At the end of the elementary school pupils face important decisions about their professional career. The phrase »career decision« refers to choosing their future education and employment as well as balancing their time between work and personal life. This decision is influenced by various factors, such as gender, age, learning performance, parenting and the like.
Home Economics deals with contents that are closely related to the quality of one's life. In the first thematical unit entitled »Household Economics« pupils become acquainted with money management and the concept of family. In the second unit they become familiar with the textile industry related contents: from fibers to finished products, the maintenance of textile products and fashion. In the »Living and Environment« unit, they study the concepts of pollution and the »ecologically conscious consumer«. In the framework of the »Nutrition« unit, pupils learn about foodstuffs and their composition as well as the procedures for preparing and serving various dishes. In doing so, they combine theory with practical work.
In my survey I explored the influence of Home Economics on the choice of one's future profession, by using a descriptive research method and a quantitative research approach. For the purposes of my survey I prepared a questionnaire, which was completed by elementary school pupils who had not yet made a decision about their secondary education, and by secondary school students who had already done so. The sample included 112 pupils from Grades 8 and 9, and 155 students from the first year of the School of Food Processing.
According to the survey results, their professional career decisions was influenced most by personal interests. This was the case both with the pupils who had not yet chosen their secondary school and the students who had already done so. The students who had opted for the Home Economics related optional subjects at the elementary school, stated their own interest as the main reason for doing so. Additionally, students were interest for nutritional contents, the desire to learn the preparation of various dishes and fact that they would benefit for their further education in a larger total share (62,0%) than pupils (34,0%). The results also show that their participation in optional subjects did not significantly contribute to the increase of their interest and that the respondents think the Home Economics related optional subjects do not affect their carrer decisions. The obtained results point to the support of Home Economics in the development of knowledge in the area of personal interests, which are, according to students and pupils, the most important decision factor in the decision-making process.
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