Career Preference-Personality Mismatch: Leveraging the RIASEC Model in IT-Driven Career Guidance

This study examines the mismatch between career preferences and personality profiles of 717 Ugandan Advanced level and university students from 15 secondary schools and 1 university in Central and Western Uganda. Holland’s RIASEC model was used to determine career preferences and personality through a 42-item inventory. Statistical analysis indicated substantial misalignment: while nearly 50% of students preferred Investigative or Realistic careers such as engineering and medicine, only 28% demonstrated personality congruence with their preferences. The study found a weak positive relationship (Kendall’s τ = 0.394) between students’ career preferences and personalities, challenging conventional personality-driven career guidance systems. The research proposes a hybrid framework that dynamically weights RIASEC profiles against local opportunity data and student aspirations, offering a scalable solution for low-resource educational contexts.