Some Nigerian students study for knowledge expansion, not career

Some undergraduates across tertiary institutions in Nigeria are not studying for career but for knowledge expansion, hoping to apply knowledge to work any available job, BusinessDay study shows.

Some students explained that they are in their various courses not because it offers them career window development but for knowledge expansion.

In Nigeria, everybody is encouraged right from childhood to engage in one form of work or the other as means of livelihood, because work is a valued aspect of a traditional Nigeria life.

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However, a lot of students in Nigerian tertiary institutions are not studying courses in tandem with their career goals.

Uju Ezeoke, a student of Sociology, at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University said she had always nursed the idea of working in the Central Bank of Nigeria, which made her apply for Economics but she was given another course due to her score.

“I wanted to work in CBN, so I asked my uncle for the best course that would help achieve this aspiration, and he said Economics; so I applied for it, but today, I’m a teacher,” she said.

Kate Nwachukwu, a microbiology student of the University of Benin said she applied for Medicine and Surgery, but ended up studying microbiology.

“I changed my course when it was obvious I couldn’t get admission to read medicine,” she said.

However, Patience, a student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, said she had always desired to be in the media, hence, she made Mass Communication her first choice, and English, her second choice, both in the Faculty of Arts.

“I have always nursed this ambition to be a broadcaster, and I had to choose the course that will help me achieve my dream,” she said.

Many others who studied different courses at the university ended up doing something else in life that is not related to what they studied. Kene, who studied Psychology at University of Jos, now a businessman is not alone as many others who either Microbiology or Engineering are either bankers, journalists or traders.

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To a great extent, career choices and academic pursuance gap is influenced by the family, and other accidental occurrences.

Many youngsters lean on family goals and objectives for value on career choice. A career simply put is a journey, a path that one chooses to take in order to achieve one’s professional goals and aspirations.

The career people engage in provides them with status, recognition, affiliation, and psychological and socio-economic products essential for participation in complex society and life satisfaction.