Problems that UEL Students Expect to Have - Essay Example

?Assignment 2: Individual Portfolio Task: What problems do UEL expect to have in their future professional careers and what are their plans to overcome them? Name of Student Student Number Department Grade Course Tutor’s Name 8th December 8, 2011 Part 1: Analysis of data generated through small scale research at UEL. “Research question: Problems expected by UEL students in their future professional careers and plans to overcome them.” Introduction Students’ perception to the job market is a critical issue in the current learning set up. With the increase in unemployment globally, and rising economic problems, students ought to have enormous insights towards what they expect after they have completed their studies. This research paper seeks to analyze the projected problems by the students in UEL in their quest for a successful career and how well they can plan to overcome them. Sampling method was used in the collection of data utilising the concept of questionnaires (Marshall 2005). Students within the sampled groups were expected to answer the given questions in the questionnaire by responding genuinely, and then analysis was done using qualitative and quantitative research methods as in the report. Methodology The quantitative research method incorporated the giving out of questionnaires to thirty students of UEL. Thirty questionnaires were prepared and handed out to selected students from the UEL institution. The method of sampling of the student was done at random to minimise on level of bias (University College London Hospitals 2006). Questionnaires are believed to reduce bias in the sense that questions are presented uniformly as there is no middle man intrusion (Ackroyd and Hughes 1981). At the same time, they are not expensive (Williams 2003). Questionnaire The greatest aspiration of many students is to develop and acquire a career of their own choice. The intention of this questionnaire is to obtain the views and opinions of students in UEL concerning how well prepared they are to face the career world. I sincerely request for your honesty in answering the questionnaire and presenting it back Questionnaire {Check in your box of choice with (X)} Code 1. What is your gender orientation? Male Female 1 2 2. What is your age? 17-20 21-23 24-26 27-29 30 and above 1 2 3 4 5 3. What is your race? Black White Asians Locals 1 2 3 4 4. What is your level/year of study? First Second Third Fourth Postgraduate 1 2 3 4 5 5. What is your course of study? Diploma Bachelor’s Degree Post Grad. Dip. Masters Degree 1 2 3 4 Specify your course of study, (e.g. Bachelor Business Strategic Marketing) ____________________________________________________________________ 6. (i) Do you intend to look for a job or further your studies after this level? (a) Look for a job 1 (b) Further Studies to the next level 2 (ii) If your answer is (a): What sort of employment will you seek for. Public Sector 1 Private Sector employed 2 Private Sector Self Employed 3 Others 4 Specify________________________________________________ (iii) If the answer is (b), how do you expect to finance your Studies? Government Sponsored 1 Get Scholarship 2 Self Sponsored 3 Others 4 Specify_________________________________________________________________________ 7. How would you react when you find your course of study is not marketable in the job field? Give up the career and follow another career line 1 Specialize in my line of study 2 Give in to misfortune and relax 3 Others 4 Specify________________________________________________________________ 8. What strategy would you apply in job searching? Networking with friends for opening 1 Utilize the internet connectivity 2 Walk from organization to organization 3 Wait for any advertisement on newspapers 4 All of the above 5 Specify______________________________________________ 9. After getting employed, how do you expect to get promoted in your job? Work hard in the assigned work 1 Work and study relevant short courses to perfect my field of work 2 Don’t Know 3 10. If your expectation was to get a descent job within the first three months after studies and you fail to, how would you react to this? Give up on getting a descent job 1 Look for a low job and work your way up 2 Continue looking 3 Others 4 Specify ______________________________________________________________________ Data coding Question Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10 Q11 i ii iii Res. 1 1 2 2 3 2 1 1 2 5 2 3 2 Res. 2 2 5 4 5 3 1 3 3 1 1 1 4 Res. 3 2 2 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 3 3 1 Res. 4 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 1 5 1 1 4 Res. 5 1 3 2 1 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 3 Res. 6 2 2 3 2 1 2 2 3 3 1 3 1 Res. 7 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 