ERIC Number: EJ1283296
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2020
Pages: 15
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2158-2440
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Efficacy of Work-Life Orientation: Region and Parents' Education as Background Factors
SAGE Open, v10 n4 Oct-Dec 2020
This study detected and analyzed changes that took place in students' attitudes toward their future education and occupation after completion of the 3-year orientation to work-life through Grades 7 to 9 in different regions in Finland. The changes in the correlations of attitudes were seen as both precursors and consequences of the students' engagement in the work-life orientation (WLO) program. The changes were postulated not to correlate with the respondents' region and parents' education. The empirically measured changes in students' attitudes served as indicators of the efficacy of WLO. Efficacy referred to the power of WLO to produce effects in the form of changes in attitudes toward educational and occupational choices. Consequently, tentative hypotheses were formed to be tested through empirical observations (measurement points) of WLO. WLO was expected to positively affect student motivation and to guide idiographic decision-making concerning personal goals. Using an alpha level of 0.05, an independent samples test was conducted to evaluate whether independence, flexibility, and self-direction differed significantly in the measurement groups. For the WLO effect sizes (ES) estimation and for the comparison of the groups, Cohen's "ds" were calculated. WLO had a small to medium effect on independence and flexibility, and a near zero effect on self-direction. No notable regional differences in the variance of the students' attitudes were detected although the social environments differed considerably with regard to industrial structure. The statistically significant proportional differences between the parents' educational levels did not correlate with the efficacy of WLO.
Descriptors: Goal Orientation, Work Experience, Career Choice, Occupational Aspiration, Vocational Interests, Academic Aspiration, Student Attitudes, Attitude Change, Secondary School Students, School Location, Geographic Regions, Parent Background, Educational Attainment, Self Management, Metacognition, Social Environment, Peer Influence, Program Effectiveness, Foreign Countries
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Finland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A