Qualitative data were processed using a quantitative content analysis. Research results revealed that the majority of female and male students thought that to properly choose a career was important, because this was a self-realisation warranty. Regardless of this, choosing a future career, both male and female students most frequently experience personal difficulties. Choosing a future career, one needs information support, different person support and self-awareness help. It has been stated that choosing a career external factors have a greater influence on both female and male students than internal ones. Choosing a career, personality character features have a bigger influence on female students, and a desire to improve, to realise oneself has a greater impact on male students.