Perceptions Regarding Employment Prospects among Final Year Students as Determined by Field of Study, Gender and Race

This study investigated university student perceptions regarding their employment prospects and the extent to which differences exist regarding perceptions of employment prospects among beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries of the South African government’s affirmative action policies. A quantitative research design was used in which self administered questionnaires were distributed to respondents. A purposive sampling procedure was utilised. The data was subjected to a number of statistical analyses including one way ANOVA and T-test of independent samples. Results indicated that final Accounting and Pharmacy students reported positive perceptions about their employment prospects than final year sociology students. As hypothesised, female final year students were significantly more confident than male final year students about employment prospects. Also, black final year students were found to be significantly more confident than their white final year counterparts (non-beneficiaries of employment policies) about their employment prospects. It is concluded that differences regarding employment prospects among final year students can be accounted for by factors such as gender, field of study, race and whether or not one is a beneficiary of the SA government’s affirmative employment policies.