Abstract: Aspirations are believed to account, to a large extent, for high levels of success in academic, material, social, political and psychological achievements of individuals. This study examines the aspirations of Ethiopian adolescents. A questionnaire which contains occupational choice, marriage and family life and future activities of adolescents was administered to 239 (117 males and 122 females) subjects under conditions of anonymity It was found that to be an electrician or electrical engineer was ranked first as an ideal vocation; opportunity for further training and good remuneration were ranked first and second respectively as valued conditions of future jobs; sharing one's own opinions and beliefs was regarded as the most important character of a good spouse and was ranked first. Female subjects indicated that they expected to marry earlier than male subjects; female adolescents (90.8%) responded that both the wife and the husband should be equally influential in the direction and control of family affairs; adolescents of "high" income families wanted to have earlier marriage than adolescents of "average" income families; adolescents of "average" income families wanted to have fewer children; adolescents of "high" income families wished to bring up their children as they were brought up. Adolescents who rated themselves as "good" academically felt in general more enthusiastic and hopeful, never felt in doubt, and were determined.
Ethiopia, like any other developing country, is a country of the young because more than 50% of the total population is under 20 years of age. 11.9% (CSA 1990: 39) of this group of people are in the age ranges 15-19 (the target group of the study).
Ethiopia has over 60 different ethnic groups some with similar and others with different cultures. Adolescents of these ethnic groups share more or less the same problems. The major problems of this group of people are finding work; drastic social changes such as war, drought and famine; and the absence of a clear government policy concerning the youth.
Many high school students have very few opportunities for employment after completion of their secondary education. Civil war, drought, environmental degradation and poor governance in the last twenty years have contributed to the extremely tight labour market. The lack of work has a negative impact on defining self-identity. Work has its own psychological impact on the self-image of an individual. It would be interesting to study the aspirations of young people who are in the midst of many unemployed people.
Access to tertiary education is extremely limited (only 14% of high school completes are admitted to higher education) and the vast majority of youth who could use the opportunity do not have it. In addition, the problem of unemployment of university graduates is assuming more and more unacceptable levels with every passing year.
Young people today approach and experience their lives, in the present and in planning for their future, essentially as individuals responsible for, and with the freedom to make, their own decisions, to construct their own biographies on their own account (Chisholin and du Bois-Reymond 1993: 259-279).
This study will try to answer the following questions:
a) Do high school completing students aspire to further training?
b) Do they have occupational choice?
c) Do they aspire to marriage and family life
d) Are there differences in aspirations between male and female adolescents?
e) Does family socio-economic status influence the aspirations of adolescents?
f) Does academic status show its influence on the aspirations of adolescents?
The effects of aspirations for high levels of success in academic, material, social, political and psychological achievements of Ethiopian adolescents have not been studied. There are gaps that could be filled through this research.
The objective of this study was to understand the aspirations of Ethiopian adolescents from different perspectives. The study is aimed at examining their educational aspirations, occupational choice, marriage and family life and the adolescents' perception of their life-chance in their social environment. The specific objective of the study was to examine the aspirations of academically "good" and "poor" high school students. Hence, academically average students were not considered although they constitute the large majority. Aspirations of occupational choice, marriage and family life and future activities were examined.
An aspiration usually refers to a person's or a group of persons' orientation towards a goal. Goals are varied in kind and are usually described with reference to a particular social status. According to Muthayya (1971), aspirations are goal statements concerning future levels of achievement. They refer to the future prospects of the individual. Level of aspiration was defined as "the level of future performance in a familiar task which an individual, knowing his level of past performance in that task explicitly undertakes to reach" (Frank 1935:119-128).
The term `aspiration' or `level of aspiration' was introduced into the literature in Germany by Dembo in 1930 in connection with a study of the dynamics of anger (Dembo 1931). Dembo (1931) and Hoppe (1930), in their studies of levels of aspiration, defined the concept with clear reference to "GOALS" or "HOPES" of the individual, but later work has frequently departed from this definition and has instead involved "EXPECTATIONS" or "PREDICTIONS". According to Reber (1985), expectations are anticipated outcomes of a probabilistic situation while, in most usages, some end result or object is implied in goals (1985: 257; 304). Hopes are "attitudes characterised by expectations of the favourable outcomes of an event. The accompanying emotional tone is often one of fear mixed with anticipated joy" (Atkinson and Woodworth 1987: 212).
