Perceived Education-Job Mismatch in Nigeria: Prevalence, Moderators and Outcomes

Abstract Perceived Education-job mismatch is an individual's subjective belief that their education or degree does not align with the requirements of their job. This research aims to investigate the association between education-job mismatch and two groups of individual and workplace outcomes in Nigeria. A second aim also is to test the extent to which these associations can be moderated by personality traits and employability. A sample of 303 (64.7% male and 35.3% female) graduates from Nigeria were recruited and participants agreed to complete an online surveys which included scales on wellbeing (measured using General health question survey) and job burnout (measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey), which represented the individual variables, and job turnover (the intention to leave the job), job motivation (measured using the work motivation scale), job satisfaction (measured using the overall job satisfaction scale), job performance (measuring using the individual work performance questionnaire), and job insecurity (measured by the job insecurity scale), which represented the workplace variables. The research used a cross-sectional research design where questionnaires constructed using Microsoft forms, were used to collect data and analyze. The results suggested that the education-job mismatch is positively correlated with poor wellbeing and job burnout. Also, the education-job mismatch is positively related to job turnover, job insecurity and negatively related to job satisfaction. The moderation results revealed that some personality traits moderate the link between this mismatch and its individual outcomes. However, employability did not moderate the link between this mismatch and workplace outcomes. The findings suggest that the education-job mismatch is a major issue in Nigeria and further research and interventions are required to reduce it particularly for young populations.