Investigating Nigerian University Students’ Vocational Experiences and its Implication for Curriculum Integration
The development of secondary skills during higher education is becoming a global trend. The need for such skills has promoted dual engagement, whereby higher education students are engaged in vocational learning during their studies. Despite its possible impact in tackling Nigeria’s unemployment problem, no known studies have assessed university students’ vocational learning outside their curriculum regarding motivating factors and implications. This study investigated the students’ vocational learning experiences, motivating factors, and their influence on their academic performance. Descriptive survey research design involving qualitative methods: In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were employed to collect data on a sample of 30 Nigerian undergraduates. After a reflexive thematic analysis, the result shows that the motivating factors for dual engagement were fear of unemployment, potential multiple sources of income, and avoidance of classroom monotony. The experiences vary across students and industry. This highlights the necessity for academy-government-industry collaboration to build a curriculum in that students can engage in talent development and still obtain grade points.