Factors influencing career decision among first year students in Gauteng

Abstract

South Africa is dedicated to fostering economic transformation to achieve sustainable economic growth. To this effect, National Treasury has identified key indicators for economic transformation in the South African context. This commitment seeks to ensure that there is an adequate supply of labour whose skills match the demands of the national economy and labour market. However, South Africa has to contend with a high percentage of first-year dropouts and a declining graduation rate. This raises concern of whether students are choosing their careers wisely and effectively utilizing public funds, like NSFAS, to further the nation's objective of economic transformation. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the factors that affected first-year university students' decisions about tertiary programs, specifically in South Africa. First-year University of Witwatersrand students served as the study's respondents. The researcher employed a quantitative approach and survey design. The results demonstrate that contextual factors, at varying degrees, have an impact on career decisions. The study also emphasized the difficulty of choosing a career and the importance of taking a comprehensive approach. Stakeholders can use this study as a resource to find pertinent interventions that can help to increase the impact of factors that positively influence career choices.