Career Awareness Among First Year Students in Information Technology: Do First Year Students Have Sufficient Career Information when They Make Their Choice to Study Information Technology?

The number of prospective students in Information Technology is usually higher than most of the courses. The question that arises is whether these students have sufficient career information or awareness when they choose Information Technology. The results of a study applied in this project showed that some students chose to study Information Technology by default. For some of them there was no career information or guidance received prior to entering tertiary education. Information Technology was chosen as a course of study based on peer influence, parental influence and other reasons that were not career-related. A model proposed in this study suggests that the university must bridge the gap between school and university whereby prospective and first year students are guided about careers prior to registration at the institution. Specific career orientation should be done prior to registration to ensure that students who register, do so with a full understanding and knowledge of what the course entails and what the career prospects are.