Demand for University Education and Students’ Employment Prospects in Nigeria

Timothy Olugbenga Ajadi

Abstract


Employment prospects of Nigerian undergraduates remain questionable while demand for university education is on the increase. This study, adopted descriptive research design. A sample of 380 students of public universities in Osun State, drawn from 36,333 undergraduates of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife and Osun State University, Osogbo, were the respondents using multi-stage sampling procedure.  A Students’ Employment Prospects and Demand for University Education Questionnaire (SEP-DUEQ) was designed to elicit information from respondents. The result identified decision to become entrepreneur 266(70.9%), acquiring knowledge of intended profession 262(69.8%), earning high salary after graduation 251(66.9%), among others as reasons for demanding university education. The result also showed that employment prospects available to students after graduation include entrepreneurial skills to create job 298(78.5%), sufficient job opportunity in private-sector organisations 252(67.2%) and high access to fund to start businesses 235(62.7%). The study recommends that university education in Nigeria should be restructured to enhance students’ employment prospects

Keywords


University education; Employment prospects; Student demand; Undergraduates

Full Text:

PDF

References


Aldridge, S. & Rowley, T. (2013). Measuring customer satisfaction in higher education. Quality Assurance in Education, 6(4), 197-204.

Alemu, S. K. (2018). The meaning, idea and history of university/higher education in Africa: A brief literature review. Forum for International Research in Education, 4(3), 210-227.

Ali, M. S., & Jalal, H. (2018). Higher education as a predictor of employment: The world of work perspective. Bulletin of Education and Research, 40(2), 79-90.

Ayanlowo A. E. (2021). Relationship between student’s employment prospects and demand for University education in Osun State. M. A (Ed) thesis submitted to Department of Educational Management, Faculty of Education, Obaafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

Ayatse, F. A. (2013). Driving entrepreneurship education in Nigeria: issues and challenges. International Journal of Business and Management Review, 1(4), 83-90.

Bennett, D., Richardson. S., & MacKinnon, P. (2016). Enacting strategies for graduate employability: How universities can best support students to develop generic skill Part A. Canberra, ACT: Australian Government, Office for Learning and Teaching, Department of Education and Training.

Čepar, Ž., & Bojnec, Š. (2010). Higher education demand factors and the demand for tourism education in Slovenia. Journal of Management, Information Systems and Human Resources 43(6), 258.

Dania, J., Bakar, A. R., & Mohamed, S. (2014). Factors influencing the acquisition of employability skills by students of selected technical secondary school in Malaysia. International Education Studies, 7(2), 117-124.

Fägerlind, I., & Saha, L. J. (2016). Education and national development: A comparative perspective. Retrieved from https://www.elsevier.com/books/education-and-national-development/faegerlind/978-0-08-030202-7 on June 4, 2019.

Federal Government of Nigeria. (2013). National policy on education. Abuja: NERDC.

Gabriel, M. O. (2014). Determinants of the trend of demand for and supply of university education in Kenya. A Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of Requirements for the Award of Doctor of Philosophy Degree to the Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies, School of Education, Kenyatta University.

Ghafar, A. A. (2016). Educated but unemployed: the challenge facing Egypt’s youth. Qatar: Brookings Doha Center Publishers.

Goetze, T. S. (2019). The concept of a university: Theory, practice, and society. Retrieved from: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/143833/ on June 19, 2021.

Gölpek, F. & Çiftçioğlu, N. (2014). Socio-economic factors in demand for higher education:Sample of Gaziantep province. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(1), 121-134.

Martini, M., Mariani L., & Cavenago, D. (2018) Governance of labor market services and employability. In: Farazmand A. (Eds.) Global Encyclopedia of Public Administration, Public Policy, and Governance. Retrieved from: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31816-5_3446-1 on June 21, 2021.

