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information would not be easy identifiable in the write-up process and in the dissemination of results process.
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laboratories, no form of career guidance offered, and Life Orientation subject was used to catch up on other subjects. I wondered then, if I went to an ex-Model C school and lived in a township yet faced so many challenges with career development, what are some of the challenges that youth in rural communities face with career development, and how do they overcome these challenges.
In my career journey, I was influenced by the curiosity of always wanting to understand behaviour and emotions that lead to the discovery of psychology as a possible career path to follow. However, when I posed the suggestion to my parents it was not met with the same enthusiasm. My parents had no understanding of what psychology is and how I would make a livelihood after my study period. My mother suggested I follow a career in commerce studies after seeing a child of a family friend succeed in the field. After several unsuccessful applications to different universities in commerce fields and a six months gap after completing secondary schooling, my mother allowed me to follow a career path of my desire.
It was these challenges that ignited an interest in career psychology.
The research study was formulated and conceptualised based on the challenges that I faced in career decision-making and my curiosity in wanting to understand the challenges faced by youth in rural communities when they make career decisions. When conceptualising the research study, I had my own assumptions and own views about rural communities and the youth belonging to rural communities. For example, there are no resources available in the communities that facilitate in the process of career development and career decision-making, career decisions are based on family needs, schools in rural communities are under-resourced and there is no form of career exposure and career development platforms available in the schools. My assumptions about the context of rural communities and anticipated results of the study played a role on the strategies used for data collection, data analysis, the presentation and interpretation of the findings.
My positon as a researcher during the process of data collection had an impact in my interaction with the participants. Being an older and Zulu student interacting with young Zulu students had both positive and negative impacts on the finding and interpretation of the study
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findings. I, being a Zulu student positioned me as an insider. The students felt comfortable to talk to me and there was also a sense of pride in seeing a Zulu person who has reached a master’s level of study, highlighting the values of communuality that are upheld by Black African people. However, the fact that I do not come from rural communities positioned me as an outsider during my interaction with the students. I felt as though I did not fully comprehend the challenges and circumstances that the students faced in the process of career decision-making. I believe that my position as an outsider had an impact in how I formulated the unterview and FGD guides of the study and interpreted the findings of the study.
My gender, as a researcher, had an impact during the data collection phase of the study. The researcher being female and majority of the participants being female, this skewed the findings of the study towards being female dominated lacking the perspective of males coming from rural communities. The majority of the students come from families where they are the first generation of people within the family to make it to university and I come from a family of learnered people. My background had an impact in how the students perceived me, and it may have influenced the study findings, sharing my career story and background may have affected the study findings by skewing the findings towards a certain direction.
During the formulation and conceptualisation stage of the study I was wary of using the word‘factor’ in describing the challenges and different circumstances of youth belonging in rural communities when making career decisions. The word ‘factor’ is predominantly used in quantitative research studies; in the current study, I had to adopt and adapt the term factor and provide a definition that is appropriate for the research study. The term factor was most appropriate for the study because it allowed for a more holistic perspective to all the events, circumstances, people, etc. that affect career decision-making for the students belonging in rural communities.
When developing the research guides, I wanted to focus mostly on the social and environmental factors in career decision-making for the students belonging to rural communities. However, I did not want to overlook other factors that might have been important in the process of career development and career decision-making. I employed the
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Systems theory framework by Patton and McMahon (2006) as the framework guiding the research study; this allowed me to explore other factors that might be important in the process of career development and career decision-making for the students amongst the rural communities. In the data analysis process, I used framework analysis process by Ritchie and Spencer (1994), this enabled exploration of data beyond the preconceived conceptions I had about the data. The data analysis phase and the presentation of the findings were thorough, extensive and reiterative ensuring that the findings are a true representation of the data.