Assessment of Employability Skills among Pre-Service Science Teachers in Public Universities in Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study assessed the employability skills of pre-service science teachers in the public universities in Oyo State, Nigeria. The research was undertaken to determine the level of acquisition of employability skills that pre-service science educators had acquired during their course of study in preparation for the workforce in the teaching profession. Four hundred and twenty-five 400-level university science education pre-service science teachers in public regular and affiliated universities in Oyo State, who offered Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Integrated Science, Physics, Physical, and Health, and Mathematics Education were the samples for the study. Three null hypotheses were formulated for the study. The descriptive survey research design was employed for the study. Self-constructed instrument: Assessment of Employability Skills among Pre-Service Science Teachers Scale (AESPSTS, R=.79) was used for data collection. The employability skills of communication, collaboration and teamwork, technology and digital literacy, adaptability and flexibility, problem-solving and critical thinking and time management and organisation were structured as contents for the scale. The validated and reliable instrument was administered to the pre-science teachers in the second semester of the 2022/23 academic session. The data were analysed using mean, t-test, and analysis of variance. The findings showed that the pre-service science teachers have moderate employability skills in Oyo State, Nigeria. The patterns of acquisition of the employability skills were significantly differentiated by gender (t=-6.19, p<.05), parental educational status (t=-6.48, p<.05) and students course of study (F (6,416) =37.28, p<.05). It was concluded that the pre-service science teachers have moderated employability skills. The study recommended a shift into a more pragmatic educational curriculum that integrates targeted gender sensitive and employability skills training for pre-service science teachers.