The students’ career choice and job preparedness strategies: A social environmental perspective

<p>The study aimed to investigate the factors determining the students’ career choice and find out their job preparedness strategies. Moreover, the study sought to propose a theory which could explain the students’ career choice from a social environmental perspective. Primary data for this study were collected from 120 students selected from fourteen academic departments of the Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU) in Bangladesh based on snow-ball sampling. The study revealed that several factors involving students’ family preferences, teachers’ advice, job prestige, job security, remunerations, scope of promotion, scope of pension, scope of professional development, personal interests, academic majors, educational attainments and career development trainings have significant association with the students’ career decision-making. However, gender and social class did not have significant effects on the students’ career choice. The study proposed a career choice theory which indicates that the students’ career choice and career preferences are not determined by their personal interests alone; rather they are determined by the interplay of several social, cultural and economic forces. The study indicated that the majority of the respondents undertake self-study to pursue their preferred jobs. While career development trainings play an important role in developing the competencies of the students for jobs, a majority of the respondents do not have such trainings. As such, the study suggested that the students of the NSTU should undertake career development courses as a strategy for job preparedness. Finally, the study suggested that the NSTU should set up a career guidance and counseling cell to link their students with the current labor market.</p>

Employer Attitudes and Perceptions of Job Preparedness of Recent Iowa State University Horticulture Graduates

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of employers who have recently hired Iowa State University (ISU) Department of Horticulture graduates in regard to the graduates' preparedness when entering the workforce and their abilities to complete job responsibilities. A 70-question survey instrument was distributed electronically to 107 employers who hired ISU Department of Horticulture students who graduated from spring semester 2004 through summer session 2007. A majority of the survey questions was directly related to expected learner outcomes from the undergraduate curriculum. These outcomes related to abilities in professional skills (19 questions) and general horticulture (six questions). Twenty-four questions asked employers to rank the importance of skills in the areas of general horticulture and business, at 12 questions each. A final set of nine questions asked employers to rank the importance of work experience, attitude, and job preparedness. The response rate was 45.8%. Results showed that 52.5% of employers felt graduates were more than adequately to exceptionally well prepared for the position for which they were hired, and another 42.5% felt students were adequately prepared. Overall, employers ranked graduates abilities in general horticulture (4.22) and professional skills (4.24) as good to excellent on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = very poor, 2 = poor, 3 = fair, 4 = good, 5 = excellent). Employers ranked all 12 of the general horticulture skills with an average to above average importance (4.26), and the 12 business skills with a slightly lower average ranking (3.84) on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = not important, 2 = below average importance, 3 = average importance, 4 = above average importance, 5 = very important). In the final group of questions related to work experience, attitude, and job preparedness, employers ranked “good work ethic” as the most important skill, giving it an 4.97 on a 1 to 5 scale (1 = not important, 5 = very important). The remaining eight questions averaged 3.83 on the 1 to 5 scale. Results from this research will be used to modify the existing curriculum and expected learner outcomes to better prepare ISU horticulture graduates entering the workforce.

A Profile of Juvenile Offenders in a Vocational Horticulture Curriculum

This study provides a profile of six juvenile offenders' responses to a vocational horticulture curriculum. The results indicate that vocational horticulture curricula may be a tool to strengthen a delinquent individual's bonds with society and, subsequently, evoke changes in attitudes about personal success and perceptions of personal job preparedness. The youths in this study increased their social bonds in all six categories addressed by the pretest and posttests, and were motivated to think more practically about their careers. Due to the limitations on size and scope of the study, it is exploratory in nature and provides ideas for future research and possible assessment methods for further research.

Small College Library Directors: Getting in the Door and Surviving on the Job

This article reports findings from a 1996 survey that examined job preparedness of library directors at four-year colleges in twelve midwestern states. The survey measured: (1) qualifications possessed at the time each person obtained his or her first director’s position; and (2) the skills and abilities directors felt were essential to surviving and doing well in their positions. One hundred fifty-eight directors returned questionnaires for a response rate of 84 percent. Participants in the 1995–1996 College Library Director Mentor Program also supplied a list of essential skills for the first year in a new position.