The career maturity of Grade 9 learners in selected schools at Keetmanshoop, Namibia

Career maturity is an individual’s ability to make proper career choices and includes awareness of what is required to make career decisions, as well as the extent to which one’s choices are both realistic and consistent over time. The first aim of the present study was to obtain information regarding career maturity. Secondly, it aimed at establishing whether there were differences in career maturity between the genders, types of school and school performance. Cluster sampling was employed to identify natural occurring schools, followed by random sampling to select the schools and the learners who participated in the study. The total sampled population consisted of 138 Grade 9 junior secondary school learners in Keetmanshoop, Namibia, comprising of 22 private school learners and 116 government school learners. Langley’s Career Development Questionnaire (CDQ) (1990) was employed to assess the career maturity of the learners. Descriptive statistics (median, mode, means and standard deviations) and inferential statistics (t-test) that included the CDQ five dimensions was utilised to analyse data. A t-test measured the statistical differences in the career maturity of the respondents across gender and the two educational settings. To investigate school performance, a correlation study was conducted to assess the relationship between career maturity and academic Grade average. Results revealed an average level of career maturity for learners in all CDQ dimensions. A significant difference for gender was found, with males exhibiting a higher-level of career maturity than females. A significant difference for school type between private and government schools was found, with private schools indicating a higher-level career maturity than government schools. Findings revealed that Grade point average was a relevant factor to predict career maturity due to the positive relationship between the two variables. Counsellors should thus pay additional attention to the career guid