EXPLORING HIGH SCHOOL CAREER COUNSELING EXPERIENCES AND SOCIOECONOMIC INFLUENCES ON COLLEGE MAJOR SATISFACTION ii

Abstract

In Kazakhstan, the gap between private and public education has become increasingly evident, especially in the way students are assisted in planning their careers and school life. Private schools have expanded in the last few years and have acquired better resources such as good teachers, modern facilities, and career guidance services. At the same time, public schools lag behind. This thesis discusses how high school career counseling experiences, as well as socioeconomic status (SES), influence how satisfied they become with the college majors they finally chose to pursue. The study was conducted through interviews of ten students: five from a private school and five from a public school. What was brought out from the interviews is a clear dichotomy. The private school graduates were more satisfied with what they had studied. Their schools offered official career guidance, and their families were most often situated to provide secondary support, either in the form of knowledgeable advice or access to activities outside of class. Public school graduates, on the other hand, reported receiving minimal guidance in high school and selecting their major based mainly on considerations of cost or a general sense of what might result in a stable job. This research reminds us that career counseling needs to be made available to every school, not just those with means. Students should be able to find out what they are good at and enjoy doing no matter where they come from. Improving guidance services, especially in public schools, might be able to provide enough support so that more young people would feel comfortable and satisfied with the education they choose.