Professions and new senior secondary subject choice: A case study of Hong Kong band one school

Hong Kong is in an increasing trend of professionalism. The purpose of this research is to understand the mind of the Band One school students when they were having the New Senior Secondary subject choice; to know the implication and their understanding of worshipping of the profession. The current project has used the inclusive, exploratory method to examine the situation through a case of a traditional prestigious Hong Kong Band One catholic girl school.
This qualitative study has examined the reason for New Senior Secondary (NSS) subject choice by conducting an in-depth interview with eight alumnae of the case school who are currently undergraduate students or junior graduates with less than five years of working experience. The interviewees were divided into four clusters according to the two independent variables: Streaming of the NSS subject choice and the profession of the university degree.
The findings show the ultimate goal of the NSS subject choice is to strive for academic excellence and the HKDSE result is the crucial factor for the interviewees to enter the university and pursue their educational and career aspirations. The NSS subject choice is also influenced by other factors based on the benefits to the career aspiration and the restriction and influences of the school policy and sub-culture. The majority of the interviewees are worshipping professionals, including those choosing non-professional degrees. The discussion on the phenomenon and factors of worshipping the profession without self-recognition will be included.