Student Choice in Higher Education and Its Impact on Employment: An Evidence from Sargodha District of Pakistan

Abstract

The unemployment problem of fresh graduates in Pakistan has drawn attention towards the student choices in higher education and to find the impact of these choices on employment. The effects of institutional choices on initial employment along with the student major choices are estimated by using the primary data collected through the personal interview from graduates in district Sargodha. The binary logistic regression model was used to check the impact of different variables on the employment status of graduates. According to the results shown in the estimated model, the education received from the private sector universities has a negative and significant impact on the employment of graduates. While on the other side the person being graduated from Public Sector University has a positive impact on employment. The result shows that by increasing one schooling year the candidate will have more chances of employment. The impact of the number of schooling years on employment is positive and significant. Postgraduate experience is also positive and significant which shows that as experience increases the chances of getting employment increase. The results of the other variables of the selection of subjects on employments show that sociology, IT & computer sciences, engineering, and management sciences have a positive impact on the employment of graduates. The subject of agricultural science has a negative and significant impact on the employment of a graduate while other things remaining constant.