How careers advice and guidance can facilitate career development in technical,vocational education,and training graduates: The case in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the current state of careers advice, guidance, and counselling (CAGC) services and programmes in the technical, vocational education, and training (TVET) system of Nigerian higher education institutions (HEIs). This was to determine how well current CAGC services and programmes foster students’ career development, aspirations, and choices. Forty-eight participants, who were members of the Nigerian National Board for Technical Education (8 participants), guidance counsellors (6), university TVET teachers (18), career experts from the National Directorate of Employment (7), and newly employed TVET graduates (9), volunteered for the study. A purposeful sampling procedure was adopted to recruit participants. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview approach, and we employed a thematic design for the coding and analysis of the transcribed data. The study found no CAGC services and programmes in the TVET system. It is recommended, therefore, that TVET systems should focus on providing career development enhanced learning rather than schooling only by revising the curriculum to include programmes and activities that promote CAGC activities and programmes.

Keywords

Career guidance career development counselling technical & vocational education technical vocational education and training

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Akpan

N. U.

(2010). The challenges of guidance and counselling service in primary schools in Akwa, Nigeria. Ibom Journal of Counselling, 1(1), 97–106.

Alagaraja

Arthur-Mensah

(2013). Exploring technical vocational education and training systems in emerging markets: A case study on Ghana. European Journal of Training and Education, 37(9), 835–850. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-04-2013-0037

Aluede

Afen-Akpaida

J. E.

Adomeh

I. O.

(2004). Some thoughts about the future of guidance and counselling in Nigeria schools. Education, 125(2), 296–305.

Aluede

O. O.

(2000). The realities of guidance and counselling in Nigeria secondary schools: Issues and benefits. Guidance and Counselling, 15(2), 22–26.

Ansah

S. K.

Kissi

(2013). Technical and vocational education and training in Ghana: A tool for skill acquisition and industrial development. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(16), 172–180.

Ary

Jacobs

L. C.

Sorenson

(2010). Introduction to research in education. Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Ballout

H. I.

(2007). Career success: The effects of human capital, person-environment fit and organizational support. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22, 741–765. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710837705

Becker

G. S.

(1964). Human capital: A theoretical and empirical analysis with special reference to education. University of Chicago Press.

Berntson

Sverke

Marklund

(2006). Predicting perceived employability: Human capital or labour market opportunities?. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 27, 223–244. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X06063098

10.

Bimrose

Hearne

(2012). Resilience and career adaptability: Qualitative studies of adult career counselling. Journal of Vocational Behaviour, 81(3), 338–344. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.08.002

11.

Braun, V., and Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.

12.

Creswell

J. W.

(2007). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among the approaches. (2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

13.

Christie

(2016). Careers guidance and social mobility in UK higher education: Practitioner perspectives. British Journal of Guidance & Counselling, 44(1), 72–85. https://doi.org/ 10.1080/03069885.2015.1017551

14.

Efeturi

A. L.

(2015). The need for more guidance and counselling services in Nigeria schools. The Nigerian Voice. https://www.thenigerianvoice.com/news/187103/the-need-for-more-guidance-and-counseling-services-in-nigeri.html

15.

Emeh

I. E.

Nwanguma

E. O.

Abaroh

J. J.

(2012). Engaging youth unemployment in Nigeria with youth development and empowerment programmes: The Lagos state in focus. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research in Business, 4, 1125–1141.

16.

Eyo

M. B.

Joshua

A. M.

Esuong

A. E.

(2010). Attitude of secondary school students towards guidance and counseling services in Cross River State. Journal of Counselling, 3(1), 87–99.

17.

Eze

C. P.

(2013). Empowering the youth through technical and vocational education: A panacea for sustainable national development. Unizik Orient Journal of Education, 7, 59–64.

18.

Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2013). National policy on education. NERDC Press.

19.

Floersch

Longhofer

J. L.

Kranke

Townsend

(2010). Integrating thematic, grounded theory and narrative analysis: A case study of adolescent psychotropic treatment. Qualitative Social Work: Research & Practice, 9(3), 407–425.

20.

Foskett

(2004). Information, advice and guidance and young people’s participation decisions (Working Paper 25). Nuffield Review of Education and Training. http://www.nuffield14-19review.org.uk/files/documents136-1.pdf

21.

Gibbert

Ruigrok

Wicki

(2008). What passes as a rigorous case study? Strategic Management Journal, 29(13), 1465–1474. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.722

22.

Glaeser

E. I.

Ponzetto

G. A. M.

Shleifer

(2007). Why does democracy need education? Journal of Economic Growth, 12, 77–99. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-007-9015-1

23.

Guest

Bunce

Johnson

(2006). How many interviews are enough? An experiment with data saturation and variability. Field Methods, 18, 59–82. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X05279903

24.

Hack-Polay

Igwe

P. A.

Okolie

U. C.

(2020). Room for improvement: A study of overconfidence in numerical skills among British graduates. Industry and Higher Education, 34(1), 50–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422219864004

25.

Hunkin

(2018). Whose quality? The (Mis) uses of quality reform in early childhood and education policy. Journal of Education Policy, 33(4), 443–456. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2017.1352032

26.

Iruonagbe

C. T.

Imhonopi

Egharevba

M. E.

(2015). Higher education in Nigeria and the emergence of private universities. International Journal of Education and Research, 3(2), 49–64.

27.

Lingard

Kennedy

T. J.

(2010). Qualitative research methods in medical education. In Swanwick

(Ed.), Understanding medical education: Evidence, theory and practice (pp. 323–335). Wiley-Blackwell.

