Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Several career paths are open to law graduates. Many of them pursue careers in other fields without giving a thought to law librarianship. The fact that majority of law students do not consider law librarianship as a career option is undesirable for the future of law librarianship. The future of law librarianship profession may depend on awareness. The study therefore examined the influence of awareness on the career choice of law librarianship among law students in South-West, Nigeria. The study employed the survey research design. The population for the study was 2,945 undergraduate law students in the in the 12 purposively selected universities that run the approved undergraduate law program up to 500 level in South-West, Nigeria. Krejcie and Morgan’s formula was used to select the sample size of 597. The instrument for data collection was a validated questionnaire. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for the constructs ranged from .80 to .89. The return rate was 94%. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The result showed that awareness of law librarianship significantly influenced law students’ choice of law librarianship as a career. The study also revealed that law students were slightly aware of law librarianship as a choice of career. Results indicated that the inclination to pursue a career in law librarianship was based on altruistic consideration.

Keywords

career awareness law librarianship career choice librarianship Nigeria

Introduction

Career choice involves decision making about the profession or occupation one chooses to pursue. It is a developmental process that extends throughout life and involves not a solitary decision but a series of decisions as one responds to several contextual factors (Weiten, Dunn, & Hammer, 2015). Career choice remains a worrisome problem among Nigerian students across the country as many students are dependent on chance and luck elements in career decision making and are not aware of new career opportunities (Ofem & Ajayi, 2008). When people actively engage in making the choice of their career rather than allow chance to dictate the pursuit of an occupation, they are more satisfied with their careers. Awareness of occupational options has significant contribution to career choice intentions of students. Oluwatimilehin and Wale (2009) argue that due to globalization, lucrative professions have emerged as offshoots of the traditional professions like medicine, law, nursing, engineering, and so on. However, majority of students still indicate the traditional professions as their future careers. This suggests that they may lack awareness of the new professions which offer equally great career prospects and opportunities.

Career Choice

Career choice is the act of choosing a profession or career in response to specific factors such as events, people, conditions, situations, or any influence that affects the individual’s choice (Doud, 2003). Career choice is one of the most important decisions in the life of an individual. It has far-reaching implications on the individual’s future in terms of lifestyle, status, income, security, and job satisfaction. Making a career choice is a complex process because of the growing rate of change in the world of work which has increased the number of career transitions which individuals make during their lifetime (Issa, 2007). In career decision making, every person consider the factors of extrinsic, intrinsic, and altruistic elements in career decision making (Dockery & Barns, 2005; Jaw, Wang, Ling, & Chang, 2006; Pang, 2014). Altruistic motivation for choosing a profession comes from a steadfastness and responsibility toward bettering society. It includes promoting social fairness and making a difference in the world (Dundar, 2014). Altruistic considerations in career decision making are prevalent in egalitarian professions, such as librarianship, that allow individuals to help society. They include opportunities to work closely with people and to influence others, as well as the ability to contribute to society. Altruistic factors relate to occupations that allow individuals to contribute to society. Various altruistic motives also include the desire to help and support people, to answer a calling, and to make a difference (Jungert, Alm, & Thornberg, 2014). These motivations are peculiar to service professions.

Intrinsic motivations also play a role in many people’s career decision making. Intrinsic considerations include factors such as responsibility, recognition, and the nature of the work itself. Intrinsic factors are directly connected to the occupation itself. It has to do with the inherent attractiveness and interest in the career. It includes opportunities for creativity and originality, enjoyable work, responsibility level involved in the job, and challenging work (Sinclair, 2008). Extrinsic factors are related to a profession’s characteristics not intrinsic to the job itself, such as pecuniary interests, vacation opportunity, material benefits of the job, and other external incentives. Extrinsic factors are external motivations that are distinguishable from the work. They are the motives coming from outside sources, which include a good salary, a decent future income potential, good job opportunities, high status of the profession, opportunities for exposure, promotion and travel, job security, and availability of jobs. These factors have been described as safety resources because they empower people to accomplish their basic survival needs. Extrinsic motivations serve as strong incentive for people to pursue careers they know that will empower them to accomplish admired societal status and wealth.

