<![CDATA[Background: Career planning is a fundamental developmental task during adolescence, serving as a critical pathway toward achieving future economic independence and navigating post-secondary transitions. High school students often experience indecision regarding higher education and occupational pathways due to limited exposure to structured career information. Therefore, assessing student career readiness is crucial for establishing effective, responsive school counseling interventions. Objective: This study aims to analyze the profile and distribution of career planning levels across different grade cohorts at SMA Negeri 11 Bandung. Method: A quantitative descriptive design was utilized, involving 90 high school students selected through probability sampling techniques. Data collection was executed using structured questionnaires assessing multidimensional career planning indicators, corroborated by non-participant observation and administrative documentation. The collected data were analyzed using prerequisite normality tests and descriptive statistics. Result: The findings indicated a female-dominated sample (67%). Developmentally, twelfth-grade students demonstrated the highest career planning maturity, with 70% categorized as high, surpassing tenth-grade (40%) and eleventh-grade (50%) peers. Overall, the predominant proportion of students across all cohorts remained situated within the moderate career planning category. Conclusion: The majority of students exhibit moderate career planning readiness, emphasizing the imperative need for systematic, stage-specific career counseling programs to foster well-informed academic and vocational decisions. Originality/Value: This study contributes novel insights to the field of developmental guidance and counseling by uncovering differentiated profiles and progressive stages of student career planning across secondary grade cohorts regarding future career choices and higher education pathways within the high school context, which remains under-explored in integrated school settings. These findings enrich empirical evidence and serve as a strategic reference for designing targeted group guidance programs and developmental school-based career counseling interventions]]>
Copyrights © 2025
