Abstract:

Changing labour market conditions and the increasing need to make independent, value-based decisions are drawing growing attention to students’ career education in schools. However, students’ career visions often remain fragmented, and their perceived value of a career as well as the factors shaping it change across different stages of schooling. Research still lacks an integrated perspective that would reveal how students’ experiences, social environment, and individual factors interact in shaping career understanding. The problem addressed in this study is how students’ perceived value of a career and the factors shaping it influence the development of career vision at different stages of schooling. The aim of the study is to reveal the factors shaping career development and to explore changes in the perception of career value in students’ experiences. The study is grounded in the principles of critical pedagogy, which emphasize reflection, self-awareness, and the active role of the learner in constructing their life and career trajectory.

A qualitative narrative research strategy was applied in the study. Data collection is based on a two-time-point comparative design, allowing the analysis of the development and transformation of students’ career vision across a longer developmental period. Two interrelated data sources were used: texts written by students in Grade 3 about their future plans and semi-structured interviews conducted with the same students in Grade 12. The sample consisted of 11 students. The early texts allow the reconstruction of students’ initial future images and early career perceptions, while the interviews invited students to reflect on the development of their career vision, discuss the criteria of career value, and identify factors that influenced changes in their views.

Data were analysed using narrative thematic analysis, which allows the systematic identification and interpretation of meanings and themes emerging from the narratives. During the analysis, students’ texts and interview transcripts were coded by identifying meaningful content units that were later grouped into subthemes and broader themes. A comparison of the two time points was also applied, enabling the analysis of early and later career visions at the individual level and the identification of typical trajectories of career vision development.

The results revealed that students perceive career value as a multidimensional construct that includes economic stability, personal growth, interest, and meaningful activity. The notion of a “good career” emerges as a balance between the need for security and the aspiration for self-realisation. The findings also show that students’ career vision develops gradually during the school years, moving from an early imaginative view of the future toward a more realistic and reasoned choice shaped by personal experiences, educational structures, and the social environment.

Keywords:

Career vision, perception of career value, students’ experiences, career education, narrative research.