Law Librarianship

The profession of librarianship, which is dedicated to the egalitarian service of providing information to all classes of persons, has existed for centuries, beginning in ancient periods when documented records were inscribed in stone and other materials (Hessel, 1955; Lahiri, 1999). As the volume of information increased and the formats for documenting information correspondingly increase, the profession of librarianship evolved to cater for the organization, preservation, management, retrieval, and dissemination of information (Baruchson-Arbib & Mendelovitz, 2004; Verma, 2015). Law librarianship is a specialized form of the profession of librarianship dedicated to the service of the legal profession, which on its own part thrives on information. As a service profession, academic law librarianship is committed to serving the needs of law students, law faculty, the legal communities, and the general public.

Significant changes have occurred in law students’ career options. Many law students upon graduation do not proceed to mainstream legal practice. Observations have shown that they pursue careers in corporate secretaryship, arbitration, human resources, journalism, but not in law librarianship. Many students get admission into law school without a clear knowledge of whether they want to practice law (Haas, 2006). A U.K. study conducted by the Higher Education Statistics Agency reported in The Guadian (2014) revealed that 54.5% of law graduates in 2009 got jobs in accountancy, personnel relations, advertising and recruitment, public administration, finance, and education. Berkovic (2011) reports that fewer law graduates are making law practice a career choice. He also reports that the proportion of law graduates starting work in law firms have dropped from 49.1% in 2005 to 43.7% in 2010. In contrast, the proportion of law graduates taking jobs in industry jumped from 13.5% to 20.1% in the same 5-year period. Traditionally, the legal industry covers professions in the areas of law, courts, law enforcement, corrections, and rehabilitation. However, this industry also includes a wide range of legal-related occupations that are found in other fields and industries. Many of these professions offer different litigation services to attorneys, such as trial consulting, expert witness services, or private investigation. Some professionals perform legal-related work in such areas as compliance, conflict resolution, contract administration, patent prosecution, or human resource management. Other legal-related occupations are found in the areas of politics, publishing, education, career services, and library services (Echaore-McDavid, 2007). In spite of listing of library services as a legal-related occupation, findings have shown that law students have low perception of a career in law librarianship (Gates, 1966; Mosley, 2009). Probably, glamour and attraction has not accorded law librarianship as a result of low level of awareness and environmental factors.

Awareness and Law Librarianship as Career Choice

Awareness of careers includes having a knowledge and understanding of the world of work; the difference between jobs, occupations, and careers; and having knowledge of a wide range of local, regional, national, and global career pathways and opportunities while giving consideration to economic, cultural influences, and the impact of stereotypes on career choice (Kolbert, Williams, Morgan, Crothers, & Hughes, 2016). It includes the possession of accurate information about the qualification for eligibility to gain entrance into an occupation and knowledge about the duties and roles of an occupation (Arulmani & Nag-Arulmani, 2006).

Awareness influences individuals in making informed career choices (Denga, 2001). Borchert (2002) observes that before graduating, some students have not considered enough alternative occupational options in career selection. Before making a career choice, students must have access to a number of career options from which they can make a choice. They can make better decisions about their career paths when they know and understand the career options open to them. Oluwatimilehin and Wale (2009) argue that globalization has resulted in the expansion of professions leading to the development of lucrative and vibrant professions as products of the popular professions. Hence, several new, high profile, and rewarding professions offering promises of fulfilling careers have developed across the globe.

Awareness of librarianship as a vibrant career option involves having knowledge of the career of law librarianship, including knowledge of the specialized competencies, educational qualification, and professionalism of law librarians. The specialized competencies of law librarianship include library management which involves providing leadership, maintaining an understanding of trends, developments, emerging technologies, reference, research, and client services; evaluating the quality, authenticity, and accuracy of information resources in a variety of formats; assisting and educating users in the use of the library’s information systems, collection development, acquisition and management of a diverse collection of legal and nonlegal resources, and organizing and cataloging of information resources; and teaching that determines the educational needs of users through observation, discussion, and needs assessment tools and that effectively teaches library users and colleagues with differing needs and technological skill levels, providing training and guidance on the organization and use of legal resources in various formats (American Association of Law Libraries, 2010).

