ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571

www.elsevier.com/locate/ijedudev

A tracer study of Lebanese upper secondary school students

Barend Vlaardingerbroeka,, Kamel Dallalb, George Rizkallahc, Jihan Rabahd
a
Department of Education, American University of Beirut, PO Box 11-0236, Beirut 1107-2020, Lebanon
b
Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association, Beirut, Lebanon
c
Sagesse High School, Metn, Lebanon
d
Private Educational Consultant, Beirut, Lebanon

Abstract

This paper presents data arising from a tracer study of 90 terminating Beirut upper secondary school students. Nearly all
the students intended to transit to university, about half of them to science and technology programmes, and subsequently
did so. Median anticipated earnings upon graduation were realistic, but a lack of information or guidance about higher
education and career options was noted by a considerable proportion. The results of the study are discussed with reference
to the as yet poorly elucidated dynamics of schooling with regard to attrition and transition to higher education and
employment in Lebanon.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Attrition rates; Careers counselling; Lebanon; Tracer study; Transition rates

1. Introduction Not being an oil or gas producer, the largely

Lebanon is a cosmopolitan liberal democracy of
near four million people, 95% of whom are
designated as Arabs, and around 70% of whom
are Muslim (Central Intelligence Agency, 2006).
The Lebanese public sector retains a discernible
French character, reflecting the prominent cultural
influence that France has exerted over Lebanon
despite its short-lived colonial mandate (from
shortly after World War 1, during which time the
Ottoman Empire collapsed, until 1943 when in-
dependence was declared). An anglophone, parti-
cularly American, cultural influence has been
strongly increasing since the second World War.
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: bv00@aub.edu.lb (B. Vlaardingerbroek).
service-based Lebanese economy manages a per
capita GDP of only ca. $5300 (Central Intelligence
Agency, 2006). There is a chronically high unem-
ployment problem, particularly among youth (Kab-
bani and Kothari, 2005). However, this observation
must be tempered with noting Lebanon’s heavy
reliance on foreign workers, including Syrian
migrant labourers and internal Palestinian refugees,
to fill menial labour vacancies.
Adult literacy is in excess of 85% (Hashem, 2002).
Lebanon boasts a highly developed education
system at all levels, although its highly specialised
structure imparts a rigidity which may contribute to
the unemployment problem through graduate un-
employment (United Nations, 2003). There is a
dearth of research information about the schooling/
employment interface. The purpose of the research
presented in this paper was to gain an insight into

