Career Preference among Biology Education Students of Gombe State University, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigated Career preference among biology education students of Gombe State
University. Descriptive survey was employed for the study. The population of the study comprised
of all 200,300 and 400 levels biology education students of Gombe State University. 100 out of the
444 students were randomly selected for the study. Four research questions were posed and
hypothesis was tested at 0.05 level of significance. The researchers developed a 12 item
questionnaire, validated by three specialists from Gombe State University. The information
collected from the questionnaire were converted to numerical data and analyzed statistically using
frequency count, simple percentage and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient. The
findings of the study indicated that Biology students have positive attitude towards the course but
preferred other professions because of the poor condition of service in teaching as a career. Also,
socio-economic background of the students affects their career preference. It is therefore
recommended that public and private sectors should improve the condition of service of practicing
teachers in order to encourage teachers in training to take up teaching jobs after graduation. In
addition, education students should be given counseling so that they will be proud of teaching
profession rather than feeling inferior when compared to other professions