The education and training of law librarians requires minimally, entry-level candidates who must possess a master’s degree in library and information science (Sherr & Webb, 1989) and a degree in law (Hambleton, 1991). The law profession has a wide range of career choices. There are many career opportunities in the field of law. There are about 107 law-related occupation ranging from legal practitioner, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) practitioner, legal secretary, and law teacher to academic law librarian, law firm librarian, patent agent, human resources manager, and legal reporter (Echaore-McDavid, 2007). Law librarianship is a legal-related specialized profession that combines the practice of the legal profession and the library profession, providing specialized library services to legal clientele. Law students upon graduation pursue careers in other areas without giving any attention to law librarianship.

Statement of the Problem

Studies have shown that law students upon graduation pursue careers in other fields as corporate secretaryship, human resources, journalism, insurance, real property, investment banking, public policy/public administration teaching, and so on (Bowman, 2010), without giving a thought to law librarianship which is a legal career. The fact that majority of law students do not consider law librarianship as a career option is undesirable for the future of the career of law librarianship. Globalization has resulted in the expansion of professions leading to the development of lucrative and vibrant professions as offshoots of the popular professions, so that several new and lucrative professions, offering promises of fulfilling careers have evolved across the globe (Oluwatimilehin & Wale, 2009). Law librarianship is a lucrative and vibrant profession that has evolved from the progressions of law and librarianship. Literature highlights the lack of exposure to a variety of emerging occupations by students. Can the fact that law librarianship is not considered as a career option by law students be a result of the level of awareness of law students?

Objective of the Study

The main objective of the study is to investigate the influence of awareness of law librarianship on the career choice of law librarianship among law students in South-West Nigeria. The specific objectives are to

find out the level of awareness of law librarianship as career among law students in South-West Nigeria;

ascertain the inclination of law students in South-West Nigeria toward law librarianship as a career choice;

determine the influence of awareness of law librarianship on the choice of law librarianship among law students in South-West Nigeria.

Research Questions

Based on the main objective to investigate the influence of awareness of law librarianship and environmental factors on law librarianship as career choice among law students in South-West Nigeria, the following research questions are raised:

Research Question 1: What is the level of awareness of law librarianship as a career choice among law students in South-West Nigeria?

Research Question 2: What is the inclination of law students in South-West Nigeria toward law librarianship as a career choice?

Research Hypothesis

The following hypothesis for the study were formulated and tested at .05 level of significance:

Hypothesis 1 (H1): Awareness of law librarianship has no significant influence on the choice of law librarianship as career among law students in South-West Nigeria.

Scope of the Study

The study covered the six states in South-West Nigeria. The study was limited to the universities that offer approved law program up to 500 level in South-West Nigeria. They are the University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Adekunle Ajasin University, Ekiti State University, Osun State University, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Lagos State University, Babcock University, Afe Babalola University, Adeleke University, Crescent University, and Bowen University. The study involved law students of the 400 and 500 levels. This category is selected for the study because the career intentions of these levels would have matured as they are nearing graduation. The focus is on law students because they are the primary source of new service law librarians in academic libraries. By the mandate of the Council of Legal Education, academic law libraries in Nigeria are to be headed by librarians who hold a law degree in addition to a master’s degree in library and information studies.

Method

The study adopted the survey design. The target population for this study comprised law students at the 400 and 500 levels in universities that run approved undergraduate law program in South-West Nigeria. This category is selected for the study because the career intentions of these levels would have matured as they are nearing graduation. There are 14 universities that run approved law program in South-West Nigeria. In all, 12 of these universities run the law program up to 500 level. The total population of 400 and 500 law students in these 12 universities in South-West Nigeria is 2,945. The population is presented in Table 1.

Table 1.

Population of Law Students in South-West Nigeria.

