Differences among age, gender and school factors in Ghanaian senior secondary school students' aspirations for entrepreneurial careers

A position paper on after-school job aspirations for Ghanaian students based on their gender, age and other school factors.Research has shown that demographic and contextual factors such as age, gender, among others have influence on secondary school students' aspirations for entrepreneurship careers. Again, it has been noted that entrepreneurial potential should be identified and evaluated at secondary school level so that teachers and counsellors will be more successful in augmenting entrepreneurial propensity at the stage of development in which individual career options are still open. This study therefore determined whether differences in age, gender and school factors influenced Ghanaian senior secondary school students' aspirations for entrepreneurial careers. The descriptive research design was adopted for this study. A total of 2,000 students were selected from Forms 3 and 4 for the study. Five research questions were set to guide the study whilst multi-stage sampling procedure was used to select the sample. A questionnaire titled “Self-Knowledge, Family Influence and Career Knowledge Level on Aspirations for Entrepreneurial Careers ” was used to obtain relevant data which were analysed using descriptive statistics. The conclusion of the study was that there were differences with respect to age, gender, course of study and school type in students' aspirations for entrepreneurial careers, while there was none regarding form/class level. Among the counselling implications are that counsellors must take into consideration personal and contextual variables of students during career counselling, especially in entrepreneurship, and also people in lower age groups must be encouraged to take up entrepreneurship, and thereafter business start-up activity. It was recommended that entrepreneurship education should be incorporated in the secondary school curriculum in Ghana, and entrepreneurial careers in particular, must not be stereotyped

IMPLEMENTATION OF GUIDANCE SERVICES IN SENIOR HIGH SCHOOLS IN HO MUNICIPALITY, GHANA

The most important outcome of a guidance and counselling programme is desirable change in students, such as improved school attendance, better study habits, and better scholastic achievement, fewer scholastic failures, lower dropout rate, better educational planning, and better home-school relations. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the implementation of guidance services in senior high schools in Ho the Municipality. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. A sample size of 376 students and 21 counsellors from 7 senior high schools in the Ho Municipality was selected using the multistage sampling procedure comprising proportional stratified sampling, purposive sampling and systematic sampling procedures were used. Data was collected using researcher-made questionnaire with reliability coefficient of was 0.83 and 0.80 for students and counsellors questionnaires respectively. Frequency counts and percentages were used to analyze the five research questions stated for the study. The findings revealed that guidance and counselling units were available even though the facilities were inadequate and the rooms were not well furbished. Again, orientation and counselling services were the most common guidance and counselling services while referral and evaluation services were the least common guidance and counselling services provided in the senior high schools in the Ho Municipality. The headmaster/mistress, housemaster/mistress, class teachers and chaplain were all involved in the provision of guidance and counselling services. Furthermore, it was found that the professional counsellors were comparatively better than the non-professionals in terms of adherence to the right practices. It was recommended that a clear national policy for Guidance and Counselling services in Senior High Schools with adequate funding, allocation of time and role definition of counsellors.  Article visualizations

Academic and Personal-Social Adjustment Challenges of University of Cape Coast Freshmen

This study was carried out to investigate the common adjustment challenges freshmen in the University of Cape Coast experience during their first year in school, and the coping strategies they used in response to the adjustment challenges. A mixed model research design was used in carrying out the study. A sample of 355 students made up of 235 males and 120 females was selected through purposive and proportional stratified random sampling techniques. Adapted forms of the Student Adaptation to College Questionnaire (SACQ) developed by Baker and Siryk (1999) and the Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) developed by Folkman and Lazarus (1988) were used along with a semi-structured interview. Quantitative data was analysed descriptively while qualitative data was analysed thematically. The study found that freshmen in the University of Cape Coast encountered adjustment challenges such as difficulty handling the academic pressure and lack of involvement in social activities. In terms of coping, most respondents adopted Planful Problem Solving strategies which involved planning, concentrating and taking action to resolve issues. It was recommended that university authorities make the timetable of freshmen more flexible to enable them cope with the academic pressure. Keywords: Adjustment, Challenges, Coping, Strategies DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-18-07 Publication date:June 30th 202

Family System Theory as a Counselling Strategy for Improving Marital Satisfaction Among Ghanaian Couples: Implications for Counselling

Marriage is contracted between two individuals. Their efforts to make the marriage work is supported by members of their families be it nuclear or extended. In assisting the spouses to achieve marital satisfaction, counsellors fall on theories. One of such theories is the family system theory. The theory sees the spouses as a unit and to achieve marital satisfaction counsellors should treat the unit not the individuals per se. The theory has been used many regards to assist married people to improve their marriages. It was concluded that the theory can effectively be used in the Ghanaian context

Teacher-Trainees’ Perception of Guidance Services in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region, Ghana

