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Perceptions of career intentions among Indian students

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Sarada Chengalvala Satyanarayana Rentala

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PERCEPTION OF CAREER INTENTIONS AMONG INDIAN STUDENTS

Dr. Sarada Chengalvala1

1. Associate Professor in Commerce, VSR Government Degree and PG College, Movva
(Krishna District), Andhra Pradesh - 521 135 (India);
Corresponding Author: csarada59@gmail.com; Mobile No: +91 95024 06323

2. Dr. Satyanarayana Rentala2

Program Manager – South Zone; Piramal Foundation for Education Leadership, A-56;
Panchseel Enclave; New Delhi – 110 017
Email: rentsatya@gmail.com; Mobile No: +91 73392 17534

Abstract

Career choices comprise a significant aspect of decision making among Indian students for
fulfilling professional and personal aspirations. In this research an attempt is made to understand
the factors that impact the decision making regarding career intentions among Indian students in
a technical institute of national importance in South India. A sample of 114 under graduate and
post graduate students was included in this research. Three important factors concerning career
choices – personality factors; environmental factors and availability of opportunities were tested
using a structured questionnaire. Analysis of the findings indicates that availability of
opportunities is considered as the important factor that influences the career intentions of Indian
students.

Key Words:
Career Intentions; Environment; Opportunity; Personality
INTRODUCTION
Career is the progress and actions taken by a person throughout a lifetime, especially
those related to that person's occupations. A career is often composed of the jobs held, titles
earned and work accomplished over a long period of time, rather than just referring to one
position. Career choice is influenced by many factors, including life context, personal aptitudes,
and educational attainment. Whether college-bound or work-bound, meeting the challenge of this
developmental milestone is critical in youth's lives.
Career development, for most people, is a lifelong process of engaging the work world
through choosing among employment opportunities made available to them. Each individual
undertaking the process is influenced by many factors, including the context in which they live,
their personal aptitudes, and educational attainment. A major turning point in youth's lives
involves the career choice that they make while in high school. Individual choices have been
related according to these following factors. Factors may include the salary, other benefits,
location, opportunities for career advancement, etc. Subjective factor theory suggests that
decision making is dominated by social and psychological factors. The status of the job,
reputation of the organization and other similar factors plays an important role.
Career selection is one of many important choices students will make in determining
future plans. This decision will impart them throughout their lives. The essence of who the
student is will revolve around what the student want to do with their life- long work. The choice
of career has been a serious problem among the students in India. No matter what one‘s age is,
the choice of career or desire is an important question for everybody. Students like many other
young adults are always worried about what they will do with their lives, the kind of adult they
will become. How the young people of today meet the problems of tomorrow will depend upon
the amount of success they make in planning for that tomorrow. Students need general
orientation into the world of work through the curriculum. The choice of career is a delicate issue
that requires caution and serious considerations. The kind of career the youths pursue can affect
their lives in many ways.
Various factors that influence the career choice are as follows:
1. Role of Co-Curricular Activities
2. Gender
3. Interests
 4. Personality Type
5. Previous Experiences
6. Social and Economic Conditions
7. Family Influence
8. Remuneration as a Driving force
9. Career in a Foreign Location or in India
10. Profit v/s Non-Profit Organisation

