Vocational maturity is the capacity to face the development tasks, which one is confronted with as a consequence of one' s own social-biological development and society' s expectations for the individuals who reach such a condition of development. Differences regarding the levels of vocational maturity are explored in this study, according to sex, age, level of high school education and type of school attended. A sample of 860 high school students - from14 to 18 years old, male and female, attending public and private schools - answered the Questionnaire related to Career Education (QCE). The results show significant differences (p<0.05) when variables such as sex, type of school and level of high school education are controlled. Age does not determine a statistically higher vocational maturity. As main conclusion it is pointed out, that adolescents from public schools may be forced to accept the emerging professional opportunities, thus facing a "premature vocational maturity".
Vocational maturity; adolescence; career development
