Content area
Full Text
Introduction
Theories such as the trait and factor theory (TFT), social cognitive choice theory (SCCT), theory of reasoned action (TRA) and theory of planned behaviour (TPB) suggest that preference of careers is influenced by factors that are internal and/or external to the individual and interaction between the individual and other people around them. Prior studies have employed these theories to study the factors that influence choice of course major/career path among individuals and groups, mainly students, in varied contexts (Agarwala, 2008; Jackling and Keneley, 2009; Joshi and Kuhn, 2011; Özbilgin et al., 2005; Wen et al., 2015).
The evidence from these empirical studies generally indicate that career decisions are made within contexts that are usually controlled by socio-cultural factors, individual factors, personal and cultural values, significant relationships in society and other structural factors. Moreover, the degree of importance students attach to the various factors that influence their choice of academic major or career varies based on context (Watt et al., 2012). This underscores the need for further research in different contexts, particularly from developing countries, which are yet to receive enough research attention. This study, therefore, revisits the career/major choice debate by exploring the factors that influence university students’ course major decisions within the Ghanaian tertiary education environment.
Ghana provides quite an interesting and a unique setting for the subject matter in several ways. It has been observed that enrolment in tertiary education programmes in Ghana has been increasing in recent times (Government of Ghana, 2010; National Council for Tertiary Education, 2014). Total enrolment in tertiary education institutions stood at 283,469 by the 2012/2013 academic year, representing a 6.5 per cent increment over 2011/2012 academic year’s figure of 266,123 (National Council for Tertiary Education, 2014). However, there are two trends in the enrolment record that are of major concern to educators and policymakers. First, actual gross enrolment ratio (GER) is far below the national target of 25 per cent. The tertiary education enrolment record for the 2012/2013 academic year compared to the population of the theoretical age group for that level produces a GER of 12.1 per cent. Second, the ratio of enrolment in the sciences to the humanities is below the national target of 60:40. The ratio of enrolment for sciences...