Factors Influencing Trainee Career Choice in TVET Institutions in North Rift Kenya

Abstract

Career choice has always been a very challenging venture for most students in their transition from secondary school to higher learning institutions in most countries. Many factors come to play including self-motivation, influence by peers, parents and even performance in high school examinations. In Kenya, enrolment in market driven courses like engineering and hospitality has remained below capacity despite efforts by the Kenya government to boost it. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors that influenced trainees in their career choice in TVET institutions in North Rift of Kenya with the aim of assisting TVET institutions gain strategies to address skewness witnessed in enrolment in market driven courses. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study constituted of students and TVET providers in the TVET institutions in North Rift Kenya. Stratified random sampling technique was used to group students into the respective courses undertaken in the TVET institutions and simple random sampling technique was applied to select 316 respondents proportionately from the different strata. Questionnaires were the main research instruments used in the collection of data. Data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS and results presented in tabular and graphical forms. The research findings showed that student’s career choice was influenced by seven main factors. Among the recommendations was that secondary schools should come up with a career sensitization programme each year to help learners be better informed on available careers and current trends in the job market.