https://doi.org/10.24552/00002171 ©青森県立保健大学
Does professional training influence career selection of young people beyond their attributes?: From interviews with students and the graduates of a local university majoring in welfare
Naoko Hiromori
Department of Social Welfare, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aomori University of Health and Welfare
（Recieved February 20, 2020; Accepted April 30, 2021）
ABSTRACT
［Objective］This study analyzed the interviews with students and graduates of a local university majoring in welfare about their career selections, and examined the relation among their selections, attributes and social situations, to discuss possible roles and functions of the professional training in the local university.
［Methods］Data was collected via semi-structured interviews and analyzed with qualitative and descriptive methods. The interviews were transcribed, then coded and analyzed by MAXQDA® focusing on the relation among their attributes（hometown, gender, and family relationship）and their career selections.
［Results］The following four categories were extracted:（1）Strong local-oriented attitudes and employment outside Aomori as a passive selection.（2）Gaps between professional orientation and employment that they hope.（3）Awareness of leaving home and family relationship.（4）Real views on marriage and awareness of career continuity.
［Conclusions］Acquisition of a university degree and professional qualifications functioned as a way to moderately improve their own status, while remaining to stay their hometown for the people with strong local-oriented attitudes. On the other side, it also functioned as a way to move（temporarily） from their hometown for seeking a better job for the people with strong professional orientation. These career selections were thought to be coping strategies with the situations in which they did not make use of their qualifications enough in their hometown, although “learning welfare in university” has an implication and value to some extent. It was concluded that professional training in the local university has an aspect of a function for the young people to expand the career options beyond their attributes, though people are likely to select their careers under an influence of their attributes.
Key words: professional training, career selection, attribute, young people in local communities, university students and the graduates majoring in welfare