DISPARITY BETWEEN APTITUDES AND THE CHOICE OF CAREERORIENTED COURSES AMONG STUDENTS IN IT COURSES

The research aimed to find the discrepancy between the Aptitude and interest levels among Engineering Students. It focuses on measuring the skills, potential and cognitive abilities to determine the levels of Aptitude. The research also aspires to evaluate the Interest to get an insight on the vocational interest among the students. This study has applied a descriptive research design and survey method for the data collection among the Engineering students. The Sampling Method used for the research was the Purposive sampling method and a Sample of 50 Engineering students was selected from various Colleges in the District of Erode. Tools: The psychological measures administered were David's Battery of Differential Abilities (DBDA) developed in 2009 by Sanjay Vohra and The Thurstone Interest Schedule (TIS) by L.L. Thurstone (1947). Statistical analysis: The data was analysed by descriptive statistics, in terms of frequencies and percentages. Results: The results were found to be: that there is a discrepancy between the standardized tests of aptitude for the requisite aptitudes for the IT courses versus the aptitude of the students themselves because a significant number of students performed poorly in Numerical, Reasoning, Verbal, and Closure Abilities, it becomes evident that cognitive demands in IT and engineering courses might pose a challenge for many students. Also, the research concludes that there is a significant drop in interest in the fields of Physical science and computations. Students who have low levels of interest in these areas may be less motivated to do well in school and to be happy in their careers.