Positive psychological correlates of career competency among panchayat school students

Aim: The present study aims to explore the psychological correlates that are related to career oriented positive psychological strengths, namely, Career Adaptability, Career Optimism and Perceived Knowledge among the panchayat school students. Materials and Methods: It is basically a report of the pilot study for a major ICSSR fellowship study which is exploratory and descriptive in nature. A popular village panchayat school in Salem district with a 300 students was chosen as the target school. 134 students were randomly selected. Of them 80 were girls and 54 were boys. They were all administered career futures inventory developed by Patrick Joseph Rottinghaus (2004). It measures career optimism, career adaptability capacities and perceived knowledge. In this study these variables are considered positive psychological variables for positive psychology has emerged as a separate branch of study and the field has started attracting controlled randomized experimental investigations. Synopsis of the Result: The percentage analysis revealed that 70.1% of students have chosen a career and have not investigated about their chosen career. 21.6% of students investigated a number of careers and have selected only one. 47.8% of the students quite often think about their career goals. 40.3% of students said they put high level of effort for their school work. 66.4% of students said they put high level of effort for learning about their career options. During a typical week, only 2.2% of students spent over 60 hours of activities related to their school work. 4.5% of students are found to be very dissatisfied about their current major. 41% of students are spending 16-30 hours and 6% are over 60 hours to explore their career options during the last 6 months. The analysis of correlation revealed no significant relationship among these three variables. However, results of independent t’ test revealed that Female village panchayat school students were found to have more career adap