| Summary: | This research is focused on the assessment of individuals’ risk attitudes as a means to predict their employment preferences. Two sets of choices including; i) the choice between self-employment and paid employment and ii) the choice between private sector employment and public sector employment are examined in this study.
Survey questionnaires were distributed among 300 respondents and the target population was Nigerian undergraduate students in their final year of university. Using students’ self-reported willingness to take risks on an 11-point Likert scale to measure general and career risk taking propensity, this study finds evidence of context-specific willingness to take risks.
While self-employment choice and private sector choice are found to be significantly related to both general willingness to take risks and career specific willingness to take career risks, the evidence found with regards to students’ perceived general self-efficacy is inconsistent with predictions in the hypotheses.
With regards to students’ willingness to take risks, the effect of age, marital status, cognitive ability and having university educated parents, are found to be insignificant. However, gender differences, having dependants, a public sector mother and studying a business major are found to have a significant impact on students’ willingness to take risks
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