State	Name of university	Population (400 and 500 level students)	Sample size
Ekiti	Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti	132	27
Ekiti	Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti	300	61
Lagos	University of Lagos, Lagos	511	104
Lagos	Lagos State University, Lagos	301	61
Ogun	Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye	302	61
Ogun	Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo	193	39
Ogun	Crescent University, Abeokuta	101	20
Ondo	Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko	133	27
Osun	Obafemi Awolowo University, Ife	485	98
Osun	Osun State University, Ifetedo	101	20
Osun	Bowen University, Iwo	98	19
Oyo	University of Ibadan, Ibadan	294	60
	Total	2,945	597

Purposive sampling technique was used for the study. The 12 universities that run the approved undergraduate law program up to 500 level in South-West, Nigeria were purposively selected for the study. Krejcie and Morgan’s formula was used to select the sample size of 597 law students.

Presentation of Results

Table 2 shows the distribution of respondents by institutions selected for the study. It reveals that out of the 12 law schools, the highest percentage (18.2%) of the respondents were selected from University of Lagos, closely followed by Obafemi Awolowo University (17.3%). Others include Afe Babalola University (10.7%), Olabisi Onabanjo University (10.7%), among others.

Table 2.

Distribution of Respondents by Institutions.

Name of institution	Frequency	Percentage
Adekunle Ajasin University	27	4.8
Afe Babalola University	60	10.7
Babcock University	40	7.1
Bowen University Iwo	20	3.6
Crescent University Abeokuta	18	3.2
Ekiti State University	26	4.6
Lagos State University	32	5.7
Obafemi Awolowo University	97	17.3
Olabisi Onabanjo University	60	10.7
Osun State University	20	3.6
University of Ibadan	59	10.5
University of Lagos	102	18.2
Total	561	100.0

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Table 3 presents the distribution of the demographic characteristics of the respondents used for the study.

Table 3.

Distribution of the Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents.

Characteristics	Classification	Frequency	Percentage
Level	400 level	318	56.7
	500 level	243	43.3
	Total	561	100
Gender	Male	195	34.8
	Female	366	65.2
	Total	561	100.0

Table 3 reveals that majority of the respondents (56.7%) were in 400 level, whereas 43% were in 500 level, respectively. Besides, the table shows that more females (65.2%) participated in the study than their male counterparts (34.8%).

Presentation of Results

The results of the study are presented in line with the research questions and hypothesis raised.

Research Question 1: What is the level of awareness of law librarianship as a career choice among law students in South-West Nigeria?

Table 4 indicates that the respondents are slightly aware of law librarianship as a career choice with an average mean of 2.17. Each of the answers in the result has a value: 4 = extremely aware, 3 = moderately aware, 2 = slightly aware, and 1 = not aware. The numbers in the mean column is the mean of the values ascribed to each response. With an average mean of 2.17, Table 4 shows that the respondents are slightly aware of law librarianship as a career choice.

Table 4.

The Level of Awareness of Law Librarianship as a Career Choice Among Law Students in South-West Nigeria.

