Although metalwork is perceived as one of the subjects that imparts essential skills for post-secondary education survival, learners in secondary school shy away from learning the subject. The purpose of the study was to investigate the factors that influence the decisions made by secondary school learners to opt to study metalwork or not. One hundred and forty-four secondary school learners, both boys and girls, were randomly selected to participate in the study through completing questionnaires and having discussions in focus groups, designed to elicit the factors which influence the choices of the learners. The results showed four prominent push-away factors. The build-up factors to the prominent factors were all hypothesized and analysed at 0.05 α-level. It was found out that much as the prospective careers influence the learners, teaching approaches, environment and personal perception of the subject have an impact on the learners. The subject is not well known among learners especially those joining the secondary school from primary school and as a result the learners tend to shun it. It is recommended that metalwork should be thoroughly oriented to the learners upon arrival and that professionals involved in metalwork business should be engaged in civic duty and educating primary and secondary school learners on the subject. Career guidance should also be intensified to give teenagers a better perspective on the career.

Keywords: Metalwork, push factors, career influences, secondary school, technical subjects.