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List of tables and figures
- Table 1; Factors influencing Program Choices in Females.
- Table 2; Factors influencing Program Choices in Females.
- Table 23; Student’s comparison of the career choice factors- environment, opportunity, and personality.
- Graph 1; Factors influencing Program Choice in Females.
Introduction
The research project looks at the factors that influence female graduates in their program choice. It seeks to determine factors that deter the graduates from choosing efficiently and effectively their programs to meet the needs of the employers in UAE. During my work journey, I met lots of employees who were not satisfied with what they were doing and they were not enjoying their job and I was very curious to know why. Day by day I discovered that they are here not because they want to be here but because someone else wants them to be here, others were not happy because they want to be close with their friends forgetting their talents and Tendencies. From doing this research I will discover lots of facts and get answers to the questions that it’s in my mind regarding these people (Chapman, 490).
Statement of the Problem
The factors that influence female graduates in their program choice have always been overlooked by the stakeholders among them parents, guardians, and also the students themselves. This makes their life difficult after when they enter the market. A critical analysis has revealed that there is a disparity between the performance of the graduates who made personal decisions and those who were forced or dictated to choose certain degree programs (Denscombe, 213).
This study seeks to examine the factors that influence female graduates in their program choice in both public and private institutions. The study will determine the factors that influence female graduates in their program choice from operating efficiently and effectively in their function to meet the needs of employers in UAE.
Purpose of the study
This study will be conducted to determine the factors that influence female graduates in their program choice in the UAE and to come up with effective recommendations for improving their performance when they enter the market. This study is about to investigate the current factors that influence female graduates in their program choice in the UAE from operating efficiently and effectively in their functions to meet the needs of the employers in the UAE and find out what can be done to satisfy them and the general public to enhance job satisfaction and prudent program choice.
Objectives of the Study
The study has the sole objective of establishing the factors behind the program choice in the UAE, the objective of this study will be;
- To identify the environmental factors behind these trends in society.
- To identify ways in which the program choice influences the lives of the female students in the UAE.
- To find out how the management of universities and colleges influences the decisions of the students.
- To investigate the relationship between politics in the family and also in the environment influence on the decisions of the female students choice in program selection.
- To investigate the disparity between the job satisfaction and the passion of the employees’ choice in the employment world of the female students in UAE.
- Establish the benefits of free choice making for female students in the UAE and give recommendations on the possible ways to give them more say in society.
- Factors fuelling this kind of situation in the UAE in the current world.
- Assess the major challenges the female students face when choosing programs and how they can be solved.
Research Questions
Some of the questions researchers of this work have asked themselves in the bid to investigate the root cause of the problem are:
- What role does the family play in defining your program choice?
- What do UAE families expect from their daughters?
- What are your future vision and ambitions?
- Why have did you choose this job?
- If you got a chance to choose your job without any obstacles will you choose the same program that you are in?
- Where do you see yourself after 10 years?
- How does the choice of the graduate program affect the future satisfaction of the female students?
- How does politics in the UAE influence the operations of Universities and colleges in relation to students’ opinions?
- What is the disparity between the current level of female employees satisfaction and their choice in graduate programs?
- What are the factors the opinion of the scholars?
- Which are the common graduate programs chosen by most of the female students in UAE?
- Which is the degree of personal opinion awarded in society in terms of decision-making?
- What is the status of females in society?
Research Hypothesis
The choice of graduate programs in the UAE is influenced by environmental factors. The main objective of this research will be to identify these factors and analyze them.
Scope Of The Study
This study will be carried out in Sharjah Women’s College in the UAE and will be done on the local fresh graduates aged 17-25 years. The sample students will be the continuing students in the college.
In this study, the views of the female students, the teachers, and management will be collected. It will cover all students from all degree and diploma courses in the college.
Significance of the Study
This study is significant because of the benefits which will accrue to users of the findings. It will establish the real situations facing the girl child in the UAE society when it comes to higher education choice.
