Abstract
King Abdullah scholarship program (KASP) was established in 2010 by The Ministry of Higher Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The mission of KASP is meant to “prepare and qualify Saudi human resources in an effective manner so that they will be able to compete on an international level in the labor market and the different areas of scientific research, and thereby become an important source of supply of highly qualified individuals for Saudi universities as well as the government and private sectors” (Ministry of Higher Education in Saudi Arabia, 2011). Since its establishment, it has been offering scholarships to Saudi students to study both within and out of the country. Despite this, the country still experiences high unemployment rates even amongst the beneficiaries of this scholarship. However, this has been attributed to poor career choices. This research studies the factors determining career choices by KASP beneficiaries and reports that they are mainly driven by their career prospects, individual interests and influences from family and friends. Finally, the paper recommends that they should be offered career guidance before they embark on their studies.
Introduction
Many chances are now open for Saudi students to study abroad, According to Hilal (2013), “107.706 students are currently studying abroad under the King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP)” (p.169). Hila (2013) also mentioned that KASP is the largest overseas scholarship program worldwide. Gause (2002) stated, “As the number of graduate students are noticeably increasing, it become so challenging for the government to provide every graduate a job” (Hilal, 2013, p.197). According to the International Labor Office, “the Saudi Unemployment rate was estimated at 10.5% in 2009” (p.2). Recently, the unemployment rate has risen from 10.5% in 2009 to 12.1% in 2012 (International Monetary Fund, 2013, p.14).
Unfortunately, KSA does not have enough job opportunities for the returned students (Hilal, 2013, p.205). One of the most important factors is the fact that the graduate students’ majors do not match the demands of the labor market. Bashebab (2013) said that a large number of students are choosing degrees that are not required by the labor market, which could be one of the reasons behind the high rates of unemployment among Saudis. In a study by Bosbait and Wilson (2005), a group of students had to answer why they had chosen a particular field of study. According to Bosbait and Wilson (2005) “around one third had selected subjects that they perceived of as being easier, or where admission probabilities were greaterbut fewer than 40% cited employment prospects as being important” (p.540).
As a KASP sponsor student, I have respect and appreciation for this exceptional opportunity. I would like to study the factors affecting the student choice of their field of study and lessen the gap between education outputs and labor market needs. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to analyze the factors that influence the choice of field of study among KASP sponsored students in USA. Appendix A gives a concept map of this study. As shown in the appendix the independent variables are the factors that influence the students’ decision in choosing their academic majors, the students’ gender, and their academic status. The dependent variable is the students’ decision in choosing their academic major.
Literature Review
Research has shown many factors that could affect the students’ choice of their field of study. In 2002 Montmarquette, Cannings & Mahseredjian conducted a study using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. The expected earning was essential in the choice of a college major; there were however, significant differences in the impact of expected earning by gender and race” (p.543).
A survey was done in 1996 by Aldosary & Assaf on 412 newly admitted students and 35 students who selected a major in the College of Environmental Design at King Fahad University of Petroleum & Minerals, in Saudi Arabia. One of The study objectives was to identify the main factors in the major selection process among the two students group. The most important factors were job availability, prospective salary, social status and prestige of the major, in ascending order from insignificant to very significant. Interest in the major was the most outstanding influencing factor in the decision of students who choose college of environmental design (Aldosary&Assaf, 1996,p.215).
Similarly, Bosbait& Wilson (2005) conducted a study to identify why students chose a particular field of study in Saudi Arabia. “ Almost two thirds had chosen their subject out of interest, but around one third had selected subjects that they perceived as being easy. Less than 40 percent cited employment prospects as being important. Family pressure only influenced choice of subject for a small minority fewer than 40 percent cited employment prospects as being important” (Bosbait& Wilson, 2005,p.540).
Labor Market need and the students’ majors Selection
The government of Saudi Arabia took a huge step to solve the unemployment issue by increasing the educational quality of the graduate students, so they can fit easily with the labor market requirements. This goal can be achieved by establishing King Abdullah Scholarship Program (KASP). In spite of this large scale scholarship program, returned students have difficulties in finding a job in Saudi Arabia (Hilal, 2013). A research done in 2006 by Aldosary, Rattaman, &Aina found that “the lack of adequate data on the nature and magnitude of the problem as the main factor that hinders the government’s effort to solve the problem of unemployment”(p.408). The government needs to know the number of graduate students and their majors and the market demand for graduates by different sectors. “The authors proposed development of a scientific method to find the market demand for different educational programs to meet the short- and long-term future needs of the public and private sector”(Aldosary, Rattaman, &Aina, 2006, p.412).As a KASP sponsor student and as a Saudi citizen, I would like to be part of the solution. My study is going to analyze the factors that influence the KASP students` choice of field of study.
Methodology
Participants
This research is quantitative study that analyzes the influencing factors that affect Saudi students’ academic major selection and compares between males and females as well as graduate and under-graduate students. The participants were enrolled in English as Second Language program (ESL) at Duquesne University. All of them were Saudi students sponsored by KASP. Arabic is their first language and they are taking English courses to be eligible to attend schools as graduate or under-graduate in USA. All the participants were voluntarily participating in this study. Students were told that their individual information is going to remain confidential. Moreover the students have signed the informed consent form immediately before their participation. The director of the ESL program has guaranteed the permission to conduct this study on the Saudi students.