Awareness law librarianship	Extremely aware	Moderately aware	Slightly aware	Not aware	M	SD
Awareness law librarianship	No. (%)	No. (%)	No. (%)	No. (%)	M	SD
Law librarians work with information and people	116 (20.7)	219 (39.0)	159 (28.3)	67 (11.9)	2.69	0.93
Law librarianship enables one work with people	105 (18.7)	218 (38.9)	174 (31.0)	64 (11.4)	2.65	0.91
Law Librarians help find information for people	92 (16.4)	187 (33.3)	197 (35.1)	85 (15.2)	2.51	0.94
I have knowledge of law librarianship as a career	78 (13.9)	166 (29.6)	217 (38.7)	100 (17.8)	2.40	0.94
Law librarianship is a skilled profession	57 (10.2)	208 (37.1)	193 (34.4)	103 (18.4)	2.39	0.90
Law librarianship is a career that involves professional training	67 (11.9)	163 (29.1)	224 (39.9)	107 (19.1)	2.34	0.92
Law librarians lecture/teach	85 (15.2)	142 (25.3)	203 (36.2)	131 (23.4)	2.32	1.0
Law librarians are responsible for organization and classification of information resources	38 (6.8)	144 (25.7)	236 (42.1)	143 (25.5)	2.14	0.87
Law librarianship provides a prospect for professional development	47 (8.4)	129 (23.0)	234 (41.7)	151 (26.9)	2.13	0.91
Law librarianship is a legal career	60 (10.7)	116 (20.7)	194 (34.6)	191 (34.0)	2.08	0.99
Law librarianship is a career that provides a prospect of above-average income	35 (6.2)	117 (20.9)	231 (41.2)	178 (31.7)	2.02	0.88
Law librarians’ work involve research and reference services	53 (9.4)	105 (18.7)	193 (34.4)	210 (37.4)	2.00	0.97
Law librarians possess a master’s degree in library science	43 (7.7)	108 (19.3)	209 (37.3)	201 (35.8)	1.99	0.93
Law librarians possess a degree in law	40 (7.1)	100 (17.8)	232 (41.4)	189 (33.7)	1.98	0.90
The career of law librarianship is financially rewarding	33 (5.9)	108 (19.3)	217 (38.7)	203 (36.2)	1.95	0.89
Law librarians enjoy autonomy and oversight functions	27 (4.8)	90 (16.0)	243 (43.3)	201 (35.8)	1.90	0.84
Law librarians are responsible for acquiring information resources	20 (3.5)	90 (16.0)	234 (41.7)	217 (38.7)	1.84	0.82
Law librarians are in high demand	13 (2.3)	51 (9.1)	235 (41.9)	262 (46.7)	1.67	0.74
	Average M = 2.17

Research Question 2: What is the inclination of law students in South-West Nigeria toward law librarianship as a career choice?

Table 5 shows the various elements on the inclination to the choice of law librarianship. They are the altruistic, intrinsic, and extrinsic considerations on career choice of law librarianship. The answers in the result have a value ascribed to them: 4 =strongly agree, 3 = agree, 2 = disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree. The numbers in the mean column is the mean of the values given to each response. A mean average of 2.61 shows that the inclination to pursue a career in law librarianship would be influenced more from altruistic considerations. The table reveals that respondents also agreed to the intrinsic factors with an average mean 2.50. The table also shows that extrinsic factors got an average mean of 2.35. The result shows that altruistic and altruistic considerations prevail, but extrinsic factor is also important.

Table 5.

Inclination of Law Students in South-West Nigeria Toward Law Librarianship.

Inclination to choice of law librarianship	Strongly agree	Agree	Disagree	Strongly disagree	M	SD
Inclination to choice of law librarianship	No. (%)	No. (%)	No. (%)	No. (%)	M	SD
Altruistic factors
Law librarians enjoy the opportunity to work closely with people	90 (16.0)	278 (49.6)	142 (25.3)	51 (9.1)	2.73	0.84
Law librarianship comes with the responsibility to make contribution to society	108 (19.3)	240 (42.8)	154 (27.5)	59 (10.5)	2.71	0.90
The work of law librarians involves helping others	74 (13.2)	225 (40.1)	194 (34.6)	68 (12.1)	2.54	0.87
Law librarianship involves having direct contact with people	85 (15.2)	191 (34.0)	189 (33.7)	96 (17.1)	2.47	0.95
					2.61
Intrinsic factors
Law librarianship is a challenging career	61 (10.9)	244 (43.5)	185 (33.0)	71 (12.7)	2.53	0.85
Law librarians are also lecturers/teachers	183 (32.6)	52 (9.3)	66 (11.8)	260 (46.3)	2.53	0.82
Law librarians enjoy oversight functions (responsibility and autonomy)	187 (33.3)	74 (13.2)	59 (10.5)	241 (43.0)	2.51	0.85
Law librarians have a broad overall knowledge of life and the world	59 (10.5)	239 (42.6)	185 (33.0)	78 (13.9)	2.50	0.86
There is opportunity for creativity and originality in law librarianship	189 (33.7)	96 (17.1)	85 (15.2)	191 (34.0)	2.47	0.95
					2.50
Extrinsic factors
Law librarianship comes with a good starting salary	185 (33.0)	78 (13.9)	59 (10.5)	239 (42.6)	2.50	0.86
Law librarians enjoy professional status	199 (35.5)	76 (13.5)	48 (8.6)	238 (42.4)	2.39	0.83
Law librarians enjoys a good future earnings potential	191 (34.0)	48 (8.6)	101 (18.0)	221 (39.4)	2.33	0.87
Job security for law librarians is high	168 (29.9)	85 (15.2)	39 (7.0)	269 (48.0)	2.29	0.80
The possibility of law librarians getting employment is high	171 (30.5)	90 (16.0)	35 (6.2)	265 (47.2)	2.27	0.80
					2.35
	Average M = 2.48