Mok, K., & Jiang, J. (2016). Massification of higher education: Challenges for admissions and graduate employment in China. Centre for Global Higher Education working paper series. Working paper no. 5.

Muthui, J. K. (2013). Factors influencing demand for higher education opportunities by primary school teachers: A case of Matinyani district, Kitui county. A Research Project Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment for the Award of Master of Art Degree in Project Planning and Management of the University of Nairobi.

Nasib, T. (2017). Economics of education: What do we mean by the concept of demand and supply in relation to education? Retrieved from: https://mysominotes.wordpress.com/2017/09/23/economics-of-education-what-do-we-mean-by-the-concept-of-demand-and-supply-in-relation-to-education/ on June 20, 2021.

National Bureau of Statistics, (2021a). Labor force statistics: Unemployment and underemployment report Q2 2020 - abridged labor force survey under covid-19. Retrieved from https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?queries[search]=Labor%20Force%20Statistics%3A%20Unemployment%20and%20Underemployment%20Report on April 17, 2021.

National Bureau of Statistics, (2021b). Labor force statistics: Unemployment and underemployment report (Q4 2020). Retrieved from https://nigerianstat.gov.ng/elibrary?page=3&offset=20 on April 17, 2021.

Neștian, Ș. A., Vodă, A. I., Tiță, S. M., Guță, A. L., & Turnea, E. S. (2021). Does individual knowledge management in online education prepare business students for employability in online businesses? Sustainability, 13(4), 2091.

Okafor, E (2022). Nigeria unemployment hit 35% in 2021. Business Day. Retrieved from https://businessday.article.ng on July 25, 2022

Paterson, R. (2017). Because sometimes your failures can also teach you certain skills: Lecturer and student perceptions of employability skills at a transnational university. Qualitative Research in Education, 6(3), 241-275.

Sarpkaya, R. (2010). Factors affecting individual education demand at the entrance to university: Adnan Menderes University sample. Educational Sciences: Theory and Practice, 10(1), 475-488.

Senior, C., & Howard, C. (2014). Learning in friendship groups: Developing students’ conceptual understanding through social interaction. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(1031), 1-8

Shumilova, Y., Cai, Y., & Pekkola, E. (2013). Employability of international graduates educated in Finnish higher education institutions. Career Services and University of Helsinki Publishers.

South African News Agency ((2022). South Africa unemployment rate. Retrieved from https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/unemployment-rate-drops-345-first-quarter-2022 on June 16, 2022

The Punch News (2017). Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB) receives 11. 7m applications in six years. Retrieved from: https://punchng.com/jamb-receives-11-7m-applications-six-years/ on June, 14, 2022

Thune, T., & Støren, L. A. (2015). Study and labour market effects of graduate students’ interaction with work organisations during education. Education + Training, 57(7), 702-722.

University Tertiary Matriculation Examination Officials – UTME (2021). JAMB registration statistics 2021/2022 – applicants number by state of origin. Retrieved from: https://utmeofficial.com.ng/jamb/jamb-registration-statistics-2020-2021-by-course-universities-polytechnics-nce-and-state-of-origin/ on July 14, 2021.

Xiaohao, D., & Changjun, Y. (2013). A Study on the employment of graduates of higher education in the context of the financial crisis. Procedia - Social and Behavioural Sciences, 77, 164 –168.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.20527/jee.v4i1.6400

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


 

JEE has been Accredited by:


JEE has been Indexed/Abstracted/Listed by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Managed by:

PROGRAM STUDI PENDIDIKAN EKONOMI
FAKULTAS KEGURUAN DAN ILMU PENDIDIKAN
UNIVERSITAS LAMBUNG MANGKURAT

Jl. Brigjend H. Hasan Basry, Kampus ULM Banjarmasin, Kota Banjarmasin, Kecamatan Banjarmasin Utara, Provinsi Kalimantan Selatan, Indonesia, 70123

  

Journal License:


Journal of Economics Education and Entrepreneurship is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License