0738-0593/$ - see front matter r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2006.09.002
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571
the efficiency of Lebanese secondary schooling by
conducting a tracer study of Year 12 students as
they left the school system, and to gauge what
influences and considerations affected their future
aspirations.
2. The Lebanese education system
Since the 1998 reforms, Lebanon has operated a
6:3:3 (previously 5:4:3) school system. Gross enrol-
ment rates are 100%+ for primary schooling and in
excess of 80% at secondary level (Hashem, 2002).
The Lebanese educational landscape is extremely
diverse, ranging from public schools to numerous
private institutions. Enrolments in private schools
exceed those in the public sector by a ratio of almost
2:1 (Center for Educational Research and Develop-
ment, 2005). Among the private schools are a
number of what are termed ‘mid-private schools’,
which are operated and largely funded by religious
and some other charitable organisations. Fees for
these schools are low, and they provide at least some
poorer people with an alternative to the generally
poorly resourced public schools (Hashem, 2002).
There are two external examination bottlenecks:
the Brevet in Year 9, and the Lebanese Baccalaure-
ate in Year 12. The Brevet examinations cover all
academic school subjects. Students who fail on the
first sitting may attempt the examination again
during the long summer vacation. The pass rate for
the Brevet in 2004–2005 was 76% (Ministère de
l’Education et de l’Enseignement Supérieur, Beirut,
pers. comm., April 2005). While there is no official
bottleneck examination between Years 9 and 12,
private schools generally set internal promotion
criteria from Year 10 to 11.
A Lebanese Baccalaureate programme may be
science-intensive (General Science and Life Science
strands) or concentrate on social sciences, econom-
ics or humanities. Once committed to a specialisa-
tion track, it is difficult for students to change
course; the system has been described as too rigid
(United Nations, 2003). The pass rate for science-
intensive candidates in 2004–2005 was over 80%
while that for the other concentrations was 60% or
lower (Ministère de l’Education et de l’Enseigne-
ment Supérieur, Beirut, pers. comm., April 2005).
Students who have passed the Baccalaureate may
enrol at university as sophomores. Some private
schools offer the French or International
Baccalaureate, which are given equivalence with
the Lebanese version. There are also so-called
565
‘American High School’ programmes at some
private schools. Students who pass these can enter
recognised universities only as ‘freshmen’, thereby
adding 1 year to their degree programmes.
Students who exit the school system before
attaining the Baccalaureate or another recognised
high school diploma are faced with a wide range of
vocational and technical education options,
although it would appear that there are not enough
of these, particularly in the public education sector
(Hashem, 2002; Ministère de l’Education et de
l’Enseignement Supérieur, 2006). Accredited public
and private (including ‘mid-private’) vocational
centres and technical colleges lead to diploma and
‘technical degree’ awards modelled on the French
system from the Lebanese state authorities.
As well as the very large state-operated Lebanese
University, there are more than 40 comparatively
small private universities. The private university
sector ranges from unaccredited and partially
accredited institutions to prestigious, internationally
recognised universities such as the francophone
Université Saint-Joseph and the anglophone Amer-
ican University of Beirut. The costs associated with
attending a high-profile private university are
prohibitive for a great many Lebanese.
More than half of all university students in
Lebanon are female (Center for Educational Re-
search and Development, 2005). This is suggestive
of a higher drop-out rate from school for boys,
particularly boys from lower socioeconomic class
backgrounds, as is the situation in Egypt (Lloyd et
al., 2003). For cohorts born after 1960, girls in
Lebanon have, on average, received more education
than boys (Hajj and Panizza, 2002). Female
participation in the work force is strongly associated
with increasing educational attainment for both
sexes but rising female participation has contributed
considerably to youth unemployment figures (Hajj
and Panizza, 2002; Kabbani and Kothari, 2005).
In brief, the Lebanese education system is a well-
established and complex one that exhibits a
convergence of francophone and anglophone influ-
ences and a prominent role for the private educa-
tional sector. The system is set against the backdrop
of an economy buttressed by service industries and
agriculture that is highly dependent on foreign
unskilled labour inputs, while at the same time
unemployment levels are chronically high. This
study, hopefully the first of several, sought to gain
an insight into the dynamics of the interface
between the school system and life in Lebanon
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
566 B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571
beyond school by tracing the fates of a sample of
terminating secondary school students.
3. Methods
3.1. Sampling
For this study, we enlisted a ‘mid-private’ school
system and a large private school. The sample was
accordingly drawn from six schools operated by the
Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association and
Sagesse High School (a school serving mainly the
Christian community) in Beirut.
Year 12 students were targeted. To be eligible for
participation, students had to have a younger
sibling or close relative either in the same school
or, in the case of the Makassed sample, in a related
school. The use of family members to trace students
exiting the school system was earlier used by
Al-Samarrai and Reilly (2005), albeit that their
main family informants were parents. Participating
students completed a questionnaire in March 2005.
Their younger sibling or relative was then given a
short follow-up questionnaire form in late 2005,
well after the 2005–2006 academic year had
commenced (being in early September).
3.2. Instrumentation
The questionnaire completed by students in
March 2005 solicited the following information:
 Personal data: age, gender, religious community
(religious affiliation is a ubiquitous social identity
indicator in Lebanon), father’s and mother’s
educational level and occupation, and pro-
gramme of study in Year 12. Students were
presented with lists of occupations derived from
the categorisation of occupations devised by the
International Labour Organisation (1987). Given
the large number of married women with no
formal occupation in Lebanon, this category was
included as a response option for mothers.
Parental, particularly paternal, educational levels
can be important determinants of future earnings
potential in low-income societies (Al-Samarrai
and Reilly, 2005). Attitudes towards work tend
to form in adolescence and are reflected by
educational programme choices (Daehlen, 2005).
 Educational and career aspirations: Students
were asked whether they intended to enter
employment or undertake further or higher
education after leaving school. Those intending
to find work were asked what kind of work they
would want to do, and how much they thought
they would earn monthly. Those intending to
embark on further or higher education were
asked what programme of study they wished to
undertake, what kind of work they expected to
do subsequently, and what they expected their
starting salary to be. Asking students about
anticipated earnings provides useful insights into
their perceptions of the labour market (Vlaar-
dingerbroek, 2001). Students were asked to
indicate whether they felt very confident, quite
confident, a bit confident, or not at all confident
about realising their aspirations, and were asked
to write down why.
 Factors influencing students’ aspirations: Parti-
cipants were asked to indicate how much
influence parents, other family members, school
and teachers, adult family friends, and peers had
on their career-related decisions (given the
options ‘very important’, ‘quite important’, ‘a
little bit important’ and ‘not at all important’).
Family members can be important influences on
young people’s career-related decisions, particu-
larly for students from higher socioeconomic
classes (Boyd and Chalmers, 2001; Gouvias and
Vitsilakis-Soroniatis, 2005). Students were in-
vited to mention anyone else who had influenced
them in this regard. They were then asked to rate
the importance of salary/income, social status,
and job satisfaction/enjoyment as those were to
them personally. Finally, they were given the
opportunity to write down any thoughts they had
on the prospects of young Lebanese people
finishing school.
The instrument was administered in English to
most students, but was translated into Arabic for
students at one of the Makassed schools.
The follow-up questionnaire form enquired of the
respondent what had become of the participating
student; if working, doing what and earning how
much; if studying, at what institution, and what
programme of study.
3.3. Data collation and statistical analysis
Age was recorded as at 1 July 2005. Religious
community was recorded as Muslim or Christian
without regard to sectarian identity. The term
‘degree’ is used very liberally in Lebanon, so all
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B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571 567

