A Survey of High School Seniors' Career Choices: Implications for Allied Health

This paper describes a research study conducted using a survey instrument to determine what factors influence high school seniors when making decisions related to future careers and college education. Students were asked to indicate what careers they intended to pursue, what people and factors influenced their careers choices, and their familiarity with and impressions of the allied health professions. The majority indicated that personal satisfaction, employment opportunities, and income were the most important factors influencing their career choices. Although 76.5% of the respondents had a favorable impression of allied health, only 15% indicated that they were very familiar with the allied health professions. The results here and in other studies point to lack of knowledge rather than lack of interest as the leading cause of enrollment vacancies in allied health curricula.