4 Res. 8 2 4 2 5 4 2 1 1 4 3 2 2 Res. 9 2 2 3 2 1 1 2 3 5 1 4 4 Res. 10 2 3 1 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 4 Res. 11 2 1 3 3 2 1 2 3 5 2 2 4 Res. 12 1 5 2 5 4 1 1 1 2 1 3 4 Res. 13 1 3 2 1 2 1 2 4 5 2 2 4 Res. 14 1 1 1 2 1 2 3 3 2 1 2 4 Res. 15 1 1 1 3 2 2 2 2 5 2 3 4 Res. 16 1 3 3 3 2 1 3 1 2 1 4 1 Res. 17 1 4 2 5 3 1 1 2 4 2 2 4 Res. 18 1 3 2 4 2 1 3 4 5 1 2 4 Res. 19 2 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 3 2 Res. 20 1 2 4 3 2 1 1 3 1 5 1 4 4 Res. 21 2 2 2 4 2 2 1 2 5 2 1 4 Res. 22 1 5 4 5 3 2 2 3 1 1 2 2 Res. 23 1 2 3 3 2 1 1 1 2 1 3 3 Res. 24 2 3 2 2 1 1 2 2 5 2 4 1 Res. 25 1 4 3 5 3 1 3 4 5 2 3 3 Res. 26 2 2 2 3 2 1 2 1 5 1 3 2 Res. 27 2 3 1 4 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 4 Res. 28 1 2 3 2 1 2 3 4 5 3 3 2 Res. 29 1 4 2 4 1 2 2 2 5 2 4 4 Res. 30 1 3 4 4 2 2 3 4 5 3 4 3 Table 1: Data coding for Quantitative Research Qualitative analysis Interview Question 6(i), 6(ii), 7 and 8 were used in qualitative analysis where five students were selected at random Q1 Q2 Q6i Q6ii Q6iii Q7 Q8 Res 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 Res 2 2 3 2 2 2 5 Res 3 2 3 2 1 2 5 Res 4 1 2 2 2 2 5 Res 5 1 4 2 2 2 5 Table 2: Data coding for Qualitative Research The interview was carried out by asking the questions in the table above. The questions were taken as in the questionnaire to compare on the relation between the two types of research. Coding is same as the one prior used. Discussion Questionnaires are limited only in the sense that the respondents may fail to mark the answers appropriately (Marshall n.d.). The criticism of questionnaires arose that the respondents were not sure on where they were supposed to place the mark of choice. According to Thorne (2000), qualitative analysis involves access to a full range of strategies; it takes the position of critical interpretation of data from the researcher’s context. Qualitative is all about interpretation unlike quantitative which involves explanation (Silverman 2011). Five students were sampled from the UEL institution and interviewed on the topic of study and analysis conducted as described below. The importance of qualitative is that it provided information from the student via question asking thus there was no room for alteration of insincere answer (Creswell 2007). The respondent got the chance of getting an elaboration on what it was required in answering the question at hand (Holloway 1997). Random sampling was used in the data collection as it ensured that the whole population was represented (Creswell 2007). It was not possible to interview the whole University, but the sample of thirty students was vital in giving the representative views of others. Interviews are more costly, and that is why the whole research project could not incorporate interview method (Dell’Orco, 2003). The questionnaires were given out to the sampled students and then after answering, the students were expected to hand in the answered questionnaires to department’s office for collection and then analysis done. The findings of the research were consolidated and from the questionnaires and coding of data done incorporating the thirty students as shown below. According to Baumgarter & Herberlein (1978) respondents are truly likely to respond to questionnaires covering issues relevant to them. Data collected clearly indicates that the findings of the research reflect the environment of the career world (Anderson et al 1998). With increased unemployment and economic crises, specialization of education in the learning institution is imperative. This has been realised by students going further studies. Thus, since the topic under study touches the students’ future career prospect it is clear that they will give concrete and sincere responses: Data analysis was done based on these findings (Black et al 1998). The data collected indicate that students in the final year and post graduate level of study had more insight towards careers in comparison to those in lower levels. This arises due to the fact that they are ending their education and focussing on taking their careers to a higher level. From the data coding table, out of the four students in fourth year who participated in the research, 3 opted for code 2. The percentage is; 3/4? 