Orientation and vocational maturity in music conservatory students

Abstract

. Professional music conservatory students’ orientation and vocational maturity have been little studied. Therefore, this work aims to analyse the available orientation and the vocational maturity students develop. This research used a quantitative (descriptive-correlational) and cross-sectional design through questionnaires. The sample comprised 252 students from the last years of the professional Music degree and teachers from the province of Pontevedra. Results and conclusions reveal deficiencies in schools’ vocational orientation for higher education and the decision-making process as well as professional information. Furthermore, some shortcomings of the incorporation of orientation activities in the annual planning are highlighted. Regarding music conservatory students’ vocational maturity, some music-related professions are not well known, limiting their career choices. Considering gender, there are significant differences in self-knowledge and the self-efficacy dimension of vocational maturity, with male students’ average slightly higher than females’. Likewise, this work shows that the decision-making dimension is significantly higher among students whose parents have music-associated professions, and the dimension related to information about studies and professions is more extensive among students who have already chosen their future training or profession.