Analysis Of Job Opportunities For National Diploma Holders In Secretarial Studies

Introduction

1.1 Background of the Study

Youth unemployment across the world has reached a new high and is likely to climb further. The youth population in sub-Sahara Africa was estimated at 138 million people in 2002-2003, with 28.9 million or 21% of them unemployed (ILO, 2004b). There are notable differences in youth unemployment with regard to gender. The unemployment rate for young women in sub-Sahara Africa is 18.4%, lower than the rate for young men (23.1%) even though young women’s participation rate is lower.

Youth unemployment in Africa also has a geographical dimension. It is generally higher in the urban areas than in rural areas. Several factors account for higher youth unemployment rate in Africa, most notably low economic growth, low economic activity and low investment. These related factors contribute to low job creation and because of sustained (increase in some cases) population growth the small labour market is unable to absorb the resulting army of job seekers. The Nigerian economy since the attainment of political independence in 1960 has undergonefundamental structural changes resulting to structural shifts which have however not resulted in any significant sustainable economic growth and development to ensure adequate employment opportunity for her youths. Recently, available data show that the Nigerian economy grew relatively in the greater parts of the 1970s, with respect to the oil boom of the 1970s whose extreme profits resulted to wasteful expenditures in the public sector leading to dislocation of the employment factors and also distorted the revenue bases for policy planning. This among many other crises resulted in the introduction of the structural adjustment programme (SAP) in 1986 and the recent economic reforms. The core objective of the economic structural reform is a total restructuring of the Nigerian economy in the face of population explosion (Douglason et al,2006).

However, these economic and financial structural reforms put in place did not yield significantresults, hence in recent past; there has been an alarming increase in the rate of youthunemployment and its attendant social and economic problems. Unemployment is one of thedevelopmental problems that face every developing economy (Patterson et al, 2006), and Nigeria is not exempted. Its impact has been felt more by the youths. Nigerian youths from all corners ofthe country rush to Lagos state in search of white-collar jobs, especially, the graduates. This isbecause of the believe that Lagos state, being the former Federal Capital State and centre ofexcellence has more (job) opportunities than other states, necessitating the scuttle to Lagos forgreener pastures. This rush has led to the profligacy of the rate of unemployment in the state.

This is not to say that unemployment is absent in the other states of the federation or even less,hence the general observations from many researchers on Nigerian unemployment such as Alanana (2003), Echebiri (2005) and Awogbenle and Iwuamadi (2010), Okafor (2011).

1.2 Statement of the Problem

In a competitive job scare environment like the Nigeria country, National diploma holders are the least qualified for most positions after secondary school leavers. This status puts them at a disadvantage as regards securing a job after completing the requirement for the award of a National Diploma (N.D as popularly called). However, with the increase in entrepreneurial activities across the country, there seems to be more opportunity for national diploma students who specialized in secretarial studies. This is not unusual. The reason for this exemption and prestigious distinguished feature is for the fact that secretarial studies happens to cut across all forms of organizations. One does not need to be an expert in a company’s undertaking before being hired as a secretary. All you need is to pass through the secretarial programme and understand the rudiments of secretarial activities. However, what are the kinds of jobs opened to national diploma holders in secretarial studies? This question and more necessitated the need for this study.

1.3 Objectives of the Study

The primary objective of this study is to analyze the job opportunities for national diploma holders in secretarial studies.

Specifically, the objectives are:

To determine the extent of job opportunities opened to national diploma holders in secretarial studies.

To determine the perception of employers towards national diploma holders

To determine if the job opportunities opened national diploma holders are gender related.

1.4 Research Questions

The following research questions formed the guide for this study

What is the extent of job opportunities to national diploma holders in secretarial studies?

What is the perception of employers towards national diploma holders in secretarial studies?

Are job opportunities opened to national diploma holders’gender related?

1.5 Significance of the Study

There is little literature on job opportunities for national diploma holders. This is because concentration has been channeled to HND holders and university graduates. The understanding that the later qualification is greater and better than National Diploma has constantly put N.D holders at disadvantage. Notwithstanding, job opportunities are still opened to those with secretarial specialization. This study therefore is to bring academic literatures on this deficit and draw attention to the national diploma holders, especially those with discipline in secretarial studies.

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study is focused on job opportunities. In this study the various criteria that determine job opportunities are critically examined and explored in the literature review section. However, the study is limited to Aba Abia state.

1.7 Organization of the Study

This study is organized into five chapters. The first chapter gives the background of the study, states the problem and describes the objectives. In the second chapter, literatures were reviewed which was considered related and relevant to the study. The third chapter describes the methodology adopted and employed for the study. The fourth chapter presents and analyzes the data collected for the study while the fifth chapter summarizes the result from the study.