100 = 75% It is clear from the high proportion of students aspiring for further studies while in their final year to the fact that they find it worth expanding their scope in their area of study (Deutsche 1997). From qualitative research part, when the students were specifying on employment availability and choice of acquiring a job of their choice, it was clear they were eyeing the jobs attached with high degree of qualification (Foulton et al 2004; Hubberman & Miles 1994). Thus, the increased proportion of final year students aspiring to further their studies is directly connected to the fact that they want to perfect their career skills at while still young. Generally, all the students seem to be aware of their career aspirations and expectations. Most of the students participating in the research were undergraduates. Age Males Females Q 2 17-20 4 1 5 21-23 4 5 9 24-26 5 3 8 27-29 3 2 5 30 & above 2 1 3 Total 30 Median 3 Mode 2 Table 3: Mean/Mode: for the age range The number of females participating in research in comparison to men portrays varying responses to career expectations. The percentage of ladies opting for further studies is far much less compared to that of men Females 7/30 ? 100 = 23.3% Males 12/30 ? 100 = 40% On the same note, it is clear from the bar graph that woman between the ages of 21-23 participated in the research and gave quantitative data. The essence of comparing gender is to assert the affirmative action of ensuring that the ladies are accorded equal opportunity in all aspects of life (Ismail 2005). The research also evaluated how ell the ladies were prepared with ways to tackle the problems faced in the field of professional careers. Graph 1: Bar graph representation of the data on age and gender Racial percentage of students sampled From the results, racial percentage representation of the students can be represented as below. From the results below, it is clear that the sampling method took into consideration research across the racial divide thus no bias on the basis of colour or prejudice. This goes hand in hand with (Ackroyd and Hughes 1981) statement that questionnaires try to reduce bias due to the sampling method used. Blacks = 6/30 ? 100 = 20% Whites = 12/30 ? 100 = 40% Asians = 8/30 ? 100 = 26.7% Locals = 4/30 ? 100 = 13.3% Qualitative analysis Interview From the interview carried out on Questions 6(i), 6(ii), 7 and 8; qualitative analysis was conducted and thus was use to enhance the results of the quantitative analysis with the use of questionnaires. Q1 Q2 Q6i Q6ii Q6iii Q7 Q8 Res 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 Res 2 2 3 2 2 2 5 Res 3 2 3 2 1 2 5 Res 4 1 2 2 2 2 5 Res 5 1 4 2 2 2 5 Table 4: Interview data results According to Fouad et al (2011), discrepancies exist between careers aspired by the students and what they are expected to pursue. Thus, this study sought to find out the preparedness of UEL students to the future problems in the career field. Findings from the study well illustrate that the students are familiar with the occupational problems being experienced and a majority have opted to seek alternative methods of building their career by setting up their own businesses (Dennis et al 2005). The findings from question six and nine shows that more students are willing to work in the private sector and self employed as well as pursue their further studies. From the qualitative analysis, students well illustrated and asserted their desire to further their education was to enhance their expertise skills in their career field. According to McKee (2008), one has to make an extra effort to become an entity that is recognisable. Graphical representation on racial proportion Graph 2: Racial representation. From the qualitative research; analysing the choices of question 8; it is clear that the ratio males interviewed is higher but their prevalence to the choice of carreer advancement is relative. This can be attributed to the fact that technological advancement have created a mindset of clear understanding of the happenings in the global advancement. Quantitative Qualitative Totals Male Female Male Female Quantitative Qualitative Code 1 Networking 2 2 0 0 4 0 Code 2 Internet use 5 3 0 0 8 0 Code 3 Walking 0 1 0 0 1 0 Code 4 Advertisement 1 1 0 0 2 0 Code 5 All above 9 6 3 2 15 5 Totals 17 13 30 5 Table 5: Question 8 analysis table % of students choosing all the options in question 8 is 50%. 15/30 ? 100 = 50% The rest choose an option that relates to internet and technology to seek ways to build a career in the job market. The ratio of male to ladies choosing the options is either 1:1 or 1.5:1. This clearly support the concept discussed prior concerning ladies keeping pace with men in the aspect of career advancement and seeking equal opportunities. The range of choice given by the 30 students in the questionnaire can be represented by the bar graph below Graph 3: Choice range representation. Qualitative analysis was vital in this research to bring out the clear perception of the student towards the careers in the future. Some of the questions could not be clearly answered by use of questionnaires. It was therefore critical to use interviews to have an interactive talk with the students to enhance ascertain their view of the career problems and expectations (Silverman 201). With the first respondent, he was critical in ascertaining that with