They include:
- Help us influence the decisions of the female graduates in society.
- Help the society understand that personal opinion in terms of graduate programs is a lifetime decision and should be left to the female students themselves.
- Other researchers will use the findings of this research as a basis for future studies
- Help the universities and colleges formulate better policies to improve and necessitate female students’ opinions in terms of graduate course choice to enable them to utilize their talents and hobbies.
- It will help those affected on ways of solving their problems.
- Help increase the status of the female child in society.
Assumptions and Limitations
Assumptions
- All the views collected from the sample of students in the college will be a representation of all the population in the UAE (Kallio, 110).
- It will be easy to access credible and accurate data from the sample population.
- Those who will be interviewed and surveyed will be available and give full co-operation to the survey and the interview team.
- The past research quoted is true and is representative of the general situation of similar problems in the past or different regions.
- Permission will be granted by the management of the college to speak to the students and also conduct surveys.
Limitations
- Time factor: from 4th of April 2010 and expected to be done on May 2010. Research is to be undertaken within a limited time frame of one month. Thus there will be limited time to talk to respondents and for analyzing purposes.
- Financial constraints: the researcher needs funds to board and travel to the college and also purchase materials required to carry out the survey.
- The respondent might not be willing to give their views and some who will be willing might be biased (Chelladurai, 1).
- The students surveyed and interviews answers will be efficient and helpful for the purpose of this research (Dillman, 13).
Literature review
The terms “college choice” and “program choice” appear in the literature as terms describing factors influencing students’ decisions on which institutions to attend. Poock Mercy (211) suggests that since the choice process of graduate or doctoral students relates to specific programs as opposed to institutions
In general for undergraduates, the term “program choice” should be used. There is little research on the program choice of graduate students in general and even less on doctoral students (Kallio, 19). The existing literature on graduate students mainly has been limited to “special” populations such as women or minority groups (Malaney, 78). An explanation for this is that graduate recruitment oftentimes is not centralized in an admissions office like it is for undergraduate recruitment.
Individual departments are responsible for communication with potential students. Some have sophisticated recruiting programs, while others do very little. (Malaney, 78) suggested that academicians are not trained admissions officers and many dislike the idea of recruiting. They often equate the practice with commercialism and are reluctant to engage in it.
Although program choice at the doctoral level is not a commonly studied topic, several studies have been conducted. Several common themes have emerged from the limited doctoral program choice literature. The reputation of the institution and the individual program, placement rate, financial assistance, and faculty involvement all appear as primary factors in the choice process (Kotler, 41).
There are lots of researches that have been written about the factors that affect the individual’s career decision but updated research should be done and it should be focusing more on the female graduates. The main objective of this study is to determine the significant factors that affect the females’ selection of a career/ job. Other objectives are to understand the fresh graduates and to guide and help them in choosing the right program. Also, doing this research will help me to know how to deal with them and how to tackle their problems if any (Litten, 390).
According to EMILIE H. S. OSBORN in her book called “factors Influencing Students’ Choices of Primary Care or Other Specialties” which has been published to understand the reason for the decrease in the number of U.S medical school graduates entering the primary care field. Also, this study has been conducted in order to discover the factors that influence students’ career choices. The survey was conducted for 142 senior students at the University of California, San Francisco, and the School of Medicine. With regard to the influence of gender on the specialty choice Ii is obvious that there were no differences between women’s and men’s about the length of specialty training however, the women were more influenced by the working hours in their choices (Poock Mackintosh, 17).
According to SALAMI, S. O. point the importance of choosing a career as it will impact the future life of the individual and he mentioned that young people should seek all the required information and take as much advice as they can get by sharing their goals, thoughts, interests, and objectives with parents, friends, consolers and vocational experts in order to know the job that suits them. If they choose the wrong path this will affect their work performance and even in their life as they will not be comfortable and disappointed (Karman, 39).
