Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment

High unemployment rates in many developing countries have prompted research to focus on sustainability and inclusiveness of employment in line with the sustainable development goal target 8.6. The democratic republic of Congo (DRC) in sub-Saharan Africa experiences one of the highest youth unemploym...

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Main Authors: Mpia Héritier Nsenge, Mburu Lucy Waruguru, Mwendia Simon Nyaga
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2023-12-01
Series:SAGE Open
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231210109
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author Mpia Héritier Nsenge
Mburu Lucy Waruguru
Mwendia Simon Nyaga
author_facet Mpia Héritier Nsenge
Mburu Lucy Waruguru
Mwendia Simon Nyaga
author_sort Mpia Héritier Nsenge
collection DOAJ
description High unemployment rates in many developing countries have prompted research to focus on sustainability and inclusiveness of employment in line with the sustainable development goal target 8.6. The democratic republic of Congo (DRC) in sub-Saharan Africa experiences one of the highest youth unemployment rates owing to its long-term socio-political and economic instability. Qualitative and quantitative research studies have linked low employability of university-educated youth in the DRC to tribalism, corruption, and insecurity. The current study sought to identify contextual factors that predict employability of information technology (IT) graduates in the DRC. The study surveyed 355 graduates (274 male, 81 female) using 43 questionnaire. Bartlett test was 3,930.05 for Chi 2 ( p -value = .000) and KMO test scored 0.68. McDonald’s Omega test of reliability of the instrument scored 0.77 with a total cumulative variance of 72.02%. Results of this study advance the conflict theory by pinpointing the true factors which influence the employability of IT graduates in unstable developing countries. This study has discovered that socio-political background of graduates, graduate academic competencies, graduate-employer relationship, and university employability strategies are the contextual factors that predict the employability of IT graduates in the DRC. The Cronbach’s Alpha test of reliability for the retained contextual factors scored .78, .75, .63, and .53, respectively.
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spelling doaj.art-cfc8816ebb4640f7b4fe4de01c817ba62023-12-14T14:03:56ZengSAGE PublishingSAGE Open2158-24402023-12-011310.1177/21582440231210109Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable EmploymentMpia Héritier Nsenge0Mburu Lucy Waruguru1Mwendia Simon Nyaga2KCA University, Nairobi, KenyaKCA University, Nairobi, KenyaKCA University, Nairobi, KenyaHigh unemployment rates in many developing countries have prompted research to focus on sustainability and inclusiveness of employment in line with the sustainable development goal target 8.6. The democratic republic of Congo (DRC) in sub-Saharan Africa experiences one of the highest youth unemployment rates owing to its long-term socio-political and economic instability. Qualitative and quantitative research studies have linked low employability of university-educated youth in the DRC to tribalism, corruption, and insecurity. The current study sought to identify contextual factors that predict employability of information technology (IT) graduates in the DRC. The study surveyed 355 graduates (274 male, 81 female) using 43 questionnaire. Bartlett test was 3,930.05 for Chi 2 ( p -value = .000) and KMO test scored 0.68. McDonald’s Omega test of reliability of the instrument scored 0.77 with a total cumulative variance of 72.02%. Results of this study advance the conflict theory by pinpointing the true factors which influence the employability of IT graduates in unstable developing countries. This study has discovered that socio-political background of graduates, graduate academic competencies, graduate-employer relationship, and university employability strategies are the contextual factors that predict the employability of IT graduates in the DRC. The Cronbach’s Alpha test of reliability for the retained contextual factors scored .78, .75, .63, and .53, respectively.https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231210109
spellingShingle Mpia Héritier Nsenge
Mburu Lucy Waruguru
Mwendia Simon Nyaga
Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment
SAGE Open
title Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment
title_full Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment
title_fullStr Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment
title_full_unstemmed Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment
title_short Exploratory Factor Analysis of Congolese Information Technology Graduates’ Employability: Towards Sustainable Employment
title_sort exploratory factor analysis of congolese information technology graduates employability towards sustainable employment
url https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440231210109
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