Students' choice of courses: Determining factors, sources of information, and relationship with the labour market demands in Nigeria

Abstract

At the point of entryt, many prospective undergraduates believe that having a university degree or certificate alone would necessarily guarantee employment. Eventually, a few find employment, but many do not, possibly because the latter group chose courses that were not labour market relevant. In this study, some of the graduates produced between 1996 and 2006 who found employment were tracked, and the factors that determined the choice of their courses were investigated, as well as their sources of information on career choices. The relationship between their courses of study and the demands of the labour market were also determined. Results showed that the choice of courses by these graduates was largely based on parents' wishes (; SD = 0.99), while labour market relevance was considered less important. Those that got information on career choice from secondary school Guidance Counsellors were 35.6%, while 10.2% had no access to career information. Incidentally, there was a positive relationship (r = 0.461; df = 1450; P < 0.05) between course preferences and the demands of the labour market. This positive relationship suggests that parents and Guidance Counsellors, from whom most of the graduates obtained direction, were aware of labour market activities. Parents and counsellors are therefore equally up-to-date with the happenings in the labour market, and so can guide prospective students in the right direction.

Keywords:

• career choice
• career information
• course preferences
• labour market
• unemployment
• university students

Notes on contributors

Oluyomi Susan Pitan was a doctoral student of Economics of Education, in the Department of Educational Management, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria. She is an economics instructor at The International School, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

Segun Olugbenga Adedeji is a professor of Economics of Education in the Department of Educational Management, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.