1. Theoretical framework
In Romania, in the last decades, after the revolution educational psychology, vocational counseling and vocational orientation have become more important. Therefore, both in middle school and high school there are vocational counsellors in every school and high school in Romania. Their role is complex as they are involved in the harmonious development of students but most of the times the environment's involvement by promoting the psychologist profession and the specializations offered plays a crucial role in the vocational orientation of high school students concerning the universities they choose to study at.
Nettles (1991) elaborated a conceptual framework depicting student investments as being stimulated by various school-related and community-related involvement processes. According to the conceptual model from figure 1, the students’ personal investments are hypothesized as influencing their academic achievement and engagement in school as well as their perception of their life chances.