Hypothesis 1: Awareness of law librarianship has no significant influence on the choice of law librarianship as career among law students in South-West Nigeria.

Table 6 reveals that 16.1% of the variation in the dependent variable (choice of law librarianship as career) is accounted for by the independent variable (awareness of law librarianship; Adjusted R² = .161, F = 2.080, p < .05). When it comes to the contribution of the independent variable, the table revealed that awareness of law librarianship significantly influence law students choice of law librarianship as career (β = .358, p < .05). In other words, awareness of law students of law librarianship as a career determines their choice of law librarianship as career. This result suggests that awareness is a good predictor of choice of law librarianship as career among law students in South-West Nigeria.

Table 6.

Influence of Awareness on the Choice of Law Librarianship as a Career.

Model	Unstandardized coefficients		Standardized coefficients	t	Significance
Model	β	SE	β	t	Significance
(Constant)	15.827	1.368		11.566	.000
Awareness of law librarianship	0.358	0.034	.403	10.407	.000

Note. Dependent variable: choice of law librarianship as career. R = .403; R² = .162; Adj. R² = .161; F(1, 559) = 108.307; p = .000.

Discussion of Findings

The study examined awareness of law librarianship as a determinant of law librarianship as career choice among law students in South-West Nigeria.

The findings of the study show that the respondents were slightly aware of law librarianship as a career choice among law students in South-West Nigeria. This accords with Ismail’s (2006) exploratory study that reveal that the respondents had a very low level of awareness toward a career in librarianship. Mugot’s (2012) study of students’ awareness and motivation in the choice of library and information science revealed that the respondents had an average level of awareness of the career of librarianship. A study by Ajidahun (1997) on students’ perception of librarianship revealed a lack of awareness on the part of the students about who a librarian is, his duties, required qualification, and status. Newbutt and Sen’s (2009) study also found that a lack of awareness of librarianship as a professional career choice resulted in young people not wanting to become librarians.

In respect to the inclination to law librarianship as a career by law students, the study showed that eight of the 14 items were agreed to determine their choice in the career of law librarianship. These eight items are based on altruistic and intrinsic considerations. This finding is in consonance with the findings of Akilli, Keskin, and Boylan (2016) on their study which found that intrinsic and altruistic variable have the greatest effect on the choice of the teaching profession. Erten (2014) however found in her study that respondents reported more intrinsic reasons than extrinsic reasons for choosing to teach.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The study revealed that awareness of law librarianship is critical in determining law librarianship as a career choice. Law students in South-West Nigeria showed a slight awareness of law librarianship as career. This has accounted for its low-level preference and popularity among other law-related careers. The following recommendations are suggested based on the findings:

The career of law librarianship should be given more exposure and awareness, so that law students can have a clear understanding and have an accurate knowledge and experience of another viable legal profession they can specialize on.

Authorities of the faculties of law in Nigerian universities should endeavor to include choice of varied legal career options in the curriculum of undergraduate law students with a view to acquaint the students with the various career options in the field of law.

The study showed that law students are inclined to law librarianship for altruistic reasons. Law schools should give further exposure to law students on selfless service and altruism, to encourage them to engage in a service profession like law librarianship.

