Abstract
Sri Lanka is experiencing migration of skilled workers, which has been on the increase over the years. Graduates are one of the most valuable skilled worker groups that Sri Lanka produces and it is clear that some of them are leaving the country to secure employment overseas. Yet it is unclear why these individuals leave or whether their decision to leave is consistent with their objectives while at the university. This paper used the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to understand the behavioural intention to pursue overseas employment by identifying the relevant antecedent factors and assessing whether the actual behaviour is facilitated by the perceived behaviour towards overseas jobs. The study involved collection of data from 200 undergraduates of, and 397 graduates (201 migrated graduates, 196 graduates in Sri Lanka) who graduated from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Data were analyzed using the hierarchical multiple regression analysis and hierarchical logistic regression analysis. Findings showed that the attitudes and self-efficacy fully contributed while the subjective norms partially contributed to the prediction of behavioural intention towards an overseas career. Both perceived behavioural control and behavioural intention had contributed to predict the actual behaviour. Tropical Agricultural Research Vol. 26 (1): 94 – 108 (2014)
Highlights
Choosing career alternatives outside Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly common among the skilled workers (DCS, 2010)
The descriptive analysis of the formal variables Showed that the undergraduates had stronger behavioural intention toward overseas jobs compared to the graduates of University of Peradeniya who are currently in Sri Lanka and abroad (Table 3)
The results indicated that both self-efficacy and attitudes predicted the intentions as well as actual behaviour
Summary
Choosing career alternatives outside Sri Lanka is becoming increasingly common among the skilled workers (DCS, 2010). The Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment (SLBFE, 2011) reported that the global demand for skilled workers was 252,430 in 2010. While not all skilled workers may necessarily be Intention to pursue overseas jobs graduates, the latter may constitute a significant portion of skilled workers and would represent a segment of the population that may be able to fill these positions. From the perspective of the government and its concern over foreign revenue, Sri Lanka depends largely on remittances. The GDP from remittances could be increased with the increase in overseas employment of skilled workers from Sri Lanka. This study aimed at investigating the determinants that facilitate Sri Lankan university students’ and graduates’ persuasion towards seeking overseas jobs and to identify whether the actual behaviour is facilitated by the perceived behaviour toward overseas jobs. Attitude refers to an individual's judgment of an object (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975), subjective norms are the perceived social pressures to perform or not the behaviour, and perceived behavioural control is the perceived ease or difficulty of performing a behaviour of interest (Ajzen, 1991).The behavioural intention and perceived behavioural control affect the actual behaviour (Fig 1)
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