Assessing the Influential Factors that Guide Students of the University of Education, Winneba, Toward Choosing Teaching Career Path

Abstract

This study examined the multilayered factors that determined the career selection of students at the University of Education, Winneba (UEW), particularly emphasizing the decision-making process for the selection of teaching career paths. The study adopted a concurrent design of the mixed-methods approach. Stratified and simple random sampling techniques (proportional) were utilized to sample 627 level 400 students from six departments. Out of the 627 respondents, 617 submitted completed questionnaires for the study. Purposive sampling technique was also utilized to select 12 students from the sample for interview, two from each department. Frequencies, percentages and regression were used to analyse the quantitative data while qualitative content analysis was used for the qualitative data analysis. The results revealed that avenues for academic progression (n=512, 82.9%), personal attributes (n=488, 79.0%), achievement of career aspiration (n=459, 75.5%), motivated by teachers (n=400, 64.8%) are important influential factors for choosing teaching career path. The findings also revealed that temperament, interest and personal qualities were the personal factors that motivated the students to opt for a teaching career path. It was also revealed that financial challenges and inability to satisfy admission requirements compelled some students to select teacher education programmes. It was discovered that encouragement from family has a positive coefficient (0.085) with a p-value of 0.030, signifying a significant positive relationship between the predictor and outcome variables. It was recommended that the government, NGOs and universities should launch campaigns to educate parents about the need to respect their children's independence in career decisions.