Effect of Contextual Factors on Grade 9 Learners' Career Pathway Selection under the Competency-Based Curriculum Framework: Evidence from Trans Nzoia County

Abstract

Career pathway selection is a decisive juncture in Kenya's Competency-Based Education (CBE) system, where Grade 9 learners choose among the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Social Sciences, and Arts and Sports pathways. While personal and institutional influences on this decision have received growing attention, the broader socio-economic and cultural forces that shape how learners think about careers before they even enter the school gate remain under-examined in non-metropolitan Kenyan settings. This paper reports the contextual-factors component of a wider study on the determinants of Grade 9 pathway selection in junior schools in Trans Nzoia County, Kenya. The problem addressed is that learners in the county's predominantly agricultural, resource-constrained schools make pathway decisions with limited exposure to verified labour market information and within communities where gender norms continue to define which careers are considered appropriate for boys and girls, raising the risk of misaligned and inequitable choices. The study's purpose was to evaluate the effect of contextual factors, namely labour market awareness and societal gender roles, on learner pathway selection. A correlational, mixed-methods design was applied, drawing on a Likert-scale questionnaire administered to 301 Grade 9 learners, semi-structured interviews with teachers, heads of institution, and parent representatives, and an observation checklist completed in eight schools. Findings showed that contextual factors exerted a high and statistically significant influence (overall mean = 3.58; chi-square p < .001 across all six items), with labour market awareness marginally outweighing gender-role influence, although triangulation revealed that reported awareness derived largely from unverified community narratives rather than institutional sources. The study concludes that contextual influence in Trans Nzoia County operates informally and is reinforced, rather than corrected, by the school environment, and recommends structured, verified labour-market information sessions and audited, gender-balanced career guidance materials in junior schools.

Keywords: contextual factors, career pathway selection, Competency-Based Education, labour market awareness, gender roles, Kenya

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/17-8-03

Publication date: August 30th 2026