71©JournaloftheIndianAcademyofAppliedPsychology,January-July2005,Vol.31,No.1-2,71-76.CareerMaturityofSchoolChildrenUpmaDhillonandRajinderKaurGuruNanakDevUniversity,Amritsar.Thepresentinvestigationhasbeenundertakentostudycareermaturityamongthestudentsofpublicandgovernmentschools.Adensesampleof500highschoolstudentswerethesubjectsofthisstudy(250malesand250females).TheCrites’careermaturityinventory(CMI),selfconceptscale(SCS),achievementmotivationtest(ACMT),andLumpkin’slocusofcontrolscale(LOC)wereadministeredtothestudentstostudytherelationshipbetweencareermaturityandselfconcept,achievementmotivationandlocusofcontrol.Oncomparisonofpublicandgovernmentschools,theresultsclearlyindicatethatthestudentsofpublicschoolspossessahighercareermaturityattitude(CMA),careermaturitycompetence(CMC),aswellasselfconceptandachievementmotivation.SignificantrelationshipshavealsobeenobtainedbetweenCMAandCMC,internalLOCandACMTincaseofboysinpublicschoolsandbetweenCMA,ACMTandSCSincaseofgirlsinpublicschools.OntheotherhandsignificantrelationshiphasbeenfoundbetweenCMAandexternallocusofcontrol,achievementmotivationandselfconceptincaseofboysingovernmentschoolandbetweenCMCandachievementmotivationincaseofgirlsingovernmentschools.OneofthemostcrucialdecisionsaThewordsCareerDevelopment,youngadolescentmustmakeistheselectionVocationalDevelopment,andOccupationalofanoccupation.AlargenumberofcareerDevelopmentareusedsynonymously,theyoptionsareavailablethesedaystotherefertoalifelongprocessofdevelopingworkstudents,makingitadifficulttaskforthevalues,crystallizingavocationalidentity,youngstertomakeamaturechoice.ThelearningaboutopportunitiesandtryingoutconceptofCareerMaturityhasitsorigininpart-timeworksituationstheSuper’sdevelopmentaltheoryofcareerbehaviour,whichenvisagesthatselectionofTheliteratureonvocationaltheoryandanoccupationisaprocessspanningadevelopmentidentifiesanumberofconsiderablenumberofyearsusuallyfromcorrelatesofvocationalmaturity.Includedlatechildhoodtoearlychildh