ABSTRACT

This study was design to determine the factors affecting the choice of career amongst vocational and technical education students in the University of Benin. The population of the study consists of 155 students in 200level and 131 students in 300level of the department of Vocational and Technical Education, University of Benin for the year 2012/2013 and 2011/2012 academic sessions respectively and a sample of 100.Seven research questions were raised and answers provided based on the analysis of the questionnaire collected,the design adopted is the descriptive survey design. The questionnaire consisted of twenty one items, three validators and a reliability coefficient of 0.84 was obtained. The statistical tools used for the study were mean and standard deviation. The major findings of the study were that parental influence, peer group pressure, imposed admission program, learning resources and teacher’s factor affects the students’ choice of career in vocational education, while the public perception has low influence on students’ choice of career in vocational and technical education.  The major recommendations amongst others is that the federal government should create more awareness of its existence in Nigerian universities and other tertiary institutions on the television, newspapers, conferences, workshops and seminars to educate the public of the significance and potential role it plays toward national development and provides adequate funds for planning, implementing and coordinating Vocational and Technical Education Program in tertiary institutions.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

A career is an individual’s journey through learning, work and other aspects of life. Career can be described as an occupation or a profession that usually involves special training or formal education, and is considered to be a person’s work life. Career can be considered as the way the individual expresses himself and relates to society throughout life. Popoola (2004) sees it as a job, or profession for which one undergoes regulated education and training over a period of time and which one intends to follow for the whole of one’s life. It is thus a chosen pursuit, life work and success in one’s profession. It is the sequence of major positions occupied by a person throughout his/her lifetime . It is the totality of work one does in one’s lifetime and it is person centered. It is a meaningful progression on a person’s working life or a course pursued over a period of time (Oyetade, 2001).

Choosing a career path or course of action essentially boils down to a career decision-making process. The effectiveness of an individual’s career decision-making relies heavily on the available information at the decision making point. Information is power and the more it is at one’s disposal, the easier it is to make well-informed decisions. Often times, inability to choose a career path over another tend to indicate that one is lacking insufficient information. Although work has different meanings for human beings, essentially, it is the ‘backbone of an individual’s life” (Paulter,1995). The presence or absence of work is perhaps the most important pivotal point in a human’s life. Generally, individuals spend their early years preparing for work, the major section of life doing chosen work, and the last part of life retired from work (Powlette, 2006).

Choice and preference of an occupation is a vital process in the life of every individual, the institution of higher learning are fully involved in this process which requires critical thinking as well as taking into consideration of all relevant factors crucial for several reasons. Diving into the wrong career can adversely affect one’s emotional and mental health as a result of dissatisfaction and unfulfilled dreams. It could also lead to constant or continuous  job insecurity and it may lead to bad planning and wrong entering into profession or career.

Vocational and Technical Education is a form of education that emphasizes the development of occupational and procedural skills needed as a preparation for   work. It is also that part of the total process of education that is aimed at developing competencies that are needed to function properly and efficiently in an occupation or a cluster of occupation in the world of work. Baird (1972) and Eya (2001), explained that vocational education is the preparation for occupational endeavors in Agricultural Education, Home-Economics, Trade and Industrial Education, Distributive Education and Business Education. It is the education that prepares students for jobs and careers that are based on mostly manual or practical activities. Vocational education promotes self-employment and is considered a vital requirement for the attainment of the millennium development goals by Nigeria and other third world countries. Vocational and Technical Education training offers the best opportunity to produce an employable work force in any country. Sadly, in the distressed economies of the third world, there are no clear and workable policies in place for Vocational Education and Technical Training. Educational policy implementation in Nigeria, for example, is haphazard. The 6-3-3-4 education policy that was designed to develop and encourage middle cadre vocational and technical training for the economic development of the nation has collapsed.

In Nigeria, Vocational and Technical Education has witnessed formidable challenges ranging from poor funding to inadequate facilities, brain drain, poor staff training and defective circular. In most Nigeria Universities, students in the department of Vocational and Technical Education often feel inferior to their counterparts because of the wrong notion that it is meant for the less privileged and the never do well. Also several factors such as parental factor, peer group, imposed admission program, poor orientation, attitude of the learners, teacher’s factor, learning resources are attributed to the problems vocational and technical education as a department is faced with. Parents often time tend to have great influence on their children’s choice of career as they tell these students what course to study and which not to study and many a times students tend to always want to do what their parents do i.e venture into the same career line as their parent especially those students who have very close relationship with their parent. In the case where these students are not studying what their parents wants them to study or they themselves don’t get admitted in the same course area as their parents’, they tend to perform poorly in the course area they are being admitted in to study and these has been an issue over the years affecting the performance of students. Many students really do not know why they are studying the course they do, as the pressure of wanting to be where their peers are or wanting to do what their peers are doing  is often an issue as these students who enter in for a course owing to the fact that their friends are studying the same course and do not get admitted into the particular course area where their friends are, often times end up performing below expectation and also end up feeling inadequate in the midst of their peers as they are being admitted into a different course area entirely. Also many candidates aspiring to acquire university education do not have interest in vocational and technical education program all because they feel the courses offered at the department are irrelevant and that the department is not for individuals who have great prospects in life.

