Analysis of Social Influences in the Transition of Czech Students Between Educational Levels and to the Labour Market

The paper deals with the transition of Czech students of lower secondary schools (ISCED 2A) and vocationally oriented upper secondary schools (ISCED 3A and 3C) between educational levels and to the labour market. The theoretical introduction describes the specifics of career decision making of Czech pupils and synthesizes some important empirical findings on social influences on this decision. The core lies in a survey designed by the National Institute of Education, School Counselling Centre and Centre for Further Education of Teachers. The instrument of data collection was questionnaires for students of final years of lower secondary and upper secondary schools. Data collection took place in 2011 at 40 lower secondary (n=779) and 20 vocationally oriented upper secondary schools (n=442). The paper compares the views of these groups of respondents on student’s autonomy in the choice of further education and occupation, and social influences on students’ career decision-making.