According to the above definitions aspiration is based upon the physical and psychological condition of the individual. In other words, it is a dependent rather than an independent variable.
Aspirations can be realistic or unrealistic. According to Irwin (1944), realistic aspirations are viewed as those aspirations based upon an appraisal of the extent to which the individual is capable of meeting the demands of the situation with which he is confronted, while unrealistic aspirations are those which are based upon the hopes, fears, and wishes originating in the individual.
Aspirations can be determined by the socio-economic status of a family, sex, parental expectations, work-orientation, family or social support, success or failure of an individual, etc. Different research findings indicate that lower-class individuals tend to perceive the external world as threatening (Rubin and Zavalloni 1969) and experience higher discrepancy between their aspirations and achievement (Frank 1941: 218-225). This suggests that low socio-economic groups are unrealistic in their aspiration levels. The objective background of the individual's position is woven into his subjective perception of his environment and his perceived life span.
The success or failure experiences of an individual affect his future outlook. "One's ability and one's aspiration match" (Woolfolk and McCune-Nicolich 1984: 279-280). The level of aspiration of the individual is raised and lowered in accordance with the attained or unattained level of aspiration (Lewin et al. 1944; Atkinson and Birch 1978). Success generally leads to raising of the level of aspiration whereas failure has the opposite effect. "...the greater the degree of success, the more likely the inflation of the level of aspiration" (Child and Whitney 1949: 303-314).
Individual differences, sometimes related to past history of success and failure in other activities such as school, may be important determinants of aspirations (Sears, 1940, 1941; Summer and Johnson 1949). In relation to this Darge (1993) studied the reactions of first year social science students at Addis Ababa University to moral dilemmas related to academic matters. Subjects were students who scored above average (those who achieved better scores) and average (those who achieved lower scores) in the Ethiopian Schools Leaving Certificate Examination (ESLCE). He found that "the above average group are more likely to have a greater tendency towards academic misconduct than the below average group because, firstly they probably have a higher level of aspiration (following the ESLCE)..." (Darge 1993: 131). Gardener (1940) also found that if the performance equals the level of aspiration, the level of aspiration is likely to swing upward. Conversely, an unattained desired level of performance leads to lowering the level of aspiration and ".....failure to achieve personal goals was related to increased psychological distress" (Ward and Eisler 1987: 318-326).
Through sex role socialisation, the society forms varying self-perception and motivation trends for boys and girls. This causes different achievement behaviour. "Both social and psychological differences encountered today between boys and girls are the result of the different preparation given to each sex for its social roles in accordance with past tradition (Kfir 1988: 213-236). From this situation, greater motivation on the part of boys to achieve academically (ensuring superior occupational status) and lower motivation among the girls tend to emanate.
Before the sharpening of gender differentiation, i.e., during the period of childhood, girls tend to succeed more in the first stage of schooling (elementary school) and less in the secondary stage (high school) (Kfir 1988). The rationalisation behind this is that the period of adolescence and sex roles begin when girls enter high school. The changes at this time make girls aware of their sexuality and of the sexual stereotypes connected with it. At this stage, "girls show lower cognitive achievements in masculine' fields" (Garratt 1986: 67-77) and in aspiration toward future achievements. In addition to these, studies suggest that, relative to adolescent boys, adolescent girls have low self evaluations (Rosenberg and Simmons 1975: 147-159), limited occupational expectations (Aneshensel and Rosen 1980: 121-131) and lower expectations for success in academic achievement (Parsons et al. 1976: 47-61; Parsons et al. 1982: 310-321). Girls have lower expectations for achieving job success than do boys (Galambos and Silbereisen 1987: 141-149).
Parents tend to expect a lower level of achievement in daughters than in sons, despite the fact that daughters and sons perform equally well, and these expectations have been shown to influence the adolescent's expectations (Parsons et al. 1976; 1982). '
The study was conducted in Addis Ababa, Amhara Region, Oromia Region, and Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples Region.
