engleski

Attitudes of students of helping and non-helping professions towards employed visually impaired persons

Theoretical base for this study is Holland’s theory which considers that the choice of a vocation is an expression of personality: personalities seek out and flourish in career environments they fit (Holland, 1997). According to Holland’s RIASEC codes, students of helping professions dominantly have socially oriented personalities. We can assume that students of helping professions will prefer pro-social activities and involvement in civil society organisations, what will influence forming of their attitudes towards employed visually impaired persons. The aims of this study were: (1) to investigate possible differences in attitudes towards employed visually impaired persons (SZS scale) between students of helping and students of non-helping professions and (2) to examine the possible differences in the same attitudes concerning the voluntary experience students have or have had. There were 427 participants (mean age M=20.7) from seven study groups in Croatia, divided to helping (65, 5%): teaching, social work, education, rehabilitation and physiotherapy and non-helping professions (34, 4%): agronomy, economy, electrical engineering and computing. 47, 5% of all students said they were involved in a civil society organisation, initiative or a religious organisation’s work. Results show that students of helping and non-helping professions significantly differ in five of 24 attitudes towards employed visually impaired persons and two differences were found in students’ attitudes towards employed visually impaired persons whether students were involved in civil society organisations, initiatives or religious organisations. Results of this study are discussed from the perspective of specific education aimed for helping professions and from the point of view of civil society activism.

attitudes; employment; visually-impaired persons; voluntary work

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