Self-Sufficiency among First-Grade Secondary Students with Employed and Housewife Mothers in Shiraz in School Year 2014-2015

The aim of this study was to perform a comparative analysis of self-sufficiency among first-grade secondary students with employed and housewife mothers in Shiraz in the school year 2014-2015. To this end, a descriptive study with a causal-comparative method was performed. The research population included all 41300 seventh and eighth grade students in Shiraz, of whom 397 students were selected randomly as the research sample from four educational districts in Shiraz through multi-stage cluster sampling. Besides, inferential statistics (ANOVA and independent t-test) were used to analyze the data. The results showed there were significant differences in terms of self-sufficiency levels reported by male and female students in favor of the female students. In addition, there were no significant differences in self-reported levels of self-sufficiency between the respondents (students, parent, and teachers) in the districts under study. However, self-reported levels of self-sufficiency were significantly different in favor of eighth grade students. In addition, there were no significant differences in reported levels of self-sufficiency between students with employed and unemployed mothers. It was also noted that self-sufficiency levels were not significantly different among students in terms of mothers' work experience and their monthly income. The results showed that although the family conditions may affect the students' self-sufficiency levels, the personality traits of adolescents must be taken into account in order to strengthen their self-sufficiency.