Predictors of career choice among student teachers at the University of Dar es Salaam

This study examined the predictors of career choice among student teachers at the University of Dar es Salaam Mwalimu J. K. Nyerere campus. Specifically, the study sought to: (i) establish the sources of career knowledge and self-efficacy (ii) examine the influence of career knowledge on student teachers’ choice of their present career (iii) examine the influence of self-efficacy on student teachers’ choice of their present career, and (iv) examine how the demographic factors influence career choice of student teachers at the University of Dar es Salaam. The study was guided by the Social Cognitive Career Theory developed by Lent, Brown & Hackett (2002) drawing upon Bandura’s self-efficacy theory. Quantitative approach informed by cross sectional survey design was deployed to achieve the objectives of this study. Purposive and simple random sampling techniques were employed to obtain 334 respondents made up of student teachers from the School of Education (SoED), College of Arts and Social Science (CASS) and College of Natural and Applied Science (CoNAS). Data were collected through questionnaire, the questionnaire were coded, entered and scored in the IBM SPSS statistics version 20 whereby descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated during the data analysis. Study findings revealed the following: First, the major sources of career information among the surveyed student teachers were parents, books and peers and the main source of self-efficacy was performance accomplishment. Second, the study identified career knowledge and self-efficacy as significant predictors of student teachers’ career choice. Third, the study revealed that only three demographic variables had significant influence on student teachers’ career choice, namely sex, previous working experience and mother/female guardian’s employment status. The study concludes that knowledge and self-efficacy about career choice are important attributes to facilitate university students’ choice of prospective career. As such, the study calls for the strengthening of career guidance and counselling services in higher education institutions in Tanzania starting while students are in lower levels of education so as to provide appropriate guidance and counselling among students in building their choice of careers.