The purpose of this study was to establish the self esteem of adolescents in Kisumu Municipality, Kenya and to determine the relationship between self esteem and career variables. A sample of 369 secondary school students were surveyed on career self esteem, career maturity and career locus of control. The current study found that female students scored significantly higher on self esteem and internal locus of control than male students and that male students scored significantly higher on external locus of control. Self esteem was found to be positively correlated to career maturity and internal locus of control and negatively correlated to external locus of control. Using linear regression analyses, self esteem was found to be a significant predictor of career maturity, internal locus of control and external locus of control. Self esteem only accounted for 2% of variance in career maturity, internal locus of control and external locus of control. The results demonstrate that self esteem has a significant role to play in adolescents’ career development.
Keywords: Adolescents, Career Maturity, Gender, locus of control, self-esteem