The finding of this study will help the government at federal, state, and local levels to incorporate in the education curricula programs that will provide opportunities to participate in work-situation services/activities as part of undergraduate experience for students to gain awareness of career opportunities, including law librarianship.

Law librarians and other stakeholders should take up the responsibility in organizing and supporting, through multiple ways, publicity programs on awareness of the career of law librarianship. This will ignite wider outreach, provoking public awareness about the profession of law librarianship.

Library schools should work with law schools with the purpose of enlisting law students’ interest in law librarianship as a career and to incorporate law career information into existing curricula.

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Data to this study can be provided when request is made.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research,authorship,and/or publication of this article.

ORCID iD

Glory O. Onoyeyan

Author Biographies

Glory O. Onoyeyan is currently the law librarian of Babcock University,Nigeria. She holds a law degree from the University of Benin,and a masters degree in Library and Information Studies from the University of Ibadan,Nigeria. She also holds a PhD in Information Resources Management from Babcock University. Her research interests are on career choice,library administration,and information technology.

Vincent Unegbu is a lecturer in the Department of Information Resources Management,Babcock University,Nigeria. He has been a University Librarian,and a head of Department.

References

Ajidahun

C. O.

(1997). Students’ perception of librarians of the Ondo State University Library. Library Bulletin: Nigerian University Library System, 2(1 & 2), 77-83.

Akilli

Keskin

Boylan

(2016). The motivational factors affecting the preference of teaching profession in Turkey. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1240652.

American Association of Law Libraries. (2010). Competencies of law librarianship. Retrieved from https://www.aallnet.org/about-us/what-we-do/policies/public-policies/competencies-of-law-librarianship/

Arulmani

Nag-Arulmani

(2006, January 6-7). Work Orientations and Responses to Career Choices–Indian Regional Survey (WORCC-IRS) (Draft report). Bangalore, India: National Consultation on Career Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.thepromisefoundation.org/files/documents/Worcc-IRS-Part-1.pdf

Baruchson-Arbib

Mendelovitz

(2004). A study of Israeli library and information science students’ perceptions of their profession. Libri, 54, 82-97. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.522.7530&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Berkovic

(2011, July 1). Fewer law graduates are choosing practice as a career. The Australian. Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/legal-affairs/fewer-law-graduates-are-choosing-practice-as-a-career/story-e6frg97x-1226085138499

Borchert

(2002). Career choice factors of high school students. Retrieved from http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2002/2002borchertm.pdf

Bowman

(2010). When a law degree is not enough: The necessity of a second professional degree for lawyers. Retrieved from http://ir.uiowa.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1831&context=etd

Denga

(2001). Guidance and counselling in school and non-school settings (2nd ed.). Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Double Diamond.

10.

Dockery

A. M.

Barns

(2005). Who’d be a nurse? Some evidence on career choice in Australia. Australian Bulletin of Labour, 31(4), 350-383.

11.

Doud

C. M.

(2003). Factors influencing career choices of Native American and Caucasian American high school students. Retrieved from http://www2.uwstout.edu/content/lib/thesis/2003/2003doudc.pdf

12.

Dundar

(2014). Reasons for choosing the teaching profession and beliefs about teaching: A study with elementary school teacher candidates. College Student Journal, 48, 445-460.

13.

Echaore-McDavid

(2007). Career opportunities in law and the legal industry (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Ferguson, Infobase.

14.

Erten

(2014). Understanding the reasons behind choosing to teach English as a foreign language. Retrieved from http://www.novitasroyal.org/Vol_8_1/3.Erten.pdf

15.

Gates

(1966). Law librarianship as a career. Student Law Journal, 8, 1962-1967.

16.

Haas

(2006). The rationality of law students’ career choices. Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest, 10, 54-79.

17.

Hambleton

(1991). Does a law librarian need a law degree? In Mersky

Leiter

(Eds.), The spirit of law librarianship: A reader (pp. 37-43). Littleton, CO: Fred B. Rothman.

18.

