Guiding the Path: Exploring the Contribution of Career-Specific Parenting Practices on Career Decision Self-Efficacy among Vocational High School Students

The future professions of vocational high school (SMK) students are connected to career paths selected and often accompanied by uncertainties in decision-making.A factor affecting adolescents' confidence in career decision-making is parental influence.Therefore, this research aimed to explore the relationship between Career-Specific Parenting Practices (CSPP), such as support, interference, and lack of engagement, with career Decision Self-Efficacy (CDSE) of SMK students.The research method adopted was a quantitative survey including 254 participants consisting of eleventh-grade SMK students in Surabaya (with a mean age of 17 years, 48,8% female, and 51,2% male).The population sample was selected using a convenience sampling method.The results showed a positive correlation between parental support and CDSE (r = 0.481, ρ = 0.000) as well as a negative relationship between lack of parental engagement and CDSE among SMK students (r = -0.165,ρ = 0.008), while parental interference showed no correlation.The stepwise regression analysis showed that parental support, representing 18.9%, was the strongest predictor influencing CDSE among SMK students.Therefore, the research's implications emphasize the importance of parental support and engagement in shaping CDSE of SMK students.