To ensure his point of view he did a study in Nigeria. The purpose of the study is to discover the reasons that make many people take the wrong career choices. The result showed that there are different reasons such as ignorance, lack of experience, wrong advice from parents and friends. Also, he noted that some people were attracted by the prestige of certain jobs, without taking the guidance from the career counseling or taking their interest in the job nature that will suit them. As a result, many of them are not satisfy and they find themselves in unsuited jobs (Dillman, 54).
According to A.O. Issa, K.I.N. Nwalo in his article mentioned that some people prefer to work in a job that they already have experience in it than another job that they do not have any experience in it. And they highlighted that it is important to make sure that every school establishes a small media resources or career development center and has a career counselor. This will guide them and help them in discovering what are their own interests? And what they want to be in the future (76).
E. Ray Dorsey, MD, MBA; David Jarjoura, Ph.D.; Gregory W. Rutecki, MD presented a study with the purpose of investigating the influence of lifestyle issues on career choices in the present and future. The study was conducted for 346 students. As a result of the study, they found that most students prefer to work in a job where they have a flexible timing hour with fewer working hours.
“Choice Factors o High Schools” is a research paper which was published by Michael Borchert with the purpose of identifying the factors that affect the career selection process of Germantown high school students. From this study, he highlighted three major factors which are environment, opportunity, and personality. He conducted a survey in order to identify the most important factor that high school students used while they are taking their career decision.
As a result of the survey, the influence of parents, friends, and teachers did not lead the students in their career choice process. Also, another result of the same survey in responding to the question that says which factor environment, opportunity, or personality was most significant to the students at Germantown High School? It is obvious that the students identify that their personality is the most factor that affects their career decision followed by the opportunity factors and finally the environmental factors which they see it there is no relation between the environment and the career choice decision (see the table below). “Borchert, M. (20).”
In April 2002 there was a Paper presented for the American Educational Research Association New Orleans, Louisiana called “Why Women Choose Information Technology Careers: Educational, Social, and Familial Influences”. A survey was conducted in order to gather the required information to indicate the factors that influence their career decision in Information Technology as a specific. Also, they were asked whether those people of factors encourage or discourage them to enter the field.
The result of the survey showed that there was more encouragement by the following firstly their father (42%), high school teacher which resulted by (37%) then their close male friend (39%), followed by their mother (36%), after that their close female friend (34%), then the male in an IT career (33%), and finally male professor (29%). From this result, it is observable that in taking a career decision there will be lots of factors that affect the people around them. “Turner, S. V., Bernt, P. W., & Pecora, N. (2).”
According to a Journal article by Robert F. Scherer, James D. Brodzinski, Frank A. Wiebe; Journal of Small Business Management, Vol. 28, 1990. In this article, the writer mentioned some examples that have been published by firstly Scott and Twomey (18) who discovered that there are lots of environmental factors that influence the individual’s career decision such as the working hours and the job nature. Another example was Ronstadt (111) who found that the people who will start his/her own business will consider some factors too such as their family and the timing. But Robert’s study was more focused on the differences between males and females in selecting a job.
Methods of investigations
Introduction
This chapter focuses on a description of the setting in which the takes place, the research design to be employed, study area, the target population, sample size and sampling procedures, research instruments to be used, data collection, and analysis. It basically describes the scope of the research in relation to the research objectives and the expected results (Dorsey, 112).
Choice phase
This study will specifically focus on phases I and II of the model. These phases align with the collection of demographic data and explanation of the choice process. This model has been used previously to study the matriculation decisions of foreign graduate students and the program choice of doctoral students in higher education. This study was based on the three-phase model of college choice. That model was based on market research theory developed in the 1990s.
Research Design
The research design that will be used in the study will be exploratory research. This research describes the factors influencing female graduates in their program choice. It thus describes how the various internal and external variables outlined in the literature review will be studied, analyzed, and outcomes given in an appropriate manner (Denscombe, 119).