post-school academic and vocational degrees and Table 1

diplomas were combined into a single category. Parental education
Four parental education categories were finally Level Fathers (n ¼ 89) Mothers (n ¼ 90)
used: educated to below Baccalaureate; attained
the Baccalaureate; degree or diploma; and higher Higher degreea 12 (13%) 3 (3%)
degree. Parental occupations were collapsed into Degree or diplomab 40 (45%) 36 (40%)
Baccalaureatec 16 (18%) 20 (22%)
three broad categories corresponding to ILO 1–3, 4,
Below Baccalaureated 21 (24%) 31 (34%)
5, and 7–9 (see Table 2 for ILO category designa-
a
tions; there were no parents in ILO category 6). Masterate or Doctorate.
b
Students’ programmes of study were recorded Includes technical and vocational qualifications.
c
Lebanese or French Baccalaureate.
according to type (science-intensive or non-science- d
Includes high school leaving qualifications regarded as being
intensive) for those entering for the Lebanese below Baccalaureate level, such as American high school
Baccalaureate. For those aspiring to higher educa- diplomas.
tion, the intended programme of study was cate-
gorised under one of Science & Technology,
Business Studies, or Arts & Humanities. Antici- Table 2
pated incomes expressed in Lebanese Lira were Parental occupation
converted to US$. ILO categoriesa Fathers (n ¼ 89) Mothers (n ¼ 90)
The effects of gender and parental education and
occupation on students’ income expectations were 1–3 33 (37%) 16 (18%)
tested using the Kruskal-Wallis H-statistic on 4,5b 35 (39%) 10 (11%)
7–9 21 (24%) 1 (1%)
subsample medians. The Chi-square (w2) procedure
No formal occupation n/a 63 (70%)
was used to test for biases arising from these
variables on intended programme destination, and Notes
a
for homogeneity among influences on students’ ILO categories (International labour organisation, 1987):
aspirations and the importance they attached to
the job attributes listed. 1 Legislators, senior officials and managers
2 Professionals
3 Technicians and associate professionals
4. Results 4 Clerks
5 Service workers and shop and market sales workers
4.1. Sample description 6 Skilled agricultural and fisheries workers
7 Craft and related trades workers
8 Plant and machine operators and assemblers
A total of 103 completed questionnaires were 9 Elementary occupations
received in March 2005. By early 2006, 94 follow-up
forms had been submitted. Four of these were
b
removed from the data pool as those students had There were no ILO category 6 workers in the sample.
left Lebanon for higher study at overseas locations.
The Lebanese diaspora began under Ottoman rule
in the late 19th century and was greatly enhanced by vocational qualifications who did not attain the
the 1975–1990 civil war (Humphrey, 2004). Many Baccalaureate. Table 2 presents parental occupa-
Lebanese have communal and family contacts tions. Most mothers were categorised as having no
abroad, particularly in the USA, and the outflow formal occupation; one in six mothers was, how-
particularly of young men continues. This left a ever, categorised between ILO 1–3. Almost 40% of
pool of 90, 61 of whom were from Muslim and 29 fathers were in ILO categories 4 or 5, mostly in
from Christian communities, 50 girls and 40 boys business (either as employees or as small business
with an age range as at 1 July 2005 of 16.9–20.2. operators). While the sample is undeniably skewed
All students but one had two living parents. towards higher occupations, the low proportions of
Table 1 summarises the educational levels of the parents in the lower categories must be regarded in
parents. More than half the fathers and a little light of the high numbers of foreign workers in
below half the mothers had attained a post-high elementary occupations.
school qualification, although it must be borne Table 3 shows the programmes of study that
in mind that this group contains people with students were enrolled in. All but three of the
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568 B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571

