It could be seen from table 3 that most of these courses are theoretically-oriented and this why Yorke (2004) asserted that the curricular process may facilitate the development of prerequisites appropriate to employment but does not guarantee it. Hence, it is inappropriate to assume that students are highly employable on the basis of curricular provision alone: it may be a good harbinger but it is not an assurance of employability.
Adeyemo, Ogunleye, Oke and Adenle’s (2010) observations have suggested that employment opportunities for graduates are not mainly a function of the employment system and its requirement but of the quantitative structural skill linkages. It has been noted as well that in many countries, the views and the reputation of certain institutions and departments influence the employability of their students. Hence, some institutions of higher learning try to maintain higher competitive edge for their graduates by including different professional experiences during the course of study. The observation is that employers’ expectations are varied and cannot easily be determined because of the numerous factors that may influence the need for recruitment or the recruitment requirement. Sometimes, employers’ views about the reputation of certain institutions and departments may tend to influence recruitment. Hence, some institutions of higher education consequently try to ensure higher competitive edge for their graduates by establishing some direct professional experiences during the students’ course of study like learning visits, internships and so on.
Empirical Studies
Arikpo, Oden, Duramaku-Dim and Eloma (2009) carried out a study on determinants of the employability of tertiary institution graduates in South-south Nigeria. The study examined the forms of common entrepreneurial practices, curriculum outcomes, personality traits, gender role-stereotypes and their relation to unemployment and self-labour market performances of tertiary institution graduates in South-south Nigeria. The study sampled 361 graduates from universities, colleges of Agriculture, polytechnics, theological Seminaries and colleges of education in the study area. The research instruments were the Graduate Self-Labour Market Performance Questionnaire (GSLMP), Personality Job Creation Behaviour Inventory (PJCBI), Gender Role Stereotype Job Creation Behaviour Inventory (GRJBI), C-O JOB Work Behaviour Inventory (COJBI) and “Common Entrepreneurial Practice Attitude Scale†(CEPAS). Four research questions were raised for the study: Data analysis was done using percentages, frequencies and multiple regressions. The study found that proportionately different labour market performance engagements existed among tertiary institution graduates, more graduates were engaged in government than private sector. The study concluded that all the aforementioned variables determined the employability of tertiary institution graduates in South-south Nigeria.
Similarly, Archibong, Oshiomu and Bassey (2010) investigated the quality of education delivery: Trainers’ perspectives in the universities of Calabar and Uyo, Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design which sought lecturers’ perspectives on the adequacy of graduates and their preparation for employment. The study sample comprised 192 lecturers in 6 sampled faculties in the universities of Calabar and Uyo. One research question was raised to guide the study. A 20-item questionnaire was designed to seek information on 4 indices of the quality of programmes for graduate preparation for employment was utilised for data collection. The data collected was analysed through percentage.
The study revealed among others that 53.7% of the respondents strongly agreed that the curricula of study operated in their departments were adequate to prepare graduates for employment while 63.5% of them disagreed that ICT facilities were available for staff and students. The recommendations made included periodic review of the curriculum with a view of upgrading it to reflect the realities of the world of work and that academic department should keep good feedback records of ex-students in order to keep abreast with changing needs of the labour market.
Anho (2011) carried out a study on evaluation of the quality and employability of graduates of Nigeria universities. The goal of this study was to conduct a comparative evaluation of how the public and private sector employers perceived the employability of graduates of Nigeria universities. The study used the “ex-post facto†research design model concentrating on longitudinal data covering the period of 2000 to 2010. A research question was raised and one hypothesis was formulated. Samples were obtained from the major towns and cities in the South-south geo-political zone of Nigeria. The stratified purposive sampling technique was used; a total of 1,480 respondents who were senior Staff of various organisations, were selected for the study. The survey method was used involving structured questionnaire. The frequency and percentage were deployed in the analysis of data and used to answer the research question while the t-test statistics was used to analyse the hypothesis.
The study discovered that both the public and private sector employers perceived and rated the employability and quality of graduates of Nigeria Universities as ranging between ‘average’ and ‘high’ on the 20 indices of quality. The finding also showed that there were significant differences in the perception and rating of the quality and employability of the graduates by the public and private sectors. Whilst the private sector employers consider graduates of Nigeria universities as of high quality, the public sector employers rated the graduates as of low quality.