REVIEW OF LITERATURE
Amani and Mkumbo (2016) findings of this study reinforce the importance and
applicability of the Theory of Planned Behaviour in predicting behaviours in various contexts.
Students‘ career intentions were highly determined by how they perceived their prospective
careers. Furthermore, the results of this study imply that positive perceptions lead to stronger
behavioural intentions and persistence in performance than negatives ones.
Davey (2011) identified the differences between African and European students with
regard to their entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes towards entrepreneurship, role models and
entrepreneurial experience. It sets the scene for future comparative research between developing
and developed countries in the area of graduate entrepreneurship. The results indicate that
students from developing/emerging economies are more likely to envisage future careers as
entrepreneurs and are more positive towards entrepreneurship than their counterparts from
industrialised countries.
Farkas and Gubik (2016) found that students studying in higher education in Hungary
intended to work as employees after graduation (83%) and exhibited low entrepreneurial
intentions. The responses indicate that students would like to gain some experience as employees
and start a business by exploiting the experience obtained.
Gubik and Farkas (2016) findings confirm the formulated hypotheses: the mean
Entrepreneurship Index of students with a family business background is significantly higher
than of those without a business background.
Hirschi and Fischer (2013) found that despite the fact that entrepreneurship is generally
regarded as a way to modernize the economic systems of nations, enhance the technological
knowledge of societies, and reduce inefficiencies in the economic system. Study makes a
contribution to the controversy that the motives of men and women entrepreneurs were found
remarkably similar in some studies while others reported gender differences, for example work
values differed in relation to entrepreneurial career interests.
Ilouga et al, (2014) results show a slight difference distinguishing students who are
considering an entrepreneurial career. The difference in the level of resistance to the uncertainty
about the future shows a statistically significant difference between students who want to shift to
an entrepreneurial career and those who wish to continue their studies. Results show that the
commitment to the profession of entrepreneur is considered as long, complicated, loaded with
obstacles, difficult to achieve, and requires the volitional individual skills.
Ramsey (2013) found significant correlation between emotional intelligence and the
career intentions of school of business college students was not found. Interpersonal and
intrapersonal skills are needed more than job-related knowledge and skills. Emotional
intelligence appears to be an excellent framework or construct to help college students to become
successful in the global marketplace.
Sharma (2014) concluded that students who fell in the high income group showed higher
intention of studying further in comparison to students from the low and middle income groups.
The study also revealed that there is no impact of human capital (measured as father‘s
occupation) and man power capital (measured as family size) of the family on the career
intentions of students of high income groups of Uttarakhand state in India.
Wilson et al, (2007) found that explicitly incorporating entrepreneurial self-efficacy into
the pre- and post-measurement of entrepreneurship training programs and courses appears to be
important, and will serve to provide educators with better information about continuous
improvement and effectiveness.
A study by Zahari (2005) reports preliminary results on an ongoing research project on
Malaysian hospitality students‘ perceptions of the industry as career choice. In other words, this
study explored the moderating variables that influence a student‘s decisions to enter into a
hospitality management programme and subsequently pursue a career in the hospitality industry.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This research work sought to provide answers to the following questions –
a) How does the environment affect career choices among students?
b) Is opportunity an important factor in determining the choice of career among
students?
c) What influence does personality has in career choosing among students?
The objectives of this research are:
a. To identify the influence of environment on career choice among students.
b. To examine the effect of opportunity on the choice of career among students.
c. To investigate the influence of personality on career choice among students.

Null Hypothesis 1 (HO1): There is insignificant relationship between personality and choice of
career among students.
Alternate Hypothesis 1 (HA1): There is significant relationship between personality and choice
of career among students.
Null Hypothesis 2 (HO2): There is insignificant correlation between opportunity and career
choice among students.
Alternate Hypothesis 2 (HA2): There is significant correlation between opportunity and career
choice among students.
Null Hypothesis 3 (HO3): There is insignificant relationship between environment and
choice of career among students.
Alternate Hypothesis 3 (HA3): There is significant relationship between environment
and choice of career among students.
The primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire. The
analysis was made on 28 statements on the environment, personality and opportunity on the
choice of career based on the Likert scale. 9 statements were included for environment, 9
statements for personality and 10 statements regarding opportunity. Using convenience
sampling, a sample size 114 respondents was considered for the research from a technical
institute of national importance in South India.

Analysis and Discussion

Table 1 presents a summary of the demographic profile of the respondents. It can be
noted from Table 1 that 72 per cent of the respondents are male and 28 per cent are female. This
is due to the fact that all the respondents belong to an engineering institute of national
importance in South India which constitutes relatively more number of male students in
comparison to female students.