Target Population
The research targets will basically include the local fresh graduates aged 17-25 years in college. It will include 25 first-year students in the college as the sample. The respondents are drawn from across the various courses in the college and will be analyzed in surveys and interviews.
Sampling Design and Sample Size
The study is to be carried out within Sharjah Women’s College facility. The sample frame will be obtained from those various organizations. The targeted number of respondents is 25 and will be randomly picked. Stratified sampling will be used in order to achieve a desired representation from the various sub-groups in the population under study.
The sample size will also be dependent on the total number of sections at all levels as the study will aim at interviewing a group of managers and employees. This method will ensure representation in the sample/subgroup (Olson, 304).
Data Collection Methods and Data Types
The type of data to be collected will be primary and secondary data. Primary data will be collected by the use of semi-structured 25 survey questionnaires that I will be administrating. It will also be administered to the supervisor Mrs. Margret. The questionnaires used will have both open and closed-ended questions. Other primary data collection tools may include 25 surveys with the students sampled. Contingent questions will be used to seek more clarification and further information on specific issues.
Data Analysis Methods
The data collected in this research will be analyzed on the basis of;
- Whether it is primary or secondary data(sources)
- Its reliability to the research
- Objectivity
- Reliability to the real situation
Data will be presented in a form of a report. It will be presented and interpreted so as to deduce the needed interviews to answer the research question. Data collected from questionnaires will be edited to ensure legibility, comprehensiveness, confidence, reliability, completeness, and uniformity.
Findings
In this section, I will present those results that specifically address this research hypothesis and are aimed at expanding the knowledge on the issues surrounding the choice pr graduate programs in the UAE with special emphasis on the female.
The ranking of individual items in this study was supported in the literature of college and program choice. The highest-rated items in this work were very similar to the results of the study that influenced the design of this project. This would suggest that in general, the choice process of doctoral students in higher education is similar to that of students in sport management. A possible explanation for this can be found in the literature on human resource management.
It shows that supervisors may judge employees based on perceptions of themselves. This is called similarity error. For instance, if a supervisor rated an employee higher than they deserved because they had similar interests or life experiences as the supervisor; similarity error has occurred. This bias may have had an effect on the rating of reputation. Students may have rated the reputation of their school high because it is “their” school. It is unlikely that a person would report that their school does not have a good reputation. It is probable that some degree of similarity error occurred when the respondents were rating the reputation of their own program and institution.
To minimize the effect of similarity error, the concept of reputation should be investigated further. The importance of the role the faculty of a program plays in the choice process was underscored by this study. Positive interaction with the faculty and the friendliness of the faculty and staff were the 3rd and 4th highest rated items in this project. This is a clear indication that the faculty needs to play a primary role in the recruiting process
The research findings can be summarised as follows;
Table 1; Factors Influencing Program Choice in Females.
In the table, we observe that the factors affecting the female sex in choosing the graduate programs are numerous ranging from ignorance, advisors, and personal opinions to job nature. It can be observed that most of the majority responded that the advice from the stakeholders involved in their lives was the greatest factor in their program choice. These results can be graphically represented as;
The results can also be represented in terms of the percentage of the total sample to enable more understanding of the aspect of factors influencing the student’s choice.
Most persons responded that they would prefer to work in a job that they already have experience in it or some advisor has experience in than other jobs that they do not have any experience in it. And they highlighted that it is important to make sure that every school establishes a small media resources or career development center and has a career counselor to enhance better career choice from an informed position rather than in an ignorant position.
This survey was conducted in order to gather the required information to indicate the factors that influence their career decision in Information Technology as a specific; this has turned out to be true as a considerable large number choose career growth as a factor that will influence their program choice. Also, they were asked whether those people of factors encourage or discourage them to enter (Board, Para 7).
These results show that there are lots of environmental factors that influence the individual’s career decision such as the working hours, career growth prospects, and the job nature. The survey found that most people who will start his/her own business will consider some factors too such as their family and the timing, advisors’ opinions, friends’ opinions, etc (Azodo, 131).
