VOCATIONAL INTERESTS OF YOUNG ANGOLAN STUDENTS

Interests and their assessment occupy a central position in the vocational guidance process, being proven its role in improving the quality of education, such as the involvement of students in productive work [1]. In this context, we present a study to evaluate the vocational interests of a group of young Angolan students, developed in the context of a preparation course to higher education in Portugal. Participated in this study 67 Angolan adolescents from both sexes, (32, 47.86% girls and 35, 52.2% boys), age ranging from 17 to 20 years old (mu=19 +/- 0.78). They were assessed throughout Self Directed Search (SDS; [2]). These students are attending ten different academic courses, which can be categorized in the following areas: (i) Economics and Accountancy (n=26, 38.81%), (ii) Technologies (n=30; 44.78%), (iii) Human Resource Management and Law (n=9, 13.43%). It is possible to observe similarities, according to sex, in the interests' structure, with statistically significant differences in the artistic interests, in favor of girls. There has been found a statistically significant difference according to academic course, in the conventional interests, in favor of Economics and Accountancy. The theory of interests and vocational choices of Holland [3], [4], in the cultural context of Angola, as well as the results and their implications for the experiences and for school/vocational projects of young Angolans are therefore discussed.