Table 1: Demographic Profile of Respondents

Demographic Variable Parameter Frequency Percentage
Gender Male 82 72
Female 32 28
Educational Status UG 98 86
PG 16 14
Present Course Bio Technology 12 11
Chemical
6
Engineering 5
Civil Engineering 12 11
CSE 16 14
ECE 12 11
EEE 18 16
Mathematics 4 4
Mechanical 20 18
Metallurgy 10 9
School of
4
Management 4
Family Income < 1 Lakh 20 18
1 - 2 Lakhs 6 5
2 - 4 Lakhs 14 12
4 - 6 Lakhs 18 16
> 6 Lakhs 56 49
Family Size 2-3 members 16 14
4-5 members 92 81
6-7 members 2 2
>7 4 3
 86 per cent of the respondents are under graduate engineering students while 14 per cent
represent the post graduate category (M.Tech and MBA). Majority of the respondents are
pursuing engineering in Electrical and Electronic (EEE); Electronics and Communication (ECE)
and Computer Science Engineering (CSE) reflecting the general trends for preference for
engineering branches across the country. Nearly 50 per cent of the students belong to
economically privileged families with an annual income of more than Rs. 6 lakhs. Many
respondents belong to nuclear families which reflect the general social trends in the country.

Table 2: Reliability Test

Factor Cronbach’s alpha
Personality 0.737
Opportunity 0.702
Environment 0.749

From Table 2, it is noted that the alpha coefficient thus the 10 items
under opportunity is 0.702, suggesting that the items have relatively high internal
reliability (i.e., Acceptable). Similarly, 9 items under personality have an alpha coefficient of
0.737 and the 9 items under environment exhibit an alpha coefficient value of 0.749, suggesting
that the items have relatively high internal reliability (i.e., Excellent).

Table 3: Impact of Personality on Career Intentions

Calculated Value Degrees of Freedom Table Value (α = 0.05)
Pearson Chi-
33.628 36 50.998
Square

It can be observed from From Table 3 that the calculated Chi-Square value is smaller than table
value at 5% significance level (33.628 < 50.998). Hence we reject the null hypothesis
and hence it is concluded that there is enough evidence to suggest a relationship between
personality and choice of career among students.
 Table 4: Impact of Opportunity on Career Intentions
Calculated Value Degrees of Freedom Table Value (α = 0.05)
Pearson Chi-Square 49.338 45 61.66

From Table 4 it is observed that the calculated Chi-Square value is smaller than table
value at 5% significance level (49.338 < 61.656). Hence, we conclude that there is
enough evidence to suggest a correlation between opportunity and career choice among
students.

Table 5: Impact of Environment on Career Intentions

Calculated Value Degrees of Freedom Table Value (α = 0.05)
Pearson Chi Square 29.805 36 51

From Table 5 it is observed that the calculated Chi-Square value is smaller than table
value at 5% significance level (29.805 < 50.998). Hence, it is concluded that there is
enough evidence to suggest a relationship between environment and choice of career
among students.

Conclusions
The major findings of this research indicate that personality factors, environmental
factors and availability of opportunities have a great influence on the perceptions of career
choices among Indian students. Among the various factors, issues concerning opportunities
available for the students are seen as given top priority by the students. Analysis of the
composite scores of environment, opportunity and personality shows
that students believed personality affects their career choice the most. The research
can be extended to students from other institutes of national importance to cover a more large
and diversified set of respondents. This will help in a better way to understand the aspirations of
the present generation of Indian students. This will help academic institutions and the industry to
fine tune their products to cater to the needs of Indian students.
 References

Jaqueline Amani & Kitila A. Mkumbo: ―Predictors of Career Intentions among

Undergraduate Students in Tanzania‖, Journal of Education and Human
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Lalit Sharma (2014). Impact of family Capital on youth entrepreneurship- A study on

Uttarakhand State, India”, Sharma Journal of Global Entrepreneurship Research, 4:14

Andrea S. Gubik & Szilveszter Farkas (2014). Entrepreneurial Activities of Hungarian

Students‖, Management, Enterprise and Benchmarking – In the 21ST Century,
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Davey, T., Plewa, C., Struwig, M. (2011). Entrepreneurship perceptions and career intentions of
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Szilveszter Farkas, Andrea S. Gubik (2013) Entrepreneurship intention and activity of students in
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Andreas Hirschi and Sebastian Fischer (2013). Work Values as Predictors of

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Faculty, Division of Ph.D. studies in Global Leadership, College of Professional
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Mohd Salehuddin Mohd Zahari*, Mohd Shazali Sharif and Tuan Ahmad Tuan
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