The subjects of the study were high school completing students in the 1997/98 A.Y. in the above - mentioned regions. The reasons for focusing on high school completing students was simply that it is a transitional period. High school completing students aspire to different things after their schooling.
The age bracket was between 15 to 30 years with a mean age of 18.25 for the entire population and 18.31 and 18.19 for males and females respectively. A total of 239 (117 males and 122 females) students were the subjects of the study. Subjects are taken from different geographical and cultural backgrounds. From Addis Ababa students of the following high schools were considered: Abiyot Kirse C.S.S. (12); Higher 7 C.S.S. (11); Misrak C.S. S. (12); and Tikur Anbessa C.S.S. (12). From the Amhara Region students of Gondar Fasiledes C.S.S. (12); Bahir Dar Tuna Haik C.S.S. (12); Bure Shikudade C.S.S. (12); Dessie W/ro Sihin C.S.S. (12); Woldia C.S.S.. (12) were considered. From Oromia Region students of Assella C.S.S. (12); Robe (Bale) C.S.S. (12); Jimma (Jiren) S.S. (12); Shamboo C.S.S. (12); and Guder C.S.S.. (12) were considered. From Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples' Region students of Awassa C.S.S. and Awassa Addis Ketma S.S (24); Arba Minch C.S.S. (12); Emdibir C.S.S. (12); Boditti S.S. (12); and Sodo C.S.S. (12). The author selected subjects from these regions because these are the regions where the majority of the Ethiopian people live. Understanding the aspirations of adolescents of these regions enables the education authorities to plan sound development strategies. The schools are selected on the basis of their transport accessibility. Six academically most outstanding students (3 females and 3 males) and six lowest ranking (3 females and 3 males) students were taken from each school. The criteria were their academic status in their respective schools.
The research instrument for this study was mainly the autobiography of the future: a questionnaire in which the subjects were asked, under conditions of anonymity, to answer freely questions about occupational choice, marriage and family life and their future activities in the next twenty-five years. Closed-type questions with an option of "other" (to be specified) were used. Sufficient options were accommodated. A try-out of the instrument for data collection was conducted. During the try-out, the instrument contained both open-ended and closed type questions. The open-ended questions except one item, i.e., "to mention three foreign countries they would like most to visit if they were able to travel" were not properly answered and hence were discarded. Finally the instrument had twenty-four items for the main study. The questionnaire was sent and administered in the respective schools by the counsellors of the schools. The counsellors are members of the Ethiopian Psychologists Association (EPA). The instruments were not administered under controlled conditions. Subjects took the instruments to their homes and were to return them on the morrow. The reliability of the instruments was Cronbach _ .3161. The reliability indicates a very low index of internal consistency. This is because the instrument is heterogeneous. "If a test is heterogeneous, in the sense that different parts measure different traits, we should not expect a very high index of internal consistency, e.g. biographical-data inventory" (Guilford 1965: 450).
6. DATA ANALYSIS (RESULT)
Based on this questionnaire and using the SPSS/PC+ progranune, the relationships between aspirations and sex, family income, and academic status were analysed. The following are the results of the analysis.
Family income of subjects was found using a closed question. Subjects rated the incomes of their families on "very high, high, average, low, and very low" scales.
In order to know the academic status of our subjects, they were asked to rate duanselves compared with other students in their respective schools as "Good, Average, and Poor."
A. Occupational Choice
According to Rubin and Zavalloni, (1969: 75) "Hopes and aspirations of youth are a product of their culture and society". Occupational choices broaden with greater social opportunities, and personal goals may be bounded by social realities. Modern manpower skills are more essential to development programs than the traditional occupations of medicine and law (Rubin and Zavalloni 1969).
The following vocations were considered to be ideal by the subjects. Subjects were asked to put them in rank order (table 1). Fields such as medicine, law, and computer science were considered as ideal vocations by some subjects in the option "other". When they are taken separately they are insignificant. Hence, they are summed up under "other".
