CAREER DECISIVENESS AMONG GRADUATING SHS STUDENTS AT ST. MARY’S COLLEGE INC.

Abstract

This study aims to measure and analyze the career decisiveness levels of graduating Senior High School students at St. Mary’s College, Inc., Quezon City, with the goal of localizing findings from previous research. The results will serve as a basis for contextualized recommendations to support the improvement initiatives of the Center for Life and Career Development. The researchers utilized a slightly modified version of the Career Decision Scale by Samuel Osipow et al., published by Psychological Assessment Resources, Inc., as the standardized instrument for the study. The entire Grade 12 population of St. Mary’s College, Inc., Quezon City (SMCIQC), consisting of 59 students, was selected as the respondent group. The results indicate that 77.97% of the population are in further need of assessment. 3 STEM students of 59 respondents have little to no need for intervention and 1 respondent from the ABM strand has a high likelihood of needing intervention. 9 respondents are marked as possible invalid test data. 57.14% of ABM, 60% of HumSS, and 66.67% of STEM remark that yes, their career prospects match their strand. It would seem that the STEM strand is the most decisive strand and HumSS the least decisive. However, these are minor observations as the overwhelming majority of the batch results fall well within the range of requiring further assessment. These results point to a critical lack of overall career decisiveness, which is a vital tenet of career preparedness. The results show that a significant portion of graduating Senior High School students at St. Mary's reveal a need for proper career guidance. These findings reflect ongoing concerns about the effectiveness of the K-to-12 program in preparing students for the workforce (PIDS, 2019; Moritz & Digamon, 2023) and underscore the importance of providing comprehensive career support (Conley, 2007; Dodd et al., 2021). While the study primarily focused on career decisiveness, it did not examine other influential factors, such as cognitive skills or the underlying causes of students’ uncertainty—areas that future research could explore. The results highlight the need to enhance and tailor career counseling services to address the diverse needs of students in different strands, enabling them to make more informed and confident career decisions.