Discussions and analysis
The analysis of these results can be displayed in terms of percentage as shown in the table below;
Table 2; Factors Influencing Program Choice in Females.
Advice from factors is the highest factor among them with 19%, followed by future income with 17%, religion 16%, working hours available at 14%, prestige 9%, job nature 8%, the opportunity for career growth 6%, personal and ignorance at 4% and finally personality at 3%. This conforms to the earlier researches findings in the various studies done in other parts of the world.
Conclusions and recommendations
These results show that the families exert a lot of pressure on the female students to choose the courses which they prefer or view as the best this is evident in the result that the highest factor is indeed family and friends influence.
I recommend the following measures to be put in place;
- There should be an introduction of career guiding and counseling to the students for the selection of programs in which they are talented.
- Society at large should give the girl child more space to choose their destiny in terms of career choice.
- Other than looking at the financial side of a career the satisfaction in that career is also important, this will ensure that one ego is achieved thus enabling them to reach a self-actualized position which will mean that their goals, missions, opinions are that career is sufficiently met.
- Religion also has an influence on the courses taken by females, it usually encourages those courses that will enable the females to take care of their families i.e. not too demanding jobs.
- Career choice should be purely based on one’s ability or talent, not any other factors.
The following recommendations are for faculty and program administrators wanting to align their recruiting efforts with data collected from this study. The focus should be on the reputation of the institution and the program. Faculty should take an active role in the recruiting process. Further, they should provide information about the placement record of the program and place emphasis on graduates teaching at the college level. In addition, they should provide opportunities for assistantships/fellowships and simplify the admissions process and minimize the time required to notify students about their admission status into the program.
Appendices
Appendix 1; Survey Questions
N.B. writes brief and precise answers to all questions please:
- What are the environmental factors that influence female graduates in their program choice? —————————————————————————————-
- What role does the family play in defining your program choice? ————————————————————————————-
- What do UAE families expect from their daughters? ———————————————————————————–
- What are your future vision and ambitions? ———————————————————————————
- Why did you choose this job? ————————————————————————————
- If you got a chance to choose your job without any obstacles will you choose the same program that you are in? ————————————————————————————
- What is the program that will you choose? ————————————————————————————-
- Where do you see yourself after 10 years? ————————————————————————————
Appendix 2 Letter of Introduction
Students name Students,
Institution
Date……………….
Sharjah Women’s College,
Address………………………..,
Location……………………….,
Date……………………………,
Dear Sir/Madam,
RE: REQUEST FOR FILLING OF QUESTIONAIRE
I am a student in…………………….. pursuing a…………………………………………. Our research is on the factors that influence female graduates in their program choice in the UAE. Your organization is the firm I have selected as part of the sample of this study.
I kindly request your assistance in data collection, by filling in the questionnaires attached. The information provided will be treated with total confidentiality and the results of the study will be restricted to academic use only. However, they will be available to you on request.
Thank you in advance.
Yours faithfully,
(Sign of Student)
Appendix 3; Time Schedule
Appendix 4; Budget
N.B; this budget proposal is not final and is subject to adjustments.
Notes
The sample size was also dependent on the total number of sections at all levels as the study will aim at interviewing a group of female students. This method will ensure representation in the sample/subgroup as done in the previous research.
Purpose of the research
I have chosen this topic in order to understand the fresh graduates and to guide and help them in choosing the right program. Also, doing this research will help me to know how to deal with them and how to tackle their problems if any
Data were collected at the following time periods;
These time periods will be arranged by the management for the purpose of this research.
The questionnaires used will have both open and closed-ended questions. Other primary data collection tools may include interviews. Contingent questions will be used to seek more clarification and further information on specific issues. Secondary data will be collected from Library research, electronic media, scholars Reports, and Government survey reports (Eccles, 112).
Basically, the research was conducted in a human manner and it followed all the ethical standards required by the law. This shows that the data presented to you is a true representation of the whole female population and is credible for decision-making.