Table 1. Vocations Considered as Ideals in Rank Order**
|
Vocations/ |
Electrician/ |
Pilot/ |
Technician/ |
Policeman |
Football |
Singer |
Other |
|
Rank |
Elect. |
Military |
Mechanic |
Player |
|||
|
Engineer |
|||||||
|
RANK |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
|
Frequencies |
89 |
62 |
40 |
45 |
58 |
49 |
42 |
|
(%) |
41.0 |
31.0 |
19.7 |
23.8 |
30.4 |
24.5 |
58.3 |
Sixteen valued conditions of future jobs were also presented to subjects to put them in rank order. The following result was found (Table 2). Payment according to merit, possibility to change jobs, health protection and diversified work were ranked as 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th by 19 (9.4%), 16 (8.6%), 12 (5.9%), 9 (4.6%) and 7 (3.4%) of the subjects respectively.
Table 2. Valued Conditions of the Future Jobs in Rank Order**
|
Rank |
1* |
2* |
3* |
4* |
5* |
6* |
7* |
8* |
9* |
10* |
11* |
|
Frequency (%) |
80 36.0 |
28 13.6 |
23 11.3 |
30 14.2 |
22 11.0 |
19 9.5 |
17 9.0 |
24 12.0 |
21 10.9 |
16 8.1 |
20 10.0 |
* Valued conditions 6*= Well organised work space
1*= Chance for further training 7*= Good supervisors
2*= Good remuneration 8*= Agreeable working hours
3*= Social prestige 9*= Interesting work
4*= Opportunity for promotion 10*= Old age pension
5*= Good general working conditions 11*= Co-operative colleagues
Job security was ranked first by 49 subjects (23.3%).
B. Marriage and Family Life
The following qualities were regarded as most important in a good wife or husband. They were rank-ordered (table 3).
Table 3. Quality Regarded as Most Important in a Good Wife or Husband*
|
Qualities/Rank |
1 |
2 |
3 |
|
Shares my own opinions and beliefs |
122 (54.0%) |
90 (39.8%) |
14 (6.2%) |
|
Intelligence-common sense |
91 (41.9%) |
94 (43.3%) |
31 (14.3%) |
|
Pleasant disposition-a good companion |
21 (9.8%) |
30 (14.0%) |
163 (75.8%) |
What one should have achieved before marriage was also asked of our subjects. The following were given in rank order (table 4).
Table 4. One Should Have Achieved the Following Before Marriage **
|
Achievements |
SJ |
VS |
OH |
AI |
BS |
OC |
AY | ||||
|
Rank |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 | ||||
|
Frequency |
78 |
54 |
67 |
56 |
81 |
92 |
22 | ||||
|
(%) |
34.5 |
24.0 |
29.8 |
25.2 |
39.5 |
45.1 |
10.2 | ||||
|
SJ = Secure job |
OH = Own home |
BS = Bank savings | |||||||||
|
AY = Age of 22 years |
VS = Vocational success |
AI = Assured income | |||||||||
|
CC = Own car |
|||||||||||
The desired characteristics of the future spouse were examined. Subjects were asked to put the following characteristics in rank order. The following was the result (table 5).
Table 5. Desired Characteristics of the Future Spouse **
|
Characteristics |
Faithful |
Good |
Intelligent |
Good home- |
Good-looking |
|
Character |
maker |
||||
|
Rank |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Frequency |
98 |
71 |
61 |
116 |
134 |
|
(%) |
42.6 |
31.7 |
27.0 |
52.0 |
61.8 |
Note: Intelligence was ranked first by 69 (30.5%) subjects.
The chi-square analysis indicated that sex and early marriage were significantly related. Female subjects indicated that they expected to marry earlier than male subjects (2 = 24.39, df=3, p=.00002).
Subjects were asked the question: "Would you like to see greater equality between men and women within your lifetime?" The chi-square analysis revealed that there is a significant relationship between this question and sex. More female subjects would like to see greater equality between men and women within their lifetime than their male counterparts (2 = 8.87, df = 1, p=.00290).
The chi-square analysis has also revealed that sex and expectation to be more influential in the direction and control of the affairs of the family are significantly related (2 = 24.04, df = 2, = p = .00001). Female adolescents responded (90.8%) that both the wife and the husband should be equally influential.
The study also indicated that family income had its own influence on marriages of subjects. Subjects who were from families whose income was average indicated that they wanted to have later marriage than those subjects who were from families whose income was "high" (2= 14.77, df= 4, p = .00521).
