Challenges in the Career Decision Process for Teenagers from Disadvantaged Areas

Abstract

The main scope of the paper is identifying some categories of challenges in career decision process for teenagers from disadvantaged areas. The study purposes are as follows: 1. identifying the decisive factors influencing the career decision and their power in students’ choices; 2. establishing the information resources considered by the students as being useful in choosing their future career; 3. raising students’ awareness of the connection between their school training / career decision and the pandemic context; 4. the impact of training sources and resources on the career decision acknowledged by the students; 5. identifying the students’ position towards their future personal /professional development. The research was conducted by applying an online questionnaire to a group of 11th and 12th Grade students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. The study results will outline how high school students in the target group shape their perception on choosing their future career (including the influence of the elements specific to the pandemic context ) and what resources they use in determining their future career path. The collected data will be considered the basis for the improvement both of future counselling actions with young people from the same category of beneficiaries and of the methodological tools serving these purposes.