Students need guidance and counselling at various levels of their educational development. The general purpose of this study was to find out teacher-trainees’ perception of guidance services offered in Colleges of Education in the Volta Region of Ghana. The research study was guided by Existential theory and Humanistic person-centred theory. The study is a quantitative research which employed descriptive survey design. A sample size of 346 respondents made up of teacher-trainees was selected from seven Colleges of Education in the Volta Region using a multi-stage sampling procedure with purposive, quota, convenience and simple random sampling techniques. Data was collected with a 55-item researcher-made questionnaire with reliability coefficient of 0.89 alpha and content validity was established for the items. One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Independent samples t-test were used to analyze the four research hypothesis stated for the study. The statistical packages for social sciences (SPSS) software application were used to test hypothesis at 0.05 significant level. The study reveals that guidance and counselling needs of teacher-trainees is the same for male and female. It was recommended that Ghana Education Service should ensure that trained and qualified counsellors are posted to the colleges to offer services that will meet the needs of teacher-trainees. Keywords: Teacher-trainees, Perceptions, Guidance services, Colleges of Education. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/9-24-06 Publication date: December 31st 201

"The angel within the devil": COVID-19 silver linings

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has impacted every aspect of human existence in a variety of ways. However, depending on how we interpret the impact of the pandemic, we may either despair or embrace challenges with hope. Several empirical findings and expert opinions have highlighted the significant negative impact of COVID-19 on economy, health and wellbeing, education, ecosystem and governance around the world. Amid all these negative effects on human existence, we claim that there are some silver linings across several domains such as health and wellbeing, education, eco-system and social connectedness, with the main benefit being adherence to public health measures which will be retained beyond the pandemic

Relationships among self-knowledge, family influence, career knowledge and senior high school students’ aspirations for entrepreneurial careers in Ghana: Relationships among self-knowledge, family influence, career knowledge and senior high school students’ aspirations for entrepreneurial careers in Ghana

Making a career choice is a major turning point in the lives of adolescents in senior high schools. For it is in the senior high schools that students are advised or counselled on future worthwhile occupations. The study set to establish the relationship among self-knowledge, family influence, career knowledge level and senior high school students’ aspirations for entrepreneurial careers. Four hypotheses were tested, whilst 1,004 Form 3 senior high school students were selected from 27 senior high schools nationwide using the multi-stage sampling approach. A 71-item questionnaire with an overall reliability of 0.79 was used to collect data. The three dependent variables were found to be significantly related to students’ aspirations for entrepreneurial careers. Again, a positive relationship was found between self-knowledge and aspirations for entrepreneurial careers. It was, therefore, concluded that senior high school students in Ghana rank high regarding their self-knowledge, family influence and career knowledge levels in their aspirations to entrepreneurial careers. It was recommended that students should be equipped with skills or assisted to know and understand themselves well with respect to making career choices, and also entrepreneurship education should be introduced in senior high school curriculum in Ghana. Implications of the study for counsellor education include taking the variables (personal and contextual) into consideration in counselling students on careers.

Assessing the counselling needs of undergraduate students on multiple-site Sandwich programmes of institute of education, University of Cape Coast: Assessing the counselling needs of undergraduate students on multiple-site Sandwich programmes of institute of education, University of Cape Coast

The study assessed the counselling needs of students on sandwich programmes of the Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast. Two research questions and four hypotheses were answered and tested respectively. A descriptive study in which 207 respondents were selected from four sandwich centres of the Institute of Education, using various sampling techniques and procedures. The Counselling Needs Inventory designed by the investigators were used to collect data. The predominant counselling need of the students was “I need help on how to get along with extrovert spouse”, whilst a majority of them preferred to talk to a counsellor. Statistically significant differences were found to exist between counselling needs by gender, and age with regards to their psychological needs. No statistically significant differences were found among the ages of the respondents and counselling needs such as Financial needs, Marital needs and Educational needs, and among marital status and number of years taught by the respondents and their counselling needs. It was therefore concluded that sandwich students of the Institute of Education, University of Cape have counselling needs. Among recommendations were that authorities/agencies should ensure that professional counselling services are rendered by universities that run programmes in the non-conventional mode. Implications of the study for counselling included the fact that professional counsellors should be attached to multiple sites of sandwich programmes. Again, students on sandwich programmes should be offered similar counselling services as those in the conventional mode

Assessment of the counselling needs of students in a Ghanaian public university: Assessment of the counselling needs of students in a Ghanaian public university

Needs assessment is the starting point for developing comprehensive and relevant counselling services for students. This study assessed the counselling needs of students in the University of Energy and Natural Resources in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. The descriptive survey design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of all students in the University. A sample of 335 students made up of 286 males and 49 females was selected through proportional stratified random sampling and simple random sampling techniques. A needs assessment questionnaire was used to source for the data. The data were analysed using means, standard deviations and independent samples t-test. The study found that practical and vocational/career needs were the most pressing needs of students. The study further revealed that there was no significant difference between the counselling needs of male and female students. Based on the findings, it was recommended that counsellors at the University of Energy and Natural Resources should design and implement counselling services based on the most important needs of the students: practical and vocational/career needs