his qualifications, he would opt for a job to realise his dream; on critical analysis, this is a young undergraduate student whose career perception has not been enhanced clearly but has some insight that with better qualifications he can get to do well in career development. The second respondent asserted that, going for a higher degree will enhance her career skills and at the same time perfect her capability to work effectively. The third and fourth respondents also had the idea of furthering their studies with the third one adding that she would consider working part time to also gain more practical experience. The fourth respondent, a Master’s student stated that, furthering his studies comes as a priority whenever career development is discussed. His ideal perception of career problems solution lies in the sense that with knowledge at hand, solution modification can be achieved. Career developments are owned by students themselves, (Martin 2011) it therefore, calls for more focus and clear insight in the topic to ensure that they develop and prepare for their future career effectively. The research faced quite a number of limitations in the coming up with the data as some students took too long to present back their answered questionnaire (Baumgarter & Herberlein 1978). This was overcome by calling the respondents to remind them of the vital exercise they were undertaking and the essence of handing back the answers. The importance of using qualitative analysis is the fact that the interviewer can be able to assess the genuineness of the answers given. In conclusion, it is clear that the students at UEL are well prepared for the challenges to be encountered in building ones career. They are well versed with ways of improving on their careers, by furthering their studies, attending seminars and short courses relevant to their careers. On the same note, considerable numbers are out to venture into self –employment and create more opportunities for other job seekers. Thus, the problem of future professional career is not a permanent problem; it can be evaded with proper and focussed planning in the career life. References Ackroyd, S. and Hughes, J., 1981. Data Collection in Context. London: Longman. Anderson, R., Black, W., Hair, J. and Tatham, R., 1998. Multivariate Data analysis. Upper Sandle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Baumgarter, R., & Herberlein, T. 1978. Factors affecting Responses rates to mailed questionnaires: A qualitative Analysis of the published Literature. Am Sobic Rev, Vol. 43, pp 447-462. Bethany Griffin A2 Media Portfolio blog, 2011. Individual Questionnaire Analysis. [Accessed on December 8, 2011] from http://a2mediabeth.blogspot.com/2011/09/individual- questionnaire-analysis.html Black, N., Brazier, J., Fitzpatrick R. and Reeves, B., 1998. In Health Services Research methods- a Guide to Best Practice. London: BMJ Books. Creswell, J., 2007. Qualitative Inquiry & Research Design: Choosing Among Five approaches. 2nd ed. London: Sage. Dell’Orco, 2003. Analysis of a Questionnaire; Research Activities Related to Underutilized Plant Species. Available at http://www.underutilized- species.org/documents/PUBLICATIONS/analysis%20of%20a%20nars%20questionnaire. pdf Dennis, G., Jenniffer, D. and Eunice, W., 2005. On the Making and Taking of Professionalism in the Further Education Workplace. British Journal of Sociology of Education. Vol. 26(4). pp. 445-469. Available at http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/431/ Deutsch, N., 1997. My Personal Education Philosophy. ETNI. [Accessed on December 8, 2011] from; http://www.etni.org.il/etnirag/issue5/nellie_deutsch.htm Fouad, N., Ihle-Helledy, K. and Metz, J., (2011). Career Aspirations and Expectations of College Students; Demographic and Labor Markets comparisons. Journal of Career Assessment. Available from http://jca.sagepub.com/ Fulton, C., Kerins, G. and Madden, G., 2004. Information Seeking and Student for Professional Careers: The Cases of Engineering and Law Students in Ireland. iRinformationresearch. Vol. 10(1). Holloway, I., 1997. Basic Concepts for Qualitative Research. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Huberman, A. and Miles, M., 1994. An Expanded Sourcebook Qualitative Data Analysis: Consumer Audit Guidelines. Ismail, M., 2005. Quantitative Research Methodology. [Accessed on December 7, 2011] from; http://www.scribd.com/doc/98295/Quantitative-Research-Methodology Klein, M., 2011. Educated, Unemployed and Frustrated. The New York Times (March 20, 2011). Accessed from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/opinion/21klein.html?