Beyond what they can: How different factors affect students of Chitral in their career making decisions – By: Shahzeb Shahzad
The greatest barrier to a student’s failure is not always the absence of talent but the absence of possibility. A career is not merely choosing a profession, but it is the reflection of opportunities, information, guidance, and influences that shape a student’s understanding of what is possible. Career choice is more than selecting a profession; it’s a positive action that shapes an individual’s identity, financial future, fulfills family’s expectations, and ultimately contributes to the entire society.
The career a student chooses shapes the knowledge, skills, and careers they want to pursue in future, shaping both their personal and professional life. A well-chosen career promotes prosperity, financial stability, and a sense of satisfaction by enabling students to pursue the career that aligns with their interests and aspirations. However, the ability to make a perfect career choice is not entirely determined by a student’s personal interests and skills but also influenced by factors like geography and educational context.
Geography has a significant role in letting students access career and educational opportunities. Chitral, located in the northern mountainous region of Pakistan, is characterized by its rocky land, scattered settlements, and remote valleys. Although these contribute to its beauty and serenity, these also have practical challenges that affect students’ educational processes and experiences. Long travel distance, bad roads, and the seclusion of people often limit the access of resources, ultimately leading to a lack of opportunities.
This condition leads to a lack of exposure to a wider world of careers. There, opportunities like career fairs, internships, career seminars, universities’ outreach programs, and several other competitions are conducted far less than in larger cities. As a result, many students face problems like limited opportunities and their incapability to explore the emerging careers for their future. Although technological advancement has increased the capacity of exploring various careers and allowed students to come across different educational resources and professional networks, many students rely on their school teachers or family members for proper career guidance. This lack of exposure does not show a lack of talent or skills; rather, it shows how geography plays a role in unlocking locked opportunities for students by giving exposure to them.
As far as educational context is concerned, educational environment plays an equal role in making students choose their careers according to their interests and skills. Schools are not only the places where students can get good marks or not only institutions for academic purposes but also the places where students become able to identify their skills, interests, and future goals. An effective educational system doesn’t only teach students mathematics or science, but it also implements strategies and equips students with the knowledge, skills, and guidance necessary to make informed career choices. However, career development receives less attention than academic achievements, limiting students with a minimum understanding of careers present in the world.
In Chitral, many schools place emphasis upon academic performance and board examination results, which is vital, but structured career guidance remains limited or unavailable. Students are highly expected to make important decisions regarding subject selection, higher education, and future careers without receiving professional career counseling or information about different career pathways. Furthermore, opportunities to meet with diverse professionals, take aptitude assessments, and participate in universities’ outreach programs are also limited.
As a result, many students do not become familiar with emerging careers and future educational pathways required for their future success. Strengthening career guidance in school will not only broaden students’ awareness of available opportunities, but also they will get a chance to exhibit their skills and to find a better choice for their future by enabling them to be decisive enough in terms of career.
One of the most significant challenges affecting students’ career choices in Chitral is limited or lack of exposure among students. Exposure enables students to explore a variety of careers and professions that perfectly align with their skills and interests. Without adequate exposure, students often make career decisions that do not match their skills and are unable to find jobs in the future. To illustrate this, imagine two students with equal talent and academic ability.
One has attended career fairs, participated in universities’ outreach programs, interacted with professionals worldwide, and explored different careers through workshops and online. While the other has little opportunity to do so, neither workshops nor online sessions are available. If both are asked to list 10 careers they are pursuing, their answers will be significantly different. It’s not because of skill differences; instead, it’s the exposure that allowed the student to come up with several careers.
Research was conducted among the secondary school students of the Chitral district. Several students identified limited exposure as one of the major factors that affects them in finding a career. Many also emphasized the need for career seminars, internships, and interaction with professionals in order to be exposed to diverse careers and professions.
Another significant challenging factor that influences students’ career-making decisions is the limited availability of proper career counseling in schools. Although schools play a vital role in making students good enough in academics and getting good marks, career guidance receives considerably less attention. As a result, many students become unable to think properly before selecting a subject because there have not been counseling classes for them to identify their perfect career.
To examine this, the survey conducted for this test asked students what support would help them make better career choices. The finding revealed a strong need for career counseling classes, with many participants suggesting there must be career seminars, internships, and interaction with professionals even just once a year. These responses highlight how crucial career counseling is and how much it plays a role in making students able to choose their subject to know about careers accordingly.
The third factor is parent. Parents play a vital role in making their children’s future bright through proper guidance and sharing experiences. However, parental influence can sometimes become a source of pressure when their children are expected to pursue specific professions that are perceived as prestigious, financially secure, and socially respected regardless of their own interests and skills. Such expectations may discourage students by not allowing them to pursue careers of their own interest and aspiration.
The survey conducted for this study revealed that parental influence on career choice varied among students. Some students reported that their parents respect and support their career decisions, while others indicated that their parents do force them to choose a specific profession, most notably medicine and engineering. These findings suggest that parents in Chitral often play a significant role in career decision-making, highlighting the importance of fostering open communication between parents and their children.
The factors discussed above declare that students’ career choices in Chitral are affected by a combination of geographical, educational, and sociocultural factors rather than students’ personal will only. Limited exposure to several careers, inadequate career counseling in schools, and the influence of parents combine to impact a student’s ability to decide his/her career according to his/her personal opinions shaped by his/her skills. Addressing these challenges requires collaborative efforts of schools, parents, educational authorities, and even the wider community. The following recommendations are proposed to cope with these challenges in order to make students’ lives successful and filled with prosperity by allowing them to choose the path on which they want to go.
- Establish proper counseling classes in each and every school: Schools should appoint professional counselors to provide sessions to the students to make them decide their careers based on their interests, skills, and potentials.
- Increase Exposure to Diverse Careers: Schools should organize sessions like internships, workshops, and university outreach programs to make students aware of diverse careers they can opt for.
- Promote parental awareness: Proper sessions by school authorities must be conducted for parents to persuade them to respect their children’s interests and not to associate future success with being a doctor or engineer.
By implementing these measures, the community of Chitral can create an environment where every student will be empowered to make career choices based on knowledge, confidence, and skills they possess. The future of Chitral will not be determined by the mountains that surround its students but by the opportunities that enable them to go beyond these.
