Abstract
At a time of continuous economic uncertainty and a highly competitive labour market, it is crucial for undergraduates to be more pro-active about their future careers. This study investigates the structural influence of career guidance activities on university students’ employability in Nigeria. Data was collected from 600 final-year undergraduates from four universities in the South-West geopolitical zone, with the use of an adapted questionnaire. The quantitative data were subjected to exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to ensure factorial validity of the research instrument, and subsequently structural equation modelling (SEM). SEM was performed by means of Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS Graphics, version 24) in testing the DOTS model in Nigeria. Results confirm the positive influence of career guidance activities on students’ employability. On the dimensions of career guidance activities, self-awareness and opportunity awareness have the greatest influence on students’ employability, followed by decision-making skills, and then transition learning skills. To enhance undergraduates’ employability upon graduation, universities should strengthen their efforts in developing app-ropriate strategies so as to engage undergraduates with the four dimensions of career guidance activities depicted in the DOTS model. Keywords : career guidance activities; decision learning; employability; Nigeria; opportunity awareness; self-awareness; structural equation modelling; transition learning; undergraduates
Highlights
The world today, including the world of employment, is in the process of changing from the industrial age to the information and communication age, often referred to as the knowledge-based economy (Pitan, 2015; Prelovský, n.d.)
The findings of this study clearly show that all the four dimensions of the DOTS model of career guidance activities, namely self-awareness, opportunity awareness, decision making and transition learning skills, have a significant positive influence on university students’ employability in Nigeria
Considering the results of the relative influences of the four dimensions of career guidance activities, the activities geared towards the development of self-awareness and opportunity awareness skills have a superior influence on students’ employability
Summary
The world today, including the world of employment, is in the process of changing from the industrial age to the information and communication age, often referred to as the knowledge-based economy (Pitan, 2015; Prelovský, n.d.). An implication of this change is that it is no longer enough for new graduates to have a good degree, but it becomes crucial for them to acquire a range of general, and employability and flexibility skills so that they can adjust to new modes of production organisation inherent to the globalisation of the economy (Fallows & Steven, 2000; Guichard, 2001). According to Law and Watts (2003) and Watts (2006), career guidance refers to all activities that consist of planned experiences designed to facilitate the development of self-awareness, opportunity awareness, decision learning and transition learning skills
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