The desire to have children and their number is also influenced by the income of the families of our subjects. Adolescents who were from families of "average" income (51.7%) expected to have fewer children (0-2) than those adolescents who were from high or low income families (2= 15.77, df = 4, p=00334).
Bringing up children and family income are significantly correlated. Adolescents who were from high income families reported that they would bring up their children as they were brought up, while adolescents who were from average and low income families indicated that they would not bring up their children as they were brought up by their families (2=16.16, df = 2, p=.00031).
Academic status has also shown its influence on the aspiration of adolescents towards marriage. Adolescents who rated themselves as "good" expected to marry sometime or other (2 = 7.22, df = 1, p = .00720). Ninety-nine percent of them confirmed positively.
C. Future Activities
The nearest goals to what they wished to be in their lives were investigated and the following result was found (table 6).
Table 6. Goal in Life**
|
Goal |
Rank |
Frequency |
Percentile |
|
To achieve fame by doing something outstanding |
1 |
43 |
18.2 |
|
To devote oneself to helping others |
2 |
41 |
17.4 |
|
To become wealthy through my hard work |
3 |
37 |
15.7 |
|
To live for the day without worrying about the future |
4 |
18 |
7.6 |
|
To achieve financial security through my own work |
5 |
17 |
7.2 |
|
To hold high political office |
6 |
8 |
3.4 |
|
No response |
69 |
29.2 |
Academic status and personal future are also correlated. Adolescents who rated themselves as "good" in their academic status when compared with other students in the schools reported that concerning their personal future they felt in general more enthusiastic and hopeful than adolescents who rated themselves as "average" in their academic standing (2 = 8.02, df = 2, p=.01810).
Academic status and future feelings are found to be correlated significantly. Adolescents who rated themselves as "good" never doubted that they had sufficient ability to achieve their career goal (2 = 14.36, df = 2, p = .00076).
In addition to this, academic status is also found to be related with determination. Adolescents who reported that they had "good" academic status when compared with other students in their schools felt that their determination was strong enough to sustain them until their career goal was achieved (2 = 6.58, df = 2, p =.03719).
Subjects were also asked to mention three foreign countries they would most like to visit if they were able to travel. The United States of America (USA) was mentioned by 108 (49.8%) of the subjects as the first country to be visited, followed by Australia and China by 22 (10%) and 21(10.3 %) respectively.
Subjects were also asked to put in rank order which of the following three things or activities in their life they expected to give them the most satisfaction (table 7).
Table 7. Activities Expected to Give the Highest Satisfaction in Life (in rank order)**
|
Activities |
My career/ |
Family |
Leisure-time |
Participation in |
Participation in |
Religious |
|
Occupation |
Relations |
recreational |
the affairs of my |
national or |
beliefs and | |
|
activities |
community |
international |
activities | |||
|
affairs |
||||||
|
Rank |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
|
Frequency |
119 |
69 |
35 |
20 |
13 |
12 |
|
(%) |
57.8 |
41.3 |
35.0 |
18.9 |
9.3 |
7.5 |
Subjects were also asked to put in rank order their future leisure-time activities and the following result was found (table 8).
Table 8. Leisure-time Activities (in rank order) **
|
Activities |
Reading, theatre, |
Handicrafts, |
Sports |
Sleeping |
Outing, |
|
film |
building things |
dancing | |||
|
Rank |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
|
Frequency |
107 |
54 |
37 |
59 |
63 |
|
(%) |
50.7 |
27.6 |
18.6 |
35.1 |
39.9 |
The chi-square computation indicated that sex and preference to have more friends in the future were significantly related (2 = 18.18, df = 1, p = .00002). Male subjects aspired to have more friends than female subjects.
Consideration of vocations as ideals differ from individual to individual because of the background, experience and orientation of the individual. As can be seen from Table 1, many of the subjects ranked electrician or electrical engineering as their ideal vocation consistent with Rubin and Zavalloni (1969). The current century is labelled as the age of information. Information technology is carried out by electrical engineers in most cases. Our subjects seem to be influenced by this situation and ranked electrician or electrical engineering first. There is no significant difference between boys and girls in ranking this vocation as first.
