Exploring the Importance of Career Counseling at Grade-12 Level at a Public Sector School in Sindh, Pakistan

Abstract

The focus of this study is to get an in-depth understanding of the importance and need for Career Counseling at the Grade 12 level because career counseling at this level helps students in selecting the appropriate study program in line with their future career choice. The study was guided by 5 research questions including; what are the perspectives of grade 12 students about career counseling? To what extent career counseling is provided to grade 12 students at school? What are the benefits of career counseling for grade 12 students? What are the issues related to career counseling for grade 12 students? And how do the issues related to career counseling for grade 12 students be resolved? Purposefully selected research participants of this study were 6 students who were studying at grade 12 level at a semi-public sector school of Sukkur city. A qualitative case study approach has been used, with a semi-structured interview guide for collecting data. Data were analyzed by an open coding strategy and is reported thematically. It is anticipated that this study will help students, teachers, parents, educational institutes, and policymakers to a greater extent. Career counseling is becoming people-oriented and so with the findings of this study, policymakers can make new policies and implement them in the system. Future research can be conducted in different public and private sector schools of Sindh. Research participants from different education systems will provide a deeper analysis of different views and perspectives of students in different settings.