Table 3 favouring non-Science & Technology programmes

Programmes of study (w2 ¼ 6.10, po0.05). Mothers’ occupational status
Programme No. enrolled No. enrolled
was not tested as a source of variation, given the low
by strands numbers in formal occupational categories.
Table 5 summarises the main trends in eventual
American high school diploma 3 (3%) income expectations for students intending to
Lebanese Baccalaureate 87 (97%)
attend university. Only 10 of these students in-
Science-intensive 47 (52%)
Sociology, Economics and 40 (44%) dicated that they had no idea about their earnings
Humanities prospects. The medians tabulated are realistic in
light of the current labour market. Parental educa-
tion and occupation were not found to be sources of
variation for students’ expectations in this regard.
Table 4
Gender was a significant source of variation, with
Students’ intentions in March 2005
boys having higher income expectations (H ¼ 4.37,
Intended destination Number No. by programme typea po0.05). Also significant was intended tertiary
programme type, with students aiming to enrol in
Direct employment 3 (3%)
University 87 (97%) science & technology programmes having higher
Science & technologyb 42 (48%) income expectations than those considering other
Business studiesc 30 (34%) programmes (H ¼ 9.73, po0.01). The higher in-
Arts & humanitiesd 4 (5%) come expectations associated with undertaking
Unspecified 11 (13%) tertiary training in areas such as engineering and
Notes medicine are realistic reflections of the salary
a
Percentages refer to students intending to go to university. profiles associated with these career pathways.
b
Includes medicine, engineering, architecture, and laboratory Although there was no gender bias in intended
technology. It should be noted that most medical training in enrolments at the faculty level (e.g. science or arts),
Lebanon follows the American model whereby candidates for
medical school are selected from a preceding science degree
it was observed that boys tended to opt more for
cohort. programmes leading to the higher-income profes-
c
Includes accounting and economics. sions within both the science & technology and
d
The single student wishing to study law was included in this business-related fields.
category. Table 6 indicates that confidence levels among the
students were generally moderate. As tabulated in
students were entering for the Lebanese Baccalaure- Table 7, many students expressed confidence in their
ate. The most popular programmes were science- personal ability. Several students wrote about the
intensive (mostly Life Science), followed by Eco- good prospects associated with their intended career
nomics and Social Science concentrations. pathway. However, some students’ comments
suggested a concern about the lack of information
4.2. Educational and career aspirations and/or guidance they had received concerning
university programmes. One student admitted to
Table 4 presents students’ intentions in March
2005. Only three students signalled a desire to enter
employment while all the others were intent on Table 5
Anticipated earnings upon commencing employment for students
entering university. Of these, almost half wished to
intending to go to university
enrol in a Science & Technology programme, with
about one-third aiming for Business Studies. About Students Median H
one in nine would-be university entrants had not (US$/month)
made up their mind what programme to pursue. All intending university study 700
Gender and parental education were not shown to (n ¼ 77)
be associated with the intention to enrol in Science Boys (n ¼ 40) 800
& Technology or non-Science & Technology pro- Girls (n ¼ 37) 670 4.37 po0.05
grammes at university. Fathers’ occupational status Science & technology 925
programmes (n ¼ 38)
was a minor source of variation, with slightly more All other programmes (n ¼ 29) 650 9.73 po0.01
students having fathers in ILO categories 4 or 5
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B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571 569