As far as valued conditions of future jobs were concerned, chance for further training was ranked first. This indicates the educational aspirations of adolescents. Due to the few higher learning institutions, adolescents are obliged to aspire for jobs which provide an opportunity for further training. Studies by Rubin and Zavalloni (1969) confirmed this. Job security and good remuneration followed the chance of further training by 23.3% and 13.6% of the subjects respectively. This result agrees with the findings of Malhotra (1989). According to this author "Good remuneration and job security were preferred equally by Germans and foreigners" (Malhotra 1989: 741-753).
Sharing opinions and beliefs was regarded as most important in a good wife or husband. Subjects have preferred the subjective qualities of a spouse to physical attractiveness. The subjective qualities contribute more to the prevalence of a positive emotional or psychic climate at home. This is a sign of maturity and should be encouraged. It was also indicated by subjects that faithfulness and good character were more desirable characteristics of a spouse than good looks or home-making skills.
Job security followed by vocational success and owning a home was ranked first to be achieved before marriage. This indicates the desire to be independent of parents and discourages uncalculated marriage and birth.
Female subjects indicated that they expected to marry earlier than male subjects. The earlier marriage of girls prevents them from participating in higher learning institutions. This in turn hinders the empowerment of women in the society. In addition to this, Ethiopian culture discourages the late marriage of girls.
To see greater equality between men and women is more an aspiration of female adolescents than of male ones. This was found to be true in other developing countries. A similar study in Trinidad indicated that "a high percentage of the girls expect equality in marriage" (Rubin and Zavalloni 1969: 137). This is true in a male dominated society like Ethiopia. Adolescent females want to see and experience their equality with their male adolescent counterparts. Not only do female adolescents like to see greater equality between men and women but they also expect wife and husband (90.8%) to be equally influential in the direction and control of the affairs of the family, which is contrary to the situation of many families in Ethiopia where males are far more influential in the affairs of the family. This shows the aspiration and future struggle of females for their equality in the society.
The socio-economic status of a family has its influence on the marriage and possession of children. Adolescents (51.7%) who are from families of "average" income want to have fewer children, i.e. a maximum of two, than adolescents who are from "high" or "low" income families. This might be because of their experience, i.e., the way they were brought up in sharing scarce resources among many children in their families. It may equally be due to the effect of the family planning program through the mass-media.
The same group of subjects, i.e., adolescents from "average" income families reported that they would not bring up their children in the way they were brought up, while adolescents from "high" income families confirmed that they would bring up their children in the way they were brought up by their parents (Rubin and Zavalloni, 1969).
A normal human being has a goal or goals towards which he always aspires. Subjects (35.6%) reported that their nearest goals was to achieve fame by doing something outstanding and to devote themselves to helping others. To aspire to do something outstanding and to be famous was the universal desire of many adolescents. Habtamu Wondimu (1993) and Habtegiorgis Berhane (1994) have reported that devoting oneself to helping others is the value of many Ethiopians, and that Ethiopian adolescents also had empathic motives to helping others. This finding agrees with the above authors.
Academic status affects personal future. The better the academic status of an individual the higher the level of aspiration (Woolfolk and McCune-Nicolich 1984). Adolescents with "good" academic status perceived the future world with more enthusiasm and hope than those adolescents who rated themselves as "average" or "low". Not only did they perceive the future world as enthusiastic and hopeful but also never doubted that they had sufficient ability to achieve their career goals and that their determination was strong enough to sustain them until their career goal was achieved.
Reading, theatre and film as future leisure-time activities ranked first by 50.7% of the subjects. However, reading materials, theatre halls and films are scarce in the country. This reminds the community and government that there is a need to think about it.
This study of aspirations of adolescents hopefully provides a broad perspective on currents of continuity and change. We can deduce from the above discussions three major points:
· Young people reflect both the traditional and the transitional and the established ways of life.
· However, it is essential that the social promise whose fulfilment is anticipated by the youth should harmonise with the society's value system.
· Knowing the marriage aspirations (age and number of children) of the youth will be of help to family planners and health workers.
The last questions to be asked and answered in the future are: To what extent can these personal and social aspirations be realised? Will they lead to future alienation if they are not fulfilled?
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