28.

Lunenburg

F. C.

(2010). School guidance and counselling services. Schooling, 1(1), 1–9.

29.

McKenzie

Coldwell-Neilson

Palmer

(2017). Informing the career development of IT students by understanding their career aspirations and skill development action plans. Australian Journal of Career Development, 26(1), 14–23. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416217697972

30.

Marginson

(2019). Limitations of human capital theory. Studies in Higher Education, 44(2), 287–301. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1359823

31.

Mogbo

I. N.

Obumneke-Okeke

I. M.

Anyachebelu

F. E.

(2011). Implementation of guidance and counselling services in Nigerian schools. Journal of Emerging Trends in Educational Research and Policy Studies, 2(5), 361–264.

32.

Modo

Sanni

Uwah

Mogbo

(2013). Guidance and counselling services in secondary school as coping strategy for improved academic performance of students in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Research on Humanities and Social Sciences, 3(4), 43–47.

33.

Mohammed

D. S.

Ismail

(2014, August 25–26). Employability skills definitions and framework for TVET graduates’ employment [Paper presentation]. Proceedings of the 1st TVEIS International Seminar on Technical and Vocational Education, UTM, Johor Bahru, Malaysia (pp. 682–694).

34.

Mohammed

D. S.

Ismail

(2015). Employability skills in TVET curriculum in Nigeria Federal Universities of Technology. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 204, 73–80. https://doi.org/ 10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.08.111

35.

Musa

(2010). Improved apprenticeship system as means for achieving the millennium development goals in Nigeria. Nigeria Journal of Technology Education, 1(1), 105–110.

36.

Mutie

E. K.

Ndambuki

(2011). Guidance and counselling in schools and colleges. Oxford University Press.

37.

Nwankwo

F. C.

Obeta

C. O.

Nwaogbe

V. K.

(2013). Integrating technical and vocational education in youth empowerment programmes: An approach to nation building and job creation in Nigeria. Journal of Education and Practice, 4(16), 87–90.

38.

Ojimba

D. P.

(2012). Vocational and technical education in Nigeria: Issues, problems and prospects dimensions. Journal of Education and Social Research, 2(9), 75–83.

39.

Okolie

U. C.

(2014). Management of woodwork workshop in tertiary institutions in Nigeria: An analytical study. Malaysian Online Journal of Educational Management, 2(1), 20–36.

40.

Okolie

U. C.

Igwe

P. A.

Elom

E. N.

(2019). Improving graduate outcomes for technical colleges in Nigeria. Australian Journal of Career Development, 28(1), 21–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038416218772189

41.

Okolie

U. C.

Nwosu

H. E.

Mlanga

(2019). Graduate employability: How the higher education institutions can meet the demand of the labour market. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 9(4), 620–636. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-09-2018-0089

42.

Okunuga

R. O.

Ajeyalemi

(2018). Relationship between knowledge and skills in the Nigerian undergraduate chemistry curriculum and graduate employability in chemical-based industries. Industry and Higher Education, 32(3), 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1177/0950422218766913

43.

Oluwale

B. A.

Jegede

O. O.

Olamade

O. O.

(2013). Technical and vocational skills depletion in Nigeria and the need for policy intervention. International Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, 5(6), 100– 109.

44.

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). About career information and guidance. http://www.oecd.org/education/innovation-education/aboutcareerinformationandguidance.htm

45.

Page

Trudgett

Bodkin-Andrews

(2018). Creating a degree-focused pedagogical framework to guide Indigenous graduate attribute curriculum development. Higher Education, 78(1), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0324-4

46.

Patton

M. Q.

(2002). Qualitative research and evaluation methods. Sage Publications.

47.

Pitan

O. S.

(2016). Employability development opportunities (EDOs) as measures of students’ enhanced employability. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 6(3), 288–304. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-05-2016-0024

48.

Pitan

O. S.

(2017). Graduate employees’ generic skills and training needs. Higher Education, Skills and Work-Based Learning, 7(3), 290–303. https://doi.org/10.1108/HESWBL-04-2017-0026

49.

Pitan

O. S.

Atiku

O. S.

(2017). Structural determinants of students’ employability: Influence of career guidance activities. South African Journal of Education, 37(4), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v37n4a1424

50.

Rawkins

(2018). A global overview of TVET teaching and training: Current issues, trends and recommendations [Report]. 13th Session of the Joint ILO–UNESCO Committee of Experts on the Application of the Recommendations concerning Teaching Personnel (CEART). International Labour Organization.

51.

Reddya

G. C.

Rajaram

N. J.

(2015). Career aspirations and background of students opting for fashion education courses in India. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 176, 952–960.

52.

Savickas

M. L.

(2011). Career counselling. American Psychological Association.

53.

Solem

Kollasch

Lee

(2013). Career goals, pathways and competencies of geography graduate students in the USA. Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 37(1), 92–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/03098265.2012.729563

54.

Schultz

T. W.

(1959). Investment in man: An economist’s view. Social Service Review, 33(2), 109–117.

55.

UNESCO. (2012). Transforming TVET: Building skills for work and life [Report]. Third International Congress on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Shanghai.

56.

UNESCO. (2015). Recommendation concerning technical and vocational education and training (TVET).

57.

Usman

A. N.

Tyabo

(2013). Revitalizing technical and vocational education (TVET) for youth empowerment and sustainable development. Journal of Educational and Social Research, 3(4), 149–154.

58.

World Bank. (2019). The World Bank in Nigeria. http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/nigeria/overview