being ‘‘y kind of confused between choicesy got
[to get] it right!’’ Another noted that, ‘‘I’m not sure
if this option is right for me’’.
4.3. Influences on students’ aspirations
Table 8 tabulates how important students
thought various people had been on their future
educational and career thinking. Parents emerged as
the dominant influence (w2 ¼ 87.57, p50.01), while
the influence of schools and teachers appeared to be
comparable to those of peers. Only four students
Table 6
Levels of confidence in March 2005
Confidence level
mentioned influences outside those listed: the family
doctor, unspecified graduates, university staff, and
an on-line job aptitude test. Table 9 suggests that
students gave anticipated income level, social status,
and job satisfaction comparable weightings when
considering their career options.
As indicated by Table 10, the concern about a
lack of information or guidance concerning higher
education and career prospects re-emerged in the
closing comments students made on the question-
naire form. One student noted bluntly that
The students that are leaving school most of
them are confused and not confident of what to
choose because nobody or school is helping them
to choose.

Very confident 33 (37%)

At the same time, another recurring line of
Quite confident 45 (50%) thought was about the importance of education to
A little confident 12 (13%) young Lebanese. One student wrote that
Not confident 0

I strongly encourage young Lebanese people to

remain in school because nowadays a person
Table 7 without a solid education will not advance in life.
Themes arising from comments made concerning confidence Therefore young people should cease [sic] the
levels opportunity they have because not everyone has
this chance.
Theme n

Personal high grades or high ability
Good academic or job prospects presented by the
intended programme
Lack of clarity about academic or career options
20 But the high costs of study (particularly at one of
8
the prestigious private universities) and the anaemic
6 job market emerged as undercurrents in some
comments. One student lamented that

Table 8
Influences on students’ career-related decisions

Source Very important Quite important A little bit important Not at all important w2

Parents 41 (46%) 30 (33%) 16 (18%) 3 (3%)

Other family members 7 (8%) 27 (30%) 26 (29%) 30 (33%)
School and teachers 17 (19%) 33 (37%) 24 (27%) 16 (18%)
Family friends (adult) 5 (6%) 31 (34%) 29 (32%) 25 (28%)
Friends (own age) 11 (12%) 28 (31%) 33 (37%) 18 (20%) 87.57 p50.01

Table 9
Importance of job attributes

Source Very important Quite important A little bit important Not at all important w2

Salary/income 57 (63%) 31 (34%) 2 (2%) 0

Social status 52 (58%) 30 (33%) 8 (9%) 0
Satisfaction/enjoyment 68 (76%) 20 (22%) 2 (2%) 0 11.01
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570 B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571

