Labour Market Demand And University Graduate Employability Skills In North-west Nigeria

Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of labour market demand on University graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria. However, the specific purposes of the study are to:

1. Identify labour market demands for university graduate employability in North-west, Nigeria;

2. Examine academic qualifications that determine university graduate employability in North-west, Nigeria;

3. assess areas of specialisations that determine university graduate employability in North-west, Nigeria;

4. identify work-related experience that determines university graduate employability in North-west, Nigeria;

5. examine the age that determines university graduate employability in North-west, Nigeria.

6. assess the mean rate of university graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria.

Research Questions

The following research questions would be raised to guide the study;

1. What are the labour market demands for university graduate employability in North-West, Nigeria?

2. What are the academic qualifications that determine university graduate employability in North-West, Nigeria?

3. What are the areas of specialisations that determine university graduate employability in North-West, Nigeria?

4. What are the work-related experiences that determine university graduate employability in North-West, Nigeria?

5. What is the age that determines university graduate employability in North-West, Nigeria?

6. What is the mean rate of university graduate employability skills in North-West, Nigeria?

Research Hypotheses 

The following hypotheses would be raised to guide the study;

Main Hypothesis (Ho)

Ho: There is no significant relationship between labour market demand and university graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria.

Ho1: There is no significant relationship between academic qualifications and university graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria.

Ho2: There is no significant relationship between areas of specialisations and university graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria.

Ho3: There is no significant relationship between work-related experience and university graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria.

Ho4: There is no significant relationship between age demand and university graduate employability skills in North-west, Nigeria.

Significance of the Study

The outcome of this research would provide useful information to educational managers, employers of labour, policy makers and analysts, curriculum planners, students and academic researchers in identifying the critical factors affecting the employability of Nigerian University graduates and the nature of such effect. 

The outcome of the study would help educational managers to look inward and devise series of means and strategies to produce students that would meet the required skills and knowledge of modern labour market.  It would also enlighten government on how to plan for graduates in the country and to equally put the necessary machinery in place geared at repositioning the educational system to be more responsive to the needs of the society. The outcome of the study would help in identifying and adopting strategies to overcome skills shortages which will make university administrators be a more responsive provider of quality education. 

The finding of the study would provide an opportunity to employers of labour to know the areas of weaknesses of graduates and how to organise training programmes to address these weaknesses. The findings of the study would provide the need to develop closer synergy between employers of labour and universities administrator which would help in the production of more quality graduates and creation of employment opportunities. 

The findings of the study would help policy makers and analysts to be more concerned with the understanding of graduate employability and offer a realistic description of the factors affecting individuals’ journeys in the labour market. The outcome of the study would also assist analysts and policy-makers to move towards more sustainable long-term labour market strategies by helping to identify the range of labour market factors that hinder young graduates from moving into suitable work as well as the necessary interventions and their interconnections. 

The result of the study would enable curriculum planners, university senates, directorates of academic planning in Nigerian universities to revisit academic curricular of their institutions for the purposes of including those labour demand that could possibly enhance the marketability of university graduates in a more proactive way. It is hoped that the findings of this study would charge all the Nigerian universities to reflect on the need to equip graduates with ‘deep’ intellectual capabilities and a battery of applied practical skills which would make them more ‘work-ready’. Students may also find this study very useful as they prepare for the world of work. 

The findings of the study would enlighten students on the skills they are supposed to possess. A basis for further research in this area shall be created as the findings of this study might fill the gap in the empirical research literature for the benefit of educational researchers and reviewers.

Scope of the Study

The geographical scope of the study is North-west Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The zone comprises seven states namely; Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Jigawa and Zamfara. The North-west is selected for this study because it recorded the highest rate of unemployment of 30.0% (Ajaikaye, 2015). However, four states are selected for the study, these are Zamfara, Jigawa, Kaduna and Katsina States. These states are selected for the study in the North-west zone because they recorded highest rates of unemployment (Zamfara, 42.6%, Jigawa, 35.9%, Kaduna, 30.3% and Katsina, 28.1%). Other states in the North-west which would not be focused in the study are Kebbi with 25.3%, Kano with 21.3% and Sokoto with the lowest rate of 17.9% rate of unemployment (Ajaikaye, 2015). 

Labour market demand is identified as the independent variable of the study while university graduate employability skills are the dependent variable. The study would be carried out to investigate the influence of labour market demand on university graduate employability skills in the North-west Geopolitical Zone of Nigeria. The study would focus on labour market demand and university graduate employability skills with specific emphasis on academic qualifications, areas of specialisation, work-related experience and age. University graduate employability skills would be measured through communication skill, basic computer skill, analytical skill, entrepreneurial skill, Information Technology skill and interpersonal skill. These are referred to as soft skills. Soft skills are those basic skills acquired by an individual within or outside the school system which the National University Commission (2004) described as non-academic skill. These skills are selected for the study because they are basic and transferable skills. They are generic in nature and could be acquired by all graduates regardless of their disciplines or field of study (Hager, Holland & Beckett, 2002).

The target population of the study comprises top management staff in educational institutions, banking sector, commerce and manufacturing industries as well as science and technology industries with the total number of 1,216. The sampling scope of the study is selected by using the Research Advisor (2006) at 95% confidence level of 5.0% margin of error to determine the sample size of 306. However, the sample for the study would be 318 top management staff (which 16 top management staff from SUBEB and 20 from TESCOM, 20 directors and 20 supervisors from the States ministry of education, 27 registrars from the 27 tertiary institutions in the selected states, 84 bank management staff across all the selected banks in the selected states, 64 top management staff from commerce and industry and 64 from different organizations in science and technology industry). The selection of these management staff is based on the reason that, as operational managers, university graduates work directly under them also these management staffs are charged with the responsibility of evaluating and assessing the university graduates under them.

The instrument for the study would be a researcher-designed questionnaire titled “Labour Market Demand and University Graduate Employability Skills Questionnaire. This would comprise two sections “A and B”. Section “A” would comprise personal information of respondents such as the name of an organisation, type of organisation, location and position held. Section “B” would consist of thirty (30) items drawn from the research questions raised for the study.

Operational Definition of Terms

The following terms are operationally defined in the study;

Labour Market Demand: refers to factors considered by employers of labour for university graduate employability. These are academic qualifications, areas of specialisations, work-related experience and age.

Employability Skills: are soft skills which are not specific to a particular discipline but to all complex endeavours0. These are communication, basic computer, analytical, entrepreneurial and interpersonal skills.

University Graduates: are those who passed through the university system and certificated as being competent in a particular field of study at first-degree level. 

Academic Qualifications: refer to the class of degree obtained by university graduates for employability. These are 1st class, 2nd class upper, 2nd class lower, 3rd class and pass.

Areas of Specialisations: refers to Arts, Education, Social Sciences and Science and Technology.

Experience: refers to relevant years of work considered for university graduates before entering the labour market.

Age Demand: refers to the age group of university graduates considered for recruitment by employers of labour at the point of entering the labour market.