Business Students’ Choice of Specialization: A Quantitative Case on a Private University of Bangladesh

Abstract

It is a major challenge for business students of Bangladesh in choosing the specialization which will lead them to their ultimate career path. The purpose of the study is to identify important factors crucial in selecting a specialization. Due to increasing competition among private and public universities and also among different majors of business education, it has become vital to determine student perceptions and take necessary actions. It helps the educators to enhance the current majors to gain new business students. A survey on 214 business undergraduate students of American International University- Bangladesh was conducted through convenience sampling from different specializations. The results from statistical analysis using SPSS show criteria such as personal issues, job characteristics, course offerings, features of specialization, prospective salary are important and positively correlated in the process of major selection. The factors, issues and job characteristics are the most important ones while the factor advice is the least important to students in this regard. Moreover, the study showed 80% participants chose their major after their admission in the university during 3rd to 5th semester and their decisions were affected mainly by their own judgment (49.5%) and to some extent through the advices from parents (15.9%). This refers that the BBA program of a private university in Bangladesh has enough opportunities to affect students’ decisions by counseling, improving career opportunities and enriching courses and majors.