_r=1 Marshall, G., 2005. The Purpose, Design and Administration of a Questionnaire for Data Collection. Vol. 11(2). pp.131-136. Available at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S107881740400120 Marshall, M., (n.d.). Questionnaire Design; Asking Questions with a Purpose. Available at http://www.cals.ncsu.edu/agexed/aee529/tamuquestionnaire.pdf Martin, J., 2011. First_year College students and Faculty: A Comparison of Expectations. Available at http://www.mfyc.org/sessions/martin.pdf McKee, J., 2008. Four Tips to Improve Your Career Track. [Accessed on December 8, 2011] from; http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/tech-manager/four-tips-to-improve-your-career- track/442 Silverman, D. (Ed.), 2011. Qualitative Research: Issues of Theory, Methods and Practice. 3rd ed. London: Sage. Taylor-Powel, E., 1998. Questionnaire Design: Asking Questions with a Purpose. Available at http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/G3658-2.pdf Thorne, S., 2000. Data Analysis in Qualitative Research. Vol. 3(3). pp. 68-70. [Accessed on December 9, 2011] from; http://ebn.bmj.com/content/3/3/68.full University College London Hospitals, 2006. Guidelines for completing a research protocol for observational studies. Medical Statistics Unit, UCLH R&D directorate. Available at http://www.sld.cu/galerias/pdf/sitios/revsalud/guidelines_for_observational_studies.pdf Williams, A., 2003. How to …Write and Analyze a Questionnaire; Journal of Orthodontics. [Accessed on December 7, 2011] from; http://jorthod.maneyjournals.org/content/30/3/245.full APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaire and Interview i. Questionnaire: Has 11 questions to be answered by sampled thirty respondents. The main idea of the questionnaire was to collect data from sample population of the UEL institution. Questions involved personal data and issues pertaining education and career. Sampling was done by random selection, then questionnaires distributed. After filling, the questionnaires were sent back to the researcher for analysis. ii. Interview: Consist of five questions asked to five sampled students. It is the qualitative part of the research and entails to get collective views on the research topic. Two questions entailed personal details of the respondent and the rest consisted queries about studies and career aspirations. Appendix 2: Tables Tables contain data collected for analysis from research for analysis. i. Table 1: Coding of data, data was coded and recorded using numbers 1, 2, 3, 4… as per the number of options in any given question. The coding enhanced analysis of data of quantitative research. ii. Table 2: Coding of data from interview. The coding enhanced qualitative analysis by ensuring easier classification and data comparison; that is it was easy to analyze for example, number of students in fourth year male or female and aspiration to further their studies. iii. Table 3: Mean and Mode for age Range; used to evaluate ratio of age and gender participation. The essence of this was to evaluate gender ratios and age representation of the respondents. iv. Table 4: Results from interview, questions on personal details were selected and three other questions concerning career and education aspirations. Fewer questions were asked during interview unlike in the questionnaire to reduce time for interview and target the intended purpose of getting career views. v. Table 5: Sampled question for comparison between quantitative and qualitative research methods. Question was chosen for analysis to compare results on either quantitative or qualitative research methods. Question 8 was critical in the sense that it evaluated on issues pertaining how well the student perceives the career environment. With the views given, the interviewer is able to evaluate how best the students are able to resolve career problems in the future. Appendix 3: Graphs Graphical representations have been used to give the clear representation of the data analyzed. i. Graph 1: Graphical representation of gender, age and number of respondents has been done by bar graph representation. Number of respondents are represented on the Y-axis (Vertical scale) and age represented on the X-axis (Horizontal scale). Gender representation is by color; red for females and blue for males. ii. Graph 2: Graphical representation of racial proportion. The Line Graph gives the representation of the Whites, Blacks, Asians and Locals. Local represents the student who is not international. iii. Graph 3: The choice of code chosen with regard to question 8 in both qualitative and quantitative methods has been represented in the graph. This gives the gender disparity and ratios of choices given. It brings out the clear picture of students perspective with regard to career. Interpretation can clearly be done by evaluating the representation; on Y-axis is the number of students while Y-axis represents the code of choice. The color bars give code with color blue, male-red and female-green. Appendix 4: PowerPoint Slides Read More