Introduction In today's world of globalization and changing labor markets, students' career choices are directly influenced not only by their individual abilities, but also by the socio-cultural environment of their families. The main goal of this study is to investigate the mechanisms through which parents' traditional gender beliefs influence students' career decisions in Kazakhstani society from a sociocultural perspective. Methods The study used a cross-sectional quantitative design and involved 701 university students. The research hypotheses, which state that parents' traditional gender attitudes are positively associated with the level of interference in student choice, were tested using Pearson's correlation, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and linear regression methods. Results Empirical analysis confirmed a significant positive relationship between traditional parental attitudes and their directive intervention ( r = 0.427, p 0.001). The regression model explained 18.2% of the variance in parental influence (β = 0.427). The results showed that gender segregation in career orientation is shaped by economic pragmatism, cultural dogmas, and implicit pressure from parents. Students' choice of professions that “do not match” their gender (e.g., STEM for girls) leads to less psychological support from their families. Discussion These findings suggest that young people's career decisions are more influenced by “social approval” than by individual abilities. Career choice is a complex socio-cultural process influenced by family. To overcome gender inequality in the workforce and fully utilize human capital, it is not enough to focus only on students. We need to shift to a “family-oriented” approach to professional counseling. This approach aims to deconstruct gender stereotypes in parents' minds.
Zharkynbek et al. (Tue,) studied this question.