A SURVEY OF GEORGIAN STUDENTS' CAREER CHOICES

The article reviews career guidance as a support mechanism for professional education and considers it as a necessary tool to choose the right career. The need of providing advisory service to young people and adolescents regarding professional guidance, identifying strengths and weaknesses, realizing one’s interests and inclinations may arise at various stages of life: after the completion of basic level, finishing secondary school, starting a professional career, changing a job, career planning, starting a family, unemployment. In each of these situations young people and adolescents may need help from professional consultants.

Within the scope of the article secondary and tertiary level students and parents from Georgia have been surveyed. The questionnaires were designed to identify students’ and parents’ attitudes towards professional orientation classes, how they evaluate the importance of career guidance at school, which grades they consider most suitable for professional orientation classes. The survey attempts to find out who gives advice to Georgian secondary-level students when making career choices from students’ and parents’ perspectives. Tertiary level students were also surveyed in an attempt to find out what or who influenced them when choosing careers and to evaluate their satisfaction with their decisions. It also looks at the level of parents’ involvement in the implementation of professional guidance at schools.

Through the analysis and processing of qualitative questionnaires we summed up the main challenges and problems that hinder making meaningful career choices. The article draws up some conclusions and recommendations important for Georgian environment.