HIGHER EDUCATION AND OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE : A COMPARISON OF FOUR INSTITUTES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

This thesis investigates the socio-economic background, occupational choice pattern, educational and occupational values, and other aspects of university and college life of students of higher institutes in Singapore. The four institutes covered in the study are University of Singapore, Nanyang University, Singapore Polytechnic and Ngee Ann Technical College (in short SU, NU, SP and NA). It is found that SU students on the whole enjoy a higher socio-economic status than students from the other three institutes in terms of father's occupation, level of education, income as well as family income. Striking differences in occupational choice are also found among students from these four institutes. SU students are most inclined to seek employment in private sectors, whereas NU students generally show a stronger tendency to expect to enter government service. On the other hand, the overwhelming majority of engineering students from the two technical colleges want to have a professional career as engineers and technicians. Our findings also show that SU students tend to be most optimistic about employment opportunities upon graduation. Students from the two technical colleges, being aware that technical personnel are in great demand in Singapore, also do not show much anxiety about job opportunities. NU students, however, are not as optimistic. The difference, in large part, is attributable to the fact that NU is a Chinese speaking university and its students often do not have good proficiency in English. The majority of students believe that in Singapore the English educated have better job opportunities and earning potentials than people who are otherwise educated. It is revealed in our findings that SU students have the highest income expectations among all students in our sample but the income expectations of technical students do not lag far behind. As regards educational values, it is clear that the emphasis on the instrumentality of higher education is widespread among students from all four institutes ( especially among technical students). SU students, however, stress the academic value of education most in our sample. Community-feeling values of higher education is not emphasized in the two technical colleges as it is in the universities. One common observation in our sample is that all students consider what they are learning relevant to their future careers. Insofar as occupational values are concerned, self-expression, security, and people oriented values are considered important by all students. When the relationships between values and occupational choice are investigated, it is found they are not significantly related.