Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Career guidance and career readiness in secondary schools in Uganda -…
Career guidance and career readiness in secondary schools in Uganda
What the inquiry covers
The challenge
Help secondary school students in Uganda prepare for higher education, training, and employment after school.
Explore how career guidance helps students make informed and realistic choices.
What career readiness means
Students understand their interests and abilities and know which pathways are available.
Students compare options, understand entry requirements, and develop achievable plans.
The boundaries of this inquiry
Focus on secondary schools, rather than university services or adult career changes.
Consider what guidance means for students, how schools provide it, and fairer access to opportunities.
Ideas that explain career choices
Social Cognitive Career Theory and self-efficacy
Self-efficacy means believing that you can complete a particular task, such as passing required subjects.
Learning experiences and encouragement can shape students’ confidence in their abilities.
Expected outcomes and personal goals
Students consider what pursuing a career might lead to, such as satisfying work or financial security.
Their goals help guide the steps they take; support and barriers can affect what they can pursue.
Institutions that help define and guide this work
The Inter-Agency Working Group on Career Guidance describes services supporting education, training, and work choices.
Uganda’s Ministry of Education and Sports has responsibilities for guidance and counselling in education.
How students think and act
Intentional perspective in the upper-left quadrant
Explore students’ interests, aspirations, confidence, and how they imagine their future.
Ask students which careers seem possible to them and why.
Behavioral perspective in the upper-right quadrant
Examine students’ actions: seeking information, comparing courses, attending counselling, and making plans.
Ask what practical steps students have taken to prepare for their preferred pathway.
Why both perspectives matter
Feeling confident about a career does not necessarily mean understanding its requirements.
Listen to students and review their plans to identify what they know and where they need support.
4 How families and schools shape choices
Cultural perspective in the lower-left quadrant
Explore how family expectations, role models, and shared ideas about success influence career choices.
Ask how students balance their interests with others’ expectations; families may hold different values.
Systemic perspective in the lower-right quadrant
Examine whether schools have trained staff, time, funding, and reliable information for career guidance.
Consider whether students can access the education and training pathways discussed in guidance.
What government support is available
Fair access to support and opportunities
School location, family resources, and training costs may affect which options students can pursue.
Ask which students miss out on useful guidance and what would help them participate.
What research shows and leaves unanswered
Research on career programmes globally
A review of twenty-five high school studies examined programs, including group counseling, and career-related outcomes.
Common outcomes concerned managing career tasks and making decisions. Uganda, however, was not represented in the review but can learn from the outcomes of the study
Research in southwestern Uganda
A study across four schools in SW Uganda examined awareness of and use of guidance, and how schools provided it.
It describes guidance in those schools; it does not establish that guidance caused improved career readiness.
Questions the evidence has not settled
Do improvements last, and which approaches are most useful in different Ugandan school settings?
What evidence shows changes in students’ understanding and plans, beyond attendance at an activity?
Practical approaches and organized action
Ways schools can support students
Combine career education, group discussions, and individual counselling according to students’ needs.
Provide information about pathways and opportunities to learn from employers and professionals.
A proposed sequence to adapt and evaluate
Help students assess their interests and abilities, then explore education, training, and work options.
Discuss requirements and barriers, then help students develop realistic next steps. This is a proposal to assess locally.
Organizations and educators working on guidance
The International Career and College Counseling Movement offers educator training and opportunities to exchange ideas.
Makerere University's education leadership proposed incorporating career guidance into teacher training.
Questions that guide further inquiry
The main research question
How does career guidance contribute to career readiness among secondary school students in Uganda?
Critical questions check evidence
Are sources reliable and school samples representative? Could family resources explain apparent benefits?
Expansive questions explore possibilities
How could schools provide useful guidance with limited resources? What if students helped design it?
Philosophical questions examine meanings and assumptions
What does career readiness mean? Why might certain careers be treated as more successful than others?
What educational leaders need to address
Organize sustained guidance
Prepare staff, allocate time and resources, and make responsibilities clear.
Coordinate with families, training institutions, and employers so support continues beyond a career event.
Include students and widen access
Listen to students when planning guidance and respect their interests alongside family perspectives.
Identify barriers such as cost and limited information, and consider how support can reach overlooked students.
Evaluate whether support is useful
Assess what students understand and whether their plans are realistic, rather than only counting activities.
Consider other influences, including family support and finances, before attributing changes to guidance.