Vocational choice in adolescence: experiences and perceptions of vocational counseling
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.17267/2317-3394rpds.2025.e6452Keywords:
Vocational Psychology, Adolescence, Vocational Choice, Vocational CounselingAbstract
INTRODUCTION: Vocational counseling is a technical-scientific intervention that aims to help adolescents, through individualized sessions, reflect on their personal and contextual characteristics, favoring career choices aligned with their life projects. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the experiences of adolescents during the vocational choice process and their perceptions of vocational counseling. METHODOLOGY: This is a qualitative study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted before and after vocational counseling with five high school seniors at the Escola Secundária Eduardo Mondlane. Thematic analysis was used for data processing. RESULTS: Experiences of dissatisfaction, indecision, doubts, lack of self-knowledge, and uncertainty were identified among adolescents in the vocational choice process. Faced with these challenges, adolescents can base their decisions on their performance in specific subjects in their current education. Although decisions based on these criteria may lead to a certain degree of conformity, the reports indicate that a degree of dissatisfaction still persists. It was also observed that vocational counseling is perceived as an effective process for overcoming uncertainties, fears, and lack of self-knowledge, in addition to promoting the learning of new skills and decision-making that is more consistent with life plans. FINAL CONSIDERATIONS: It is essential that counselors be attentive to the specificities of adolescents and their social and contextual realities. The results of this study reveal the relevance of vocational counseling in adolescence and suggest the development of more comprehensive research on the complexities and mechanisms involved in the vocational decision-making process at this stage of life.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