Majority of the students in the department are there not because they want to but because the admission was imposed on them owing to the fact that they did not meet up with the cut off mark for courses they desire and the University leaves them with no option than to take up what is being offered to them or forfeit the admission. Students taking up the courses being imposed on them as a result of  not meeting up with the cut off mark of their course of choice seldom affect their performance in the department.  Also many Vocational and Technical Education personnel are not catching up with global trends andthe attitude of Vocational Educationteachers towards innovation is poor. In a study investigating the computer attitude of teacher educators( Jegede and Owolabi, 2005), it was found that Vocational Technical Education teachers showed the least positive attitudes about computer.Facilities needed for the department to function well are in short supply which hinder effective teaching/learning process.

According to Olaitan (1985) in Tobi (2000), vocational and technical education in Nigeria have been taken to mean education for the mentally retarded, physically handicapped and socially mal-adjusted students. This misconception about vocational and technical education has caused most students being offered courses in the department of vocational and technical education to often want to transfer to other departments and some of them who even remain in the department end up not performing well as they always give the excuses of them not being offered their course of choice, hundreds of students in the department of vocational and technical education enter into the discipline with low or no interest in the department or the course area they are being offered to study as regards the one they would prefer under normal circumstance.

It is expedient for educators to enlighten the public and students about the relevance of vocational and technical education and the various opportunities opened up to students in the department of vocational and technical education as this will help build up the students confidence and self-esteem in their chosen course of study in the department. It will also help broaden their  horizon towards their career paths and make them stand tall before their counterparts in other departments or field of endeavor. It is also suffice for educators to structure the curriculum in such a way that it will provide proper interest to the students.

Nigeria as a growing and developing nation can only but strive to meet its numerous challenges in a globalised world that we are today. Scientific and technological issues must be tackled for the much needed industrialization of our country. Highly industrialized nations have also identified technical and vocational education as a transformational key to technological growth and economic advancement.

Statement of the Problem

The problem associated with decision making as regards occupational choice among Vocational and Technical Education students is a very pressing issue today. The issue of parental influence on the students choice of career, peer pressure, learners lack of interest in there course area, inadequate learning resource, imposed admission program, teacher’s factor as well as misconceptions about Vocational and Technical Education has been attributed to the problems militating against students taking up courses in the department and also making frantic effort at the end of every session to change their course area.

There is no doubt that  these are  problems not only to the students and their parents but also to the University authorities. These are the problems that this study intends to investigate. It is an attempt to assess the factors which affect the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study is to assess the factors that affect the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students. Specifically, the study seeks to;

1. Assess how parental factor affects the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students.
2. Examine how peer group affects the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students.
3. Examine how imposed admission program affects the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students.
4. Examine the relationship between the learning resources and the students’ choice of career in the department?
5. Assess how the teacher’s factor affects the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students?
6. Assess the attitude of the learner towards Vocational and Technical Education?
7. Orientate and change peoples perception about Vocational and Technical Education

Research Questions

The following research questions are raised to guide the study;

1. How does parental factor affect the students’ choice of career?
2. How does peer group influence the students’ choice of career?
3. What is the effect of imposed admission program on the choice of career amongst students in the department ofVocational and Technical Education?
4. Is there any relationship between the learning resources and the students’ choice of career?
5. How does the teacher’s factor affect the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education students?
6. What is the attitude of the learner towards Vocational and Technical Education?
7. How does the perception of the society affect students choice of career?

Significance of the Study

The findings of the study will be beneficial to students, counselors, curriculum planners, parents and the society at large.

The findings of this study is of great benefit to the students as it will help them gain insight into the career preference of Vocational and Technical Education, it will furnish those who are concerned with the education of students first hand information on the factors affecting the choice of career amongst Vocational and Technical Education and help them find ways of meeting the personal need of students, change the wrong notion of students about the department as well as orientate the students properly on the various career opportunities available to them in the department.

It will help the guidance and counselors to know more about student’s problem and how to help them by giving them proper career counseling which could save them from further frustrations if they choose wrong profession.

It will help curriculum planners to provide meaningful educational program so that students entering into the department will have a clear perception of what to do.

It will help change the wrong notion of parents about the department of Vocational and Technical Education as well as throw more light on the job available to students in the department.

It will be of great use to the society as she stands to gain in terms of proper use of manpower and productivity when people are fixed in their chosen careers.

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the study covered factors affecting choice of career amongst vocational and technical education students in the University of Benin, Benin city, Edo state. 200level and 300level students in the department of vocational and technical education only was involved in the study.