Abstract
The unprecedented growth of educated workforce following the economic development and diversity in workplace has widened the career choices of young people in Bangladesh. However, it intensifies a dilemma among the job seekers about determining their career goals, because career goals are often influenced by certain socio-demographic and cultural aspects. Hence, this cross-sectional study was designed to investigate the career choices of university students in Bangladesh and to identify its determinants. Administering a self-administered questionnaire (SAQ), data were collected from 422 students at a public university using the multistage stratified sampling. Data were analyzed by bivariate (chi-square) and multivariate (exploratory factor analysis and binary logistic regression) analyses. Findings suggest that the career choices of students vary regarding their gender, religion, and academic track. For example, female (AOR: 0.281; 95% CI: 0.144 to 0.547) and Muslim (AOR: 3.648; 95% CI: 1.765 to 7.542) students preferred public jobs, whereas students of commerce (AOR: 0.344; 95% CI: 0.144 to 0.820) went for private ones. Among socioeconomic issues, only the father’s occupation had a substantial effect on career decisions (AOR: 0.347; 95% CI: 0.144 to 0.820). The career choice was also determined by the job prospects (AOR: 1.251; 95% CI: 1.161 to 1.347), preference of family (AOR: 1.238; 95% CI: 1.099 to 1.394), as well as job diversity (AOR: 0.879; 95% CI: 0.795 to 0.972). Based on the findings of this study, it is recommended that the government should address the trends and patterns of career choices of students through empirical research when formulating future educational and career-related policies in Bangladesh.
Highlights
After the Liberation War in 1971, Bangladesh made education one of its top priorities to develop a holistic approach of progress through optimum utilization of skilled and dedicated workforce [1]
Findings indicate that only sex (p < 0.01), religion (p < 0.05), and educational track (p < 0.01), out of seven variables considered as personal attributes, were significantly associated with the career choices of the participants
It is apparent that parental education (p < 0.05 for father, and p < 0.01 for mother), occupation (p < 0.01 for father, and p < 0.01 for mother), income (p < 0.01 for father, and p < 0.01 for mother) as well as the type p < 0.05) and size of family (p < 0.0) were all significantly associated with the career choices made by the participants
Summary
After the Liberation War in 1971, Bangladesh made education one of its top priorities to develop a holistic approach of progress through optimum utilization of skilled and dedicated workforce [1]. Factors influencing career choice of university students in consonance with the first education commission report [3]. Bangladesh has been experiencing impressive growth in the enrolment as well as completion rate with increased gender parity at all levels of education in the last three decades [3,4,5]. The employment opportunities have shrunk disproportionately, considering the growth of the population and the educated workforce over the past decade [6,7,8,9]. A recent report suggests that more than 6 million people have submitted their application against a mere 23,616 government jobs in 2018–2019 [11]
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