Abstract
M.A.
With recent socio-political changes in South Africa, it was considered important to
review the career expectations of black South African youth, given the reported poor
state of career guidance within certain schools. The literature review revealed that
South African youth, particularly those from an Afrocentric culture, also tend to be
unrealistic in their perceptions of job availability once they left school, with low self
and occupational knowledge. Compromise was included as an important factor when
considering the perception of job accessibility and the possibility of having to adjust
aspirations to meet the realities of the world of work.
The aim of this study, therefore, was to assess the occupational choices made by the
grade 10 and 12 pupils at RAUCALL high school. The study attempted to determine
the degree of congruence of the pupils' occupational choices in comparison to their
occupational expectations and how this congruence correlates with academic
performance. The results of the correlational analysis indicated that there was no
statistically significant relationship between congruence and academic performance.
From the findings of this research it was possible to conclude that students with low
vocational identity may not experience any more academic difficulty than do students
with high vocational identity.
An additional finding was that John Holland's concept of congruence, Il` • his theory
as a whole, needs to be validated to incorporate the South African context with its
various cultures and language groups. The knowledge of self for black South African
adolescents must be placed within the framework of a black identity if vocational
guidance programmes are to be seen as meaningful and relevant.