The data collected in this research and survey will be analyzed on the basis of;
- Whether it is primary or secondary data and also checks its usefulness or contribution to this research topic.
- Its reliability to the research i.e. can it be relied upon for decision-making purposes?
- Objectivity; the value-added from the information got in the research.
- Reliability to the real situation and checking if it is similar to prior researches and if not identify reasons as to why?
The sample included the following composition;
This selection was done in consideration of the number of students in these specific courses in the college.
Methodology
I will use more than one method to do my research project. First I will distribute a Survey to my group who will be 25 first-year students, then I will do some interviews with them in order to focus more on my target and get as much information as I can by taking notes and recording the interviews if they agree this will help me a lot to investigate more about their thoughts, lifestyles, and personalities. Also, am planning to do some sort of card activities for them?
Population
Local Female fresh graduates from 17 – 25 years old, who will continue their studies.
Location and supervision (where u will do your research and the supervisor)
I will do the research project on Sharjah Women’s College and the supervisor will be Mrs. Margaret if she agreed.
Timeline
I will start working on the research program on the 4th of April 2010 and expected it to be done in May 2010.
Works cited
Azodo, Collins. Factors influencing the Selection of Dental Nursing as a Profession. N.d.
Board (Ed.). A role for marketing in College Admissions. New York: College Entrance Board. pp. 41-54.
Borchert, Murray. Career choice factors of high school students. 2002.
Chapman, Davis. A Model of Student’s College Choice. Journal of Higher Education, 52(5), 490-505. 1981.
Chelladurai, Peters. Human resources management in sports and recreation. Champaign. IL: Human Kinetics. 1999.
Denscombe, Martins. The good Research Guide for Small-Scale Social Research Projects. 3rd ed. England: Open University Press. 2008.
Dillman, Daniels. Mail and telephone Surveys. New York: John Wiley and Sons. 1978.
Dorsey, Erick, Jarjoura, Davis and Rutecki, Winnie. Influence of Controllable Lifestyle on Recent Trends in Specialty Choice by US Medical Students. JAMA the Journal of the American Medical Association 290(9) (2003).
Eccles, Jayson. Understanding Women’s Educational and Occupational Choices. 1994.
Issa, Abel and Nwalo Katelyn. Factors affecting the Career Choice of Undergraduates in Nigerian Library and Information Science in Schools, African Journal of Library, 11. 2008.
Kallio, Reid. Factors influencing the college choice decisions of graduate students. Research in Higher Education, 36(1) (1995): 109-125.
Karman, Frank. Personal and Environmental Factors in Role Identification and Career Choices. 89, 2003.
Kotler, Peter. Applying Marketing Theory to College Admissions. College entrance Examination. 1976.
Litten, Lenny. Different strokes in the applicant pool. Journal of Higher Education, 53(4) (1982): 383-402.
Olson, Charles, and King Monday. A preliminary Analysis of the Decision Process of Graduate Students in College Choice. College and University (1985): 304-315.
Malaney, Gordon. Efforts to recruit graduate students: an analysis of departmental recruiting practices. College and University (1987): 126-136.
Osborn, Ellen. Factor’s influencing students’ choices of primary care or other specialties. Academic Medicine (2001): 68.
Poock, Marckintosh. Students of colour and doctoral programs: Factors influencing the application decision in higher education administration. College & University 74(3) (1998): 2-7.
Poock, Mercy. Factor’s Influencing the Program Choice of Doctoral Students in Higher Education. Unpublished doctoral dissertation: Kent State University. 1998.
Scherer, Ribald, Brodzinski, Jade and Wiebe, Farar. Entrepreneur career selection and gender a socialization approach. Journal of Small Business Management 28 (1990).
Turner, Suraya, Bernt, Peters, and Pecora Naomi. Why Women Choose Information Technology Careers Educational, Social And Familial Influences. (2002).
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