Hessel

(1955). A history of libraries. New Brunswick, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

19.

Higher Education Statistics Agency. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/may/30/students-alternative-careers-law-degree

20.

Ismail

N. B.

(2006). An exploratory study of upper secondary school students perception towards librarianship as a career. Retrieved from http://repository.um.edu.my/226/1/An%20exploratory%20study%20of%20upper%20secondary%20school%20students%20perception%20towards%20librarianship%20as%20a%20career.pdf

21.

Issa

(2007). Career choice of library and information students: An overview. Retrieved from https://www.academia.edu/30682966/THE_CAREER_CHOICE_OF_LIBRARY_AND_INFORMATION_SCIENCE_STUDENTS_AN_OVERVIEW

22.

Jaw

Wang

Ling

Chang

(2006). Cross-cultural determinants of Chinese employees’ work values. Asia Pacific Management Review, 11(2),73-81.

23.

Jungert

Alm

Thornberg

(2014). Motives for becoming a teacher and their relations to academic engagement and dropout among student teachers. Journal of Education for Teaching, 40, 173-185. doi:10.1080/02607476.2013.869971

24.

Kolbert

Williams

Morgan

Crothers

Hughes

(2016). Introduction to professional school counseling: Advocacy, leadership, and intervention. London, England: Routledge.

25.

Lahiri

(1999). Professionalism and research in library and information. New Delhi, India: Ess Ess Publications.

26.

Mosley

(2009). Perceptions of African-American law school students toward law librarianship as a career choice. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 25, 232-234.

27.

Mugot

(2012). Students awareness and motivation in the choice of Library and Information Science (LIS as a career): Basis for promotional strategies integrated school librarian. Retrieved from http://local.lsu.edu.ph/institutional_research_office/publications/vol.15no.7/6.html

28.

Newbutt

Sen

(2009, August 18-20). What impressions do young people have of librarianship as a career? In Varlejs

Walton

(Eds.), Strategies for regenerating the library and information profession: Eighth world conference on continuing professional development and workplace learning for the library and information professions (pp. 46-60). Bologna, Italy: K.G. Saur.

29.

Ofem

Ajayi

(2008). Effects of youth empowerment strategies on conflict resolutions in the Niger-Delta of Nigeria: Evidence from Cross River State. Journal of Agriculture and Rural Development, 6, 139-146.

30.

Oluwatimilehin

J. B.

Wale

O. J.

(2009). Career aspirations: An investigation of senior secondary school students awareness of contemporary high profile careers. European Scientific Journal, 8. Retrieved from http://eujournal.org/index.php/esj/article/viewFile/4603/4399

31.

Pang

(2014). Factors affecting students’ career choice in New Zealand. Retrieved from http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/handle/10289/8997/thesis.pdf?sequence=3

32.

Sherr

Webb

(1989). Law students, the external market, and socialization: Do we make them turn to the city? Journal of Law and Society, 16(2), 225-249. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1410361

33.

Sinclair

(2008). Initial and changing student teacher motivation and commitment to teaching. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 36, 79-104.

34.

The Guardian (May 30, 2014). I’m studying law but I don’t want to be a lawyer. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/may/30/students-alternative-careers-law-degree

35.

Verma

M. J.

(2015). Changing role of library professionals in digital environment. International Journal of Library Science, 13, 96-104.

36.

Weiten

Dunn

Hammer

(2015). Psychology applied to modern life: Adjustment in the 21st century. Stanford, CA: Cengage Learning.

Awareness as Determinant of Choice of Law Librarianship as a Career Among Law Students in South-West Nigeria

Abstract

Keywords

Introduction

Career Choice

Law Librarianship

Awareness and Law Librarianship as Career Choice

Statement of the Problem

Objective of the Study

Research Questions

Research Hypothesis

Scope of the Study

Method

Presentation of Results

Demographic Characteristics of the Respondents

Presentation of Results

Discussion of Findings

Conclusion and Recommendations

Footnotes

Authors’ Note

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

Funding

ORCID iD

Author Biographies

References