Table 10 5. Discussion and recommendations

Themes arising from comments made concerning young Leba-
nese people’s future prospects For the young Lebanese who manages a pass in the
Theme n Year 12 terminating examinations, progressing to
tertiary study in a field of his or her choice does not
Lack of information or guidance about academic or 8 appear to present a daunting challenge. This progres-
career options
sion would appear to be an imperative, as there is a
Importance of education to young people’s prospects 6
Job scarcity 4 dearth of desirable job openings available to them.
Costs of higher study 4 The study did not identify major effects of gender or
parental variables (education and occupational sta-
tus) on students’ choices of higher education pro-
grammes as categorised by broad disciplinary area
Table 11 (e.g. science and technology). However, there was an
Students’ status in late 2005 indication that gender was associated with eventual
Status Number Number of further/ income expectations based on specific career destina-
higher education tions. A more focused study involving larger numbers
enroleesa would be valuable in this regard.
A Year 12 cohort is, however, unlikely to be
Repeating Year 12 1 (1%)
In full-time employmentb 0 representative of the whole Lebanese population, as
In further educationc 7 (8%) there is considerable attrition before that stage.
At university 81 (90%) Gender, socioeconomic status and school quality
Science & technology 43 (49%) have been found to be related factors in differential
Business studies 34 (39%)
attrition rates in Egypt (Lloyd et al., 2003) and our
Arts & humanities 11 (13%)
Not working or studying 1 (1%) limited data in this regard are suggestive of a similar
situation in Lebanon. Again, a larger study should
Notes address this complex issue.
a
Percentages refer to students in further and higher education. The Brevet examination accounts for some with-
b
Three students currently studying were engaged in part-time
employment.
drawals from the school system, although consider-
c
Includes institutions offering programmes in business studies able numbers of students repeat Year 9 and
and science & technology. subsequently pass the examination. Attrition is also
influenced by the common private school practice of
After studying in school, people suffer [sic] to enter dismissing academically unpromising students after
a university and then simply ——————-NO Year 10. Some of these students may, however,
WORK. enrol for Year 11 in schools with lower promotion
criteria, or enter for the Baccalaureate as ‘private
candidates’. For our sample schools, despite an
4.4. Post-school destinations overall Brevet pass rate in excess of 98%, there was
an exit rate in excess of 20% after Year 9. There was
Table 11 reveals what had become of the students also a Year 10 attrition rate of about the same
after the 2004–2005 school year. Two had appar- magnitude, and a lower but still significant exit rate
ently failed their examinations; all the others had from Year 11, with an additional small number of
entered either an institution of further education or, drop-outs during Year 12. However, some of these
for the overwhelming majority, a recognised uni- exiting students at the lower Year levels would
versity. None had transited to employment, subsequently have re-enrolled elsewhere in the
although three students were working part-time. system. Any future studies should include public
The proportion of students now enrolled in tertiary schools. Ideally, comprehensive and on-going tracer
science and technology programmes was virtually studies should be undertaken by the Lebanese
unchanged from the list of intentions presented in Ministry of Education such as those exemplified
Table 4. The proportions pursuing business studies by the Maltese authorities (Government of Malta,
and arts/humanities programmes had increased by 2006).
absorbing previously undecided students about The fate of ‘drop-outs’ from the school system
equally. requires systematic tracer research. The vocational
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
B. Vlaardingerbroek et al. / International Journal of Educational Development 27 (2007) 564–571
and technical education system absorbs numerous
exiting students, including Brevet ‘fails’, but transi-
tion rates into this fragmented sector need to be
ascertained. Also important is an indication of how
many school system leavers become active in small
family-operated business enterprises.
Unemployment in Lebanon is not the preserve of
the unskilled (United Nations, 2003), and educated
young Lebanese on the threshold of their careers
appear to be generally quite well informed about the
prospects associated with given career pathways and
the pecuniary benefits associated with them. At the
same time, there is a significant level of dissatisfac-
tion with this information base. Careers counselling
is an almost unknown formal aspect of Lebanese
secondary schooling, although it was evident from
comments written by several students that they had
discussed their future education and career orienta-
tion with some of their teachers. While we do not
wish to detract from the value of parental guidance,
we would urge the Lebanese secondary education
system to formalise this aspect of its operation, a
deficiency first drawn attention to almost a quarter
century ago as a reason for unrealistic career
expectations and associated poor tertiary pro-
gramme choices (Theodory, 1982). This is particu-
larly important for public and ‘mid-private’ schools,
as careers counselling is of most value for students
from lower socioeconomic class backgrounds (Boyd
and Chalmers, 2001; see also Soliman, 1991).
In summary, the study has indicated that the
external efficiency of the Lebanese upper secondary
school sector as a supplier of students to higher
education is very high, and that students at that
level generally make a smooth transition into a
programme that well matches their secondary
school specialisation. The principal limitation of
this first study was its focus on the terminating year
of secondary schooling, thereby ignoring the fates of
students who do not reach Year 12. The study has
suggested that many secondary school students
make choices about their future based on limited
information sources, and would benefit from
professional school-based careers advice.
Acknowledgements
Our profound gratitude is extended to the many
school staff and students who made this research
possible.
571
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