Procedure
In this research, the participants were drawn from the beneficiaries of KASP. In order to make the research more valid, the participants were selected from this group because they are the ones whose case was being studied. In this regard, the research selected a sample of male, female, undergraduate and post-graduate students to participate in the study. However, since all of them could not be directly incorporated, a sample was taken to proportionately represent them. A combination of Simple Random Sampling (SRS) and Stratified Random Sampling (SRS) were used. First, the random sampling was necessary because it would help in selecting the beneficiaries of this scholarship program which constitutes the main population. On the other hand, the population had to be stratified into male, female, graduate and undergraduate each of whom had to be proportionately selected to participate in the research. Hence, they were given an opportunity to voluntarily participate in the survey.
While doing this, were asked to complete one-page survey to the 40 students who were selected to participate. The survey was designed especially for this study. To ensure that all the students understand the questions, the survey was translated to Arabic. The survey required five minutes to complete and consisted of four main questions. Question one, asked the students whether or not they were sponsored by KASP. Question two was to identify the students’ gender so we can differentiate the factors that affect the males’ selection and females’ selection. Question three was about the students’ academic status, to analyze the differences between the graduate students’ choices and the under-graduate students’ ones. The last question was a list of the common factors that influence the student selection process. As a result of the investigator’s review of previous published articles on both Saudi and American students, it was believed that these factors are the most influencing factors on the students’ academic major selection (Bosbait & Wilson, 2005). Upon completion of the survey, the investigator collected the data, and then analyzed them using the SPSS program to have a simple descriptive statistics explanation.
Findings and Analysis
After a successful completion of the study, the following results were obtained:
- Out of the 40 participants surveyed, 28 said that their career choice is influenced by the job prospects. This represented a 70% of the participants. Meaning, they do consider the availability of job opportunities before settling on a career to pursue.
- 24 of the participants (60%) attributed their choice to interests. This implies that the type of course they settle on is determined by their interests. In other words, a student with a passion in Engineering will only base their choice on passion, but not anything else.
- A total of 20 participants (50%) reported that they are influenced by their families and friends. This means that, to them, what matters is a compliance with and conformity to their peers. In this case, they are not autonomous in their choices since they are subject to manipulation by others.
- 51% (21) participants attributed their career choices to counseling services provided to them. Meaning, their decisions can not be made until they seek career guidance from their respective student counselor offices. This may be a good decision because these counselors are skilled in this job and can appropriately guide them, in case they are undecided.
- 22 participants (53%) responded that their career choice is determined by the results of the International-based career tests given to them upon admission to these international institutions. In such a case, one may be compelled to shield their passion and comply with the set rules in these institutions.
Recommendations
Based on the above findings, this research gives the following recommendations:
- The beneficiaries for this scholarship program should be offered career guidance before they settle on any career. Meaning, they should be provided with counseling services to enlighten them on the current trends in the labor market. This will prevent them from pursuing less competitive careers which will render them jobless upon the completion of their studies Robst, J., 2006).
- The organizers and management of KASP should not encourage their beneficiaries to study out of the country. Instead, they should be encouraged to study within the country because it can increase their chances of pursuing the career of their choice. As a result of the stiff competition in such international institutions, many Saudi students end up failing the entrant examinations offered by these institutions. In the end, they fail to do the careers of their choice and instead opt for a less lucrative one. This may spoil their future.
Conclusion
Education is a very important thing for development of any country. While commending KASP as a noble initiative, this research acknowledges that it should be properly planned. It can not accomplish its goals if it fails produced quality graduates which are of benefit to the growing Saudi economy (Robst, J., 2006). Instead of leaving their beneficiaries to blindly make their own career choices, they should be properly guided. If they are advised to take appropriate courses, they will end up being relevant to the country because they will fit the job market and get competitive jobs with attractive remunerations.
References
Aldosary, A. S., & Assaf, S. A. (1996). Analysis of Factors Influencing the Selection of College Majors by Newly Admitted Students. Higher Education Policy, 9(3), 215-220.
Aldosary, A. S. & Aina, Y. A. (2006). A Communicative Planning Approach to Combat Graduate Unemployment in Saudi Arabia.Human Resource Development International, 9(3), 397-414.
Bosbait, M., & Wilson, R. (2005).Education, School to Work Transitions and Unemployment in Saudi Arabia.Middle Eastern Studies, 41(4), 533-545.
Hilal, K. T. (2013). Between the Fears and Hopes for a Different Future for the Nation-states: Scholarship Programs in Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates from a Public Policy Standpoint. International Journal of Higher Education, 2(2).
International Labor Office. (2009).
International Monetary Fund. (2013)
Montmarquette, C. et al. (2002). How do young people choose college majors?.Economics of Education Review, 21, 543-556.
Robst, J. (2006). Education and job match: The relatedness of college major and work. Economics of Education Review, 26, 397-407.
Appendix A
- Using the following 1-5 scale, please indicate by circling the most correct response, the degree to which you agree that the listed factor has affected your decision in choosing your academic major.
