Career Guidance and Counseling Services for Virtual and Open Learning and its Impact on the Preservation of Post-Graduate Students in Kenyatta University, Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to assess the impact of career guidance and counseling services for VOL on the preservation of post-graduate students in Kenyatta University, Kenya. This study used a descriptive survey approach that included quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection and analysis. The study’s population comprised two groups. The first group comprised all 8 director and assistant directors of student affairs in Kenyatta University VOL Centres. The second group comprised all the 2156 finalist students enrolled for the VOL programme who are the most familiar with the challenges experienced by VOL students and from whom it was possible to obtain the record of students who may have dropped out. The study used a census approach to sample all 8 director and assistant directors of student affairs, while the Fisher's method was used to calculate the size of the postgraduate finalist sample. Original data was used in the study. After editing the quantitative data, handling void responses, coding, and categorizing the data, the information was imported into SPSS version 22 for analysis. The study found that career counseling and guidance services for VOL improved postgraduate student retention. This was demonstrated by a significant correlation r coefficient of 0.758. Specifically, the study concluded that career guidance and counseling influenced the retention of post-graduate students in Kenya’s public universities. The study also concluded that student retention was influenced in the form of receiving encouragement to persist until they graduate, being encouraged to stay until completion of the academic degree, and receiving motivation to complete the course within the set period. According to the research's findings, the Ministry of Education’s state Department of Higher Education should institutionalize guidance and counseling as mandatory student support services in Virtual and Open Learning (VOL). The research also suggests that the Kenyan government form strategic alliances with social institutions that would allow public